Third Period Eruption Sends BU Past Maine

BU broke open a 1-1 game late in the third with three goals in a three minute span from Bobo Carpenter, Jordan Greenway and Nik Olsson to surge past Maine in front of a crowd of 4,888 at Agganis.

Nik Olsson Scores on a backhander in the third period to give
BU a 4-1 lead.
(Photo by Matt Dresens)

While the third period may have been captivating, most of the game really wasn’t. BU carried most of the play, outshooting the Black Bears 41-14, but the game seemed closer. Maine almost scored less than thirty seconds in on a two on one, but Jake Oettinger said no to that. They had other chances like that, too.

“It certainly was not the prettiest first two periods,” said coach Quinn. “I thought we were lethargic and really weren’t sharp. We were too easy to defend, especially in the offensive zone and anytime we had it, they just took it away from us. We were fortunate to be tied 1-1 after two.”

Maine took a 1-0 lead on the power play with less the two minutes to play in the first. Blaine Byron got a tip on a Cam Brown shot and redirected it past Oettinger for his 11th goal of the year.

BU’s second period wasn’t really much better. They posted 11 shots and held Maine to only four, but they didn’t look sharp. The power play lacked cohesion and passes were not crisp.

Finally, Clayton Keller solved Maine goalie Rob McGovern with 1:32 left in the second. He was able to pick up a loose puck in the slot and pick the top corner on his backhand as McGovern sprawled to get back in position. It was Keller’s 9th of the year, with assists from Brandon Hickey and Bobo Carpenter.

The first half of third played out much like the first two periods. BU couldn’t cash in on a power play and they were still limiting Maine to single digit shots.

“They were a pretty aggressive team,” said Jordan Greenway. “We haven’t really seen a team come at us as aggressively as they did. It was kind of new to us. We weren’t moving the puck as quickly as we should have been. We didn’t get enough pucks to the net. Even myself. I don’t think I did a great job on the goal-line.”

Then the floodgates opened.

Bobo Carpenter slammed home a power play goal on a one-timer set up by Dante Fabbro and Chad Krys at 12:10. 1:50 later, it was Greenway’s turn to deposit a power play goal.

“They gave me a little more space,” commented Greenway on his 7th goal of the year. “I just took advantage of it and found a lane to the net. JFK was kind of in front screening the goalie, so I thought that if I found any kind of net, just put it there and the goalie wouldn’t be able to see it.”

Clearly, it worked. Greenway was able to rattle a shot off the inside crossbar on a perfectly placed bullet.


Just over a minute later, Nik Olsson really sealed things up. Ryan Cloonan made a strong cross-ice pass to Olsson on the near side that sprung him in behind the defense. From the top of the crease, Olsson made a nifty forehead-backhand move to undress McGovern for his third of the year.

Quinn also mentioned that BU played with more of an edge in the third. “I thought we really upped the ante in the third. We played with more passion. I thought we played with a physical side that we didn’t in the first two periods. Obviously, once we got one we started making plays and looking more confident with the puck.”

Maine coach Red Gendron wasn’t exactly pleased with his team’s effort to get pucks on net tonight. “You shoot the puck on the other team, you’re applying pressure. Ok? When you’re hanging onto it against the best defensive team in Hockey East you might be able to tick-tack-toe it on them, but probably not. When you get breakaways and two one ones, you might want to score there.”

Jake Oettinger only faced 14 shots tonight.

The two teams are back at it tomorrow night at the Alfond in Orono.