The fourth match between the teams this season will take place on Saturday night (7:30) on Causeway Street.
Boston University, ranked No. 2 and seeded second, advanced to the Hockey East title game with a 4-1 victory over Maine in the evening game in front of a full crowd of 17,850 at the TD Garden on Friday.
The defending champion Terriers will aim for their 11th Hockey East tournament title when they play against crosstown rival and No.1 ranked Boston College. The Eagles dominated UMass 8-1 in the semifinals.
The Eagles won all the games in the regular season series but were defeated by the Terriers 5-4 in the Beanpot semifinal on Feb. 5. BU now has a record of 26-8-2 and 19-4-2 in Hockey East, while the No. 7 ranked Black Bears dropped to 23-11-2 and 14-10-1.
Sophomore center Ryan Greene, who scored two goals, expressed excitement about playing against Boston College in the Hockey East championship, stating that they will be ready for the challenge.
The Terriers completed a series sweep of the Black Bears with two one-goal victories at Alfond Arena in November. The team secured the No. 2 seed by going 6-0-1 after losing to Northeastern 4-3 in overtime in the Beanpot championship game on Feb. 12.
The Terriers avenged their loss to Northeastern by defeating them 4-2 in the Hockey East quarterfinals on March 16 at Agganis Arena to reach their 27th semifinal. Maine advanced with a 5-0 quarterfinal win over New Hampshire.
The Terriers' offense picked up momentum seven minutes into the first period before taking a 1-0 lead at 8:59. Sophomore right wing Quinn Hutson intercepted a rebound off the end boards and passed the puck to Greene in the slot. Greene quickly shot the puck past Maine goalie Albin Boija for his 10th goal of the season.
Maine kept BU goalie Mathieu Caron busy during an extended attack in the final four minutes of the first period. Maine had a 6-5 advantage in shots on goal by the end of the period.
Caron, who transferred from Brown, successfully defended the goal during a sustained offensive by Maine on the power play in the first 1:47 of the second period. The Black Bears managed five consecutive shots on goal in the first five minutes of the period.
BU coach Jay Pandolfo commended Caron, stating, "He has won many games for us. He was outstanding again tonight, and I believe that playing in the Beanpot and in this environment has helped him."
BU benefited from a penalty on Maine's junior center Nolan Renwick for holding at 8:56. The Terriers took advantage and increased their lead to 2-0 with an impressive display of power play at 9:21.
Quinn Hutson initiated the play by passing to freshman center Macklin Celebrini, the Hockey East Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year. Celebrini then passed the puck back to Lane Hutson, who fired a slap shot from the top of the left circle that beat Boija to the far post on the glove side.
Lane Hutson, a Montreal draft pick and Hobey Baker finalist, scored his 13th goal of the season, ranking third in the nation for goals by a defenseman.
Boston University had a goal by Shane Lachance at 4:27 of the third period disallowed after a review revealed that the Terriers were offside on the play. Maine reduced the lead to 2-1 with a power-play goal by senior captain Lynden Breen at 6:34. Breen’s ninth goal of the season energized the large group of Maine supporters in the arena.
“You think you are up 3-0 and then suddenly they take it away and then they score,” stated Pandolfo. “But our guys communicate a lot on the bench at this time of year and they hold each other accountable, which is a credit to our group.”
Greene’s second goal of the game put the Terriers ahead 3-1 at the end of a well-coordinated power play with Lachance and Celebrini at 10:43.
