Boston University freshman Ty Gallagher has received quite the introduction to Boston over the past six months.
After being drafted by the Boston Bruins in July, the defenseman from Clarkston, Mich., capped off his first semester of college hockey with a taste of one of the sport’s greatest rivalries, playing his first “Battle of Commonwealth Avenue” game against Boston College on Friday.
Though a shootout loss following the 3-3 tie wasn’t the desired outcome for Gallagher’s Terriers in their final Hockey East game for more than a month, the atmosphere at a sold-out Agganis Arena was exactly what the college game is all about.
“It was awesome,” Gallagher, the B’s most recent seventh-round pick, said of his first action in the 285-game rivalry series that dates back to 1918. “(BC-BU) is all you hear about, right? It doesn’t matter what team you play, everyone (chants), ‘BC sucks!’ It was a great environment.”
Playing as part of a class that includes No. 10 overall pick Tyler Boucher, Gallagher has made a consistent impact despite the team’s overall ups and downs. The Terriers finished the first half with a 6-9-3 overall record, earning two of those wins in a home-and-home sweep of New Hampshire to open the month of December.
Gallagher made his presence felt in his first rivalry game, as he assisted on all three BU goals and lined up fourth in the eventual five-round shootout.
Gallagher has already put together a pair of three-assist games this season, while seven helpers put him in a three-way tie for second on the Terrier roster and behind only junior Domenick Fensore for tops on the team. At the other end of the ice, he is tied or fourth on the team with 20 blocked shots.
“Ty’s a gamer,” BU coach Albie O’Connell said. “When the bright lights come, he shows up. He loves to play. He’s really competitive and had really good poise, I thought, through large stretches. … I think he had one weekend where he kind of struggled, at Northern Michigan, but other than that he’s been really, really good.”
O’Connell pointed to a prime example of his poise — a lead pass that led to assistant captain Max Kaufman’s breakaway goal in the second period. After picking a puck off the wall, Gallagher quickly turned the play around and fired a pass from his own zone, across both blue lines, and right to Kaufman in stride for his second goal of the game and fourth in three games.
“It can be very difficult when the building is loud, especially on some of the breakouts,” O’Connell said. “The little mid-D retrieval play, where he just bumped it, it was a high, high-level play. It probably doesn’t get noticed, but it was a great play by him. So poised.”
His contributions have been especially important as the Terriers overcame injuries throughout the semester, playing Friday’s game without Jay O’Brien (Hingham, Mass.) and Ethan Phillips, a pair of top-six forwards.
Gallagher added to his weekend with the opening power-play goal in Saturday’s 4-3 exhibition loss to his former team, the U.S. Under-18 Team. He set a National Team Development Program record for goals by a defenseman with 25 over two seasons prior to arriving at BU.
As a newcomer to the college game, Gallagher feels that partnering with the likes of Fensore and his junior classmate Alex Vlasic has helped his quick development through the first half.
“Playing with veterans is awesome, just because you can see them in different moments and how they respond,” Gallagher said. “I think one of the biggest keys for me is time management and just … making sure that my body’s ready and my game’s ready at every step. That preparation has really given me a jumpstart.”
Though Friday’s finish was tough, O’Connell was encouraged by his “much improved” hockey team and Gallagher feels that the performance and atmosphere can be a building block for a second-half push.
“Our depth was challenged. A lot of guys got to play a lot of minutes (and) some guys proved they could play more or play a different role,” O’Connell said. “We’ve played a lot of the top teams in the league and fared pretty well. … So, the break is critical to get rested, get in good health … and then try to pick up where we left off in the second half.”
“We’ve been playing really good hockey. … It’s something that’s going to bring us momentum for the rest of the season,” Gallagher said.
Quinnipiac’s Lucky 13
After rising to second in the nation this past week, Quinnipiac will carry a 13-game unbeaten streak into its semester break after sweeping a home-and-home set with LIU. The Bobcats still haven’t lost since Oct. 23 following the 4-1 and 5-0 victories, the latter of which was the team’s eighth shutout in 14 victories this season.
Quinnipiac faced a 1-0 deficit late in Friday’s second period in East Meadow, N.Y., where freshman Yaniv Perets saw his 11th-longest shutout streak in NCAA history end after 247:57 of combined game time.
On the offensive side, senior captain Wyatt Bongiovanni scored twice during a four-goal spurt to end the night and extended his co-leading goal total to eight on the season, while UMass graduate transfer Oliver Chau registered his 100th career point.
It was a different story on Saturday when the series shifted to Hamden, as the Bobcats scored 1:37 into the game and cruised on the strength of four multi-point games. Chau and senior TJ Friedmann both finished four-point weekends.
The Bobcats are within striking distance of the NCAA’s single-season record for team shutouts, which currently stands at 12 as accomplished by Niagara in 2000. Notre Dame transfer Dylan St. Cyr needed to make just nine saves in the latest shutout.
