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ORONO – On Saturday night, the Boston University Terriers showed why they entered this weekend’s Hockey East series against the University of Maine with the lowest goals-against average (1.72) in the country.
One night after surviving a furious Maine rally to hang on for a win Friday night, the Terriers completely frustrated the Bears as senior goalie John Curry continued his mastery over Maine by making 30 saves in a 3-0 triumph.
It is the first time BU has swept Maine at Alfond Arena since Feb. 14-15, 1986. This was the 12th two-game set in Orono since that sweep.
The Terriers stretched their unbeaten streak to five games (4-0-1) and are now 5-1-3 on the road. BU improved to 10-4-6 overall, 7-3-5 in Hockey East.
Maine fell to 14-5-2 and 7-5-1, respectively. The Bears are 3-4 in Hockey East home games and are winless (0-5-1) against league teams picked in the top five in the coaches’ preseason poll, being outscored 26-14 in those six games.
Maine had gone 40 games without being shut out dating back to last season.
The game was frustrating on several fronts for the Bears.
After the game, Maine coach Tim Whitehead had to be restrained by police in the runway while he was engaged in a shouting match with referee Scott Hansen. Whitehead received a 10-minute misconduct.
“I was trying to help him get his [big] head through the door,” said Whitehead, referring to his contention that Hansen is arrogant.
Another problem for the Bears involved two of their hottest scorers entering the game, Josh Soares (9 goals, 5 assists in 7 games) and Keith Johnson (5 & 3 in 7 games). They were assessed two-minute minors and mandatory 10-minute misconducts for shooting the puck after the whistle was blown.
“I didn’t even hear the whistle. If I had, I would have let up. Their defenseman didn’t let up either. He was still slashing me while I was shooting it,” said Soares.
Other low points in the game:
. UM senior left wing Brent Shepheard received a five-minute fighting major and game disqualification that will keep him out of Friday’s opener of a two-game series at Providence College.
. There were four lengthy stoppages including three requiring rink attendants to repair the holes in the ice that hold the metal posts on which the goalposts are set.
Curry improved to 6-1-2 against the Bears while posting his third shutout of the season and ninth of his career. But he wasn’t tested nearly as often as he was Friday night. His teammates blocked 20 shots and he was forced to make only 10 Grade-A (high-percentage) stops.
He faced very few second shots and odd-man rushes.
BU had 18 Grade-A scoring attempts to Maine’s 15 after Maine had held a 30-13 edge on Friday night.
“Our defense played so much better tonight. They got the shutout for us,” said Curry.
“This was our best game of the year from start to finish,” said BU junior left wing Pete MacArthur. “We really didn’t give them a sniff [at goal]. As good as Curry was, we also got a great defensive effort from the defense and forwards. It seemed like we were in control from start to finish. I always felt we were going to win this one tonight.”
Sophomore defenseman Matt Gilroy scored the only goal the Terriers needed 5:35 into the game. Junior right wing Dan McGoff scored his second goal in 13 career games in the second period, and Chris Higgins added an insurance goal on the power play in the third period.
“I thought we were very focused and very thorough for the entire game,” said BU coach Jack Parker, whose Terriers are now 5-0-1 in their last six meetings against Maine.
“I was real impressed with BU. They played a great game,” said Whitehead, who termed his team’s performance disappointing.
Maine senior left wing and assistant captain Soares said BU is a “solid defensive team. They clogged up the neutral zone.”
“They pretty much [neutral- zone] trapped it up a bunch of times, and when they play that style, it’s tough to get through. If you got it into the [offensive] zone, they’d chip it right back out so you couldn’t make any plays. It was a very frustrating game to play in,” added Soares.
Maine sophomore goalie Ben Bishop turned in a respectable 24-save performance after Friday’s disaster (6 goals on 17 shots).
Gilroy opened the scoring by depositing his own rebound off a three-on-one after Maine defenseman Bryan Plaszcz gambled unsuccessfully to keep the puck in the offensive zone.
“I was actually going to change after I shot the puck, but the puck bounced and I thought ‘Why not go after it?'” said Gilroy. “When [Bishop] saved it, I thought he was going to step to it, but he actually fell backwards and I put it over him [on the backhand],” said Gilroy.
McGoff made it 2-0 by chipping a Brian McGuirk centering pass past Bishop’s blocker from the low slot.
“I didn’t do anything. I had the easy part. All I had to do was put it in the net,” said McGoff, who was able to get body position on Maine’s Teddy Purcell. “It was kind of a wobbly pass. I put my stick on it, it bumped up and hit me in the leg and went in.”
Higgins capped the scoring by snapping the rebound of a MacArthur point shot into the half-empty net.
Maine’s string of power-play goals in eight straight games (17-for-44) was snapped. The Bears went 0-for-7.
TERRIERS 3, BLACK BEARS 0
Boston University (10-4-6) 1 1 1 – 3
Maine (14-5-2) 0 0 0 – 0
First period – 1. BU, Gilroy 6 (Weston), 5:35. Penalties: BU, Higgins, tripping, :13; Maine, Hahn, interference, 5:51; Maine, Shepheard, roughing, 12:48; BU, Strait, roughing, 12:48; Maine, Leveille, charging and roughing, 12:48; BU, Gilroy, roughing, 12:48; BU, Higgins, interference, 15:27; Maine, Johnson, shooting the puck after the whistle and 10-minute misconduct, 16:29.
Second period – 2. BU, McGoff 2 (McQuirk, McCarthy), 12:04. Penalties: Maine, Leveille, roughing, 2:14; BU, MacArthur, cross checking, 6:58; BU, Yip, holding the stick, 18:43.
Third period – 3. BU, Higgins 7 (MacArthur, Popko), 12:26 (pp). Penalties: Maine, Soares, shooting the puck after the whistle and 10-minute misconduct, 2:20; BU, Gryba, interference, 5:12; Maine, Ryan, contact to the head-high sticking, 11:01; Maine, Purcell, roughing, 12:26; BU, McCarthy, roughing, 12:26; BU, Gryba, boarding, 12:26; Maine, Shepheard, five-minute major for fighting and game disqualification, 12:26; BU, Roche, hooking, 13:41; BU, Sullivan, kneeing, 17:13; Maine, Tyler, hooking, 18:08; Maine, Leveille, hooking, 18:59; BU, Gryba, diving, 18:59; Maine, Coach Whitehead, 10-minute misconduct, 20:00.
Shots on goal: BU 6-9-12-27; Maine 8-9-13-30
Goaltenders: BU, Curry (30 shots-30 saves); Maine, Bishop (27-24)
Power-play opportunities: BU 1 of 8, Maine 0 of 7
High-percentage scoring chances: BU 6-5-7-18; Maine 3-6-6-15
Attendance: 5,445
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