Maine at No. 1 Boston U, pregame
BOSTON - Who has the momentum now?
It would appear that the Black Bears have it, going into the final game of a best-of-three Hockey East quarterfinal series tonight at Agganis Arena. Maine, the eighth seed, scored five unanswered goals last night, en route to a 6-3 win over the top-seeded Terriers, and the Black Bears won their first game since Feb. 7, a 1-0 win over New Hampshire.
Maine's win came a night after a 2-1 loss to the Terriers, a game in which many agreed Maine played some of its best hockey.
BU, however, has clout on its side, as, pardon the cliché, good teams know how to win. Before last night, the Terriers had gone unbeaten in 17 games since a 4-2 loss Jan. 13 to Providence. Three days after the loss to Providence, the Terriers defeated Merrimack 4-1.
It will be interesting to see how the Terriers - who are already assured a spot in the NCAA Tournament - respond tonight. But here's some food for thought.
BU Coach Jack Parker made a statement when he said this in last night's post-game press conference:
"They should be going home and getting ready for the Garden."
FYI: The Hockey East semifinals and championship game are next weekend at Boston's TDBanknorth Garden.
Starting lineups for tonight:
MAINE
Forwards
Brian Flynn-Tanner House-Gustav Nyquist
Robby Dee-Chris Hahn-Kevin Swallow
Theo Andersson-Keif Orsini-Spencer Abbott
Nick Payson-Brett Carriere-David de Kastrozza
Defense
Will O'Neill-Jeff Dimmen
Josh Van Dyk-Matt Duffy
Mike Banwell-Simon Danis-Pepin
Goalies
Scott Darling
Josh Seeley
BOSTON UNIVERSITY
Forwards
Chris Higgins-Colin Wilson-Jason Lawrence
John McCarthy-Nick Bonino-Brandon Yip
Chris Connolly-Corey Trivino-Vinny Saponari
Zach Cohen-Luke Popko-Joe Pereira
Defense
David Warsofsky-Matt Gilroy
Colby Cohen-Kevin Shattenkirk
Steve Smolinsky-Eric Gryba
Goalie
Kieran Millan
Grant Rollheiser
Adam Kraus
Scratches for Maine: Forward - Jeff Marshall, Glenn Belmore, Kyle Solomon, Lem Randall; defense - Ryan Hegarty (fractured vertebra); goalie - Dave Wilson (groin pull).
Orsini's status was uncertain until gametime tonight, as he suffered a leg injury last night, but he is in tonight's lineup. Orsini skated during warm-ups but Marshall was on standby.
Posted at 06:17 PM
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