Other B’s prospects shine
Steering back to Friday at BU, another Bruins prospect made the ultimate difference as BC sophomore Trevor Kuntar assisted on senior captain Marc McLaughlin’s (North Billerica, Mass.) third-period goal and then tallied the decisive goal in the fifth round of the shootout.
Kuntar, who was Boston’s third-round draft choice in 2020, has logged points in 10 of the Eagles’ 16 games this season as he also factored into the scoring of a McLaughlin tally during Tuesday’s 5-2 win over Brown.
“He’s taking less penalties, better discipline, which was a key for him,” BC head coach Jerry York said of Kuntar, less than 24 hours after he was enshrined in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame. “I think his skating has improved. He has to feel outstanding scoring that winner. He’s probably mad at me for not having him in the first three.”
In addition, the NHL free-agent McLaughlin achieved a personal milestone during a four-point week as his three goals lifted him to a new career-high mark of 12. The Cushing product and reigning Hockey East Best Defensive Forward scored 10 last season and nine in his first two years as an Eagle.
The theme of starring Bruins prospects continued with Providence freshman Riley Duran (Woburn, Mass.), who put up a four-point weekend with two goals in the Friars’ 7-0, 3-2 sweep of Princeton. Duran potted the slapper that started a three-goal comeback in the third period of Saturday’s game.
Maine also helped Hockey East’s non-conference mark with a win and tie against Union. St. Lawrence grad transfer Keenan Suthers scored two goals for the Black Bears in a 4-3 Saturday triumph.
Warriors look ahead
There is no “hat trick” of upcoming games to watch around New England this weekend. The only game involving local teams prior to a 10-day holiday break is on Friday when Merrimack hosts Dartmouth in North Andover, Mass.
It will be the Big Green’s first game since being shut out at Brown on Dec. 4, while the Warriors played more recently, dropping a 3-2 overtime decision to UMass last Wednesday.
“I think games like this are a part of the process,” Merrimack coach Scott Borek said. “I say it every time we play UMass, but we always come out of that game better than we went in because they force you to. I love the way they play, and I love playing against them because we have to play to that same level.”
UMass hasn’t lost in regulation in its last 14 games, dating back to a season-opening sweep at the hands of Minnesota State. Senior Bobby Trivigno scored Wednesday’s winning goal after former Salisbury School forward Lucas Mercuri tied the score with 3:22 left in the third period.
The Warriors played one-goal games in all three of their meetings with the defending national champions, losing two of them in overtime. Three of Merrimack’s wins have come in non-conference play, while their league slate has included triumphs against both BC and BU during an early three-week stretch that also featured their first set with the Minutemen.
Merrimack also played the Under-18s in a Sunday exhibition, breaking the visitors’ 12-game win streak with an 8-2 decision. Former Gunnery star and sophomore Alex Jefferies (Lunenburg, Mass.) led the Warriors with two goals and two assists in a plus-5 effort.
Coaches come and go
With Vermont assistant Stephen Wiedler on Norway’s staff for the upcoming World Junior Championship, UVM’s Advisor to the Coaching Staff Patrick Sharp took the ice during practices this past week and spent the weekend series against UMass Lowell on the bench as allowed by NCAA rules. The Catamount alum and three-time Stanley Cup champion is in his first year in the new role.
For the second straight year, Providence coach Nate Leaman will lead the U.S. team at World Juniors with Harvard’s Ted Donato alongside as an assistant. Leaman guided the Friars over the weekend before departing for the start of training camp. Providence associate head coach Ron Rolston will lead the bench when the team resumes action on Dec. 28 and 29 at the Holiday Faceoff in Milwaukee.
THREE MORE STARS
Hockey East - Matt Crasa, UMass Lowell
Crasa factored into four of the River Hawks’ five goals during a two-game sweep at Vermont, which lifted the team into sole possession of first place in the Hockey East standings entering the holiday break. He totaled two goals and two assists on the weekend.
The freshman winger from South Setauket, N.Y., who ranks second to junior Andre Lee in the Lowell lineup with seven goals on the season, dished out two assists in Friday’s 2-0 shutout before scoring twice in a come-from-behind, 2-1 win the following night. Both of his Saturday goals came in the final three minutes of periods, including a one-time game-winner from freshman Owen Cole in the second frame.
ECAC - Justin Jallen, Brown
Despite losses to Boston College and Yale, Jallen scored in each of those games to extend his point streak to four games and his team-leading point total to six in 11 games. The former Northeast General scored a game-tying goal in the second period against the Eagles to begin his strong week.
Jallen scored power-play goals in the first and second periods and totaled six shots on goal during Friday’s 4-3 loss to Yale. He took helpers from junior defenseman Luke Krys (Ridgefield, Conn.) on each strike, becoming the only Bear with multiple goals in man-up situations this year.
Atlantic
With AIC’s home-and-home series with UConn postponed due to COVID-19 protocols within the Huskies’ program, all four Atlantic Hockey teams in New England were idle this past weekend.
