Oettinger Blanks BC, Terriers Sweep Eagles

For the first time in 16 years, BU swept a weekend series with their rivals down the B-Line on the back of Jake Oettinger’s stellar 34 save shutout and goals from Pat Curry, Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson and Bobo Carpenter.

“That was a great win,” said coach Quinn. “It felt like playoff hockey out there tonight. There wasn’t a lot of easy ice, two teams competing hard.”

Oettinger turned aside 14 shots in a first period in which BU did not really generate a tremendous amount of offense. BC nearly took the lead in the dying minutes of the opening frame. It was a backdoor setup to Colin White, but the Hanover native didn’t get all that he wanted on a one-time bid and Oettinger slid over to make the save. Oettinger would later call this his toughest save.

The save described in the paragraph above.
(Photo by Matt Dresens)

“That goes to show you how good our defense was tonight,” said Oettinger. “We didn’t give up any grade-A chances and that’s a testament to our D-core and our forwards. They made my job easy and I was there when they needed me to be.”

BC goalie Joe Woll, was equally impressive, making 29 saves in the 3-0 loss.

Pat Curry finally found the back of the net to open the scoring 7:26 into the second on the tail end of a Colin White slashing penalty. Curry picked up a loose puck close to the blue line before curling back into the slot and releasing a high wrister labeled for the far corner. It was a perfectly placed shot through a screen that Woll may not have gotten the best look at.

Curry celebrates after scoring his
third goal of the season and
eventual game winner.
(Photo by Matt Dresens) 

“Pat’s had a great year for us,” added Quinn. “In a class that has got a lot of attention, he didn’t and he’s been a very, very important part of our team. That was a heck of a shot, a quick release through a screen, you could see it from the bench, we had a great angle at it and Woll just didn’t see it.”

Getting the first goal was a huge key for BU and they were able to control most of the play in the second period, outshooting the Eagles 11-6.

In the third, BC had some dominant stretches and dumped 14 more shots on Oettinger. They utilized a tough forecheck that hemmed BU in and made breakouts an adventure at some points.

Unlike Friday night, though, BU slammed the door shut with a little help from BC’s Michael Kim and Colin White, who both took penalties with under three minutes to play. JFK deposited a power play goal on a five on three at the side of the net. Clayton Keller again used his patient style of walking into the slot to draw a defender out the passing lane to set up JFK back door. It was Karlsson’s team-leading 10th goal of the year and came with just 57 seconds left.

Bobo Carpenter added an empty net goal to seal the deal with 14 seconds left.

The shutout marks just the second blanking by a BU goalie vs BC since 1983. The other? Kieran Millan in November 2011, a 5-0 win at the Heights.

BU is back at it next weekend with the lovely home and home series with Maine.