Durham, N.H.- On a night that New Hampshire started a local product, Casey Desmith, and scored first BU spoiled the night by being opportunistic and beating New Hampshire 2-1. Kieran Millan, who has been inconsistent on the season, stole the show making impressive save after impressive save.

Wade Megan tied the game early in the second for the Terriers and three minutes later Corey Trivino scored the eventual game winner off a funky carom off the board as the two goals proved to be enough to defeat New Hampshire.

What I saw

-Boston University stifled UNH’s offense and kept them to low percentage shots, especially in the second period. In that second period, BU buried its two opportunities as Wade Megan took advantage of a two on one powerplay rush to bury it behind UNH goaltender, Casey Desmith. Nearly three minutes later Sahir Gill took a strange bounce off the back boards and passed to a wide open Corey Trivino who put it into the net giving the Terriers a 2-1 advantage, in which case they would never look back.

-Freshman Casey Desmith played a poised and controlled game, in his first collegiate start. He put his team in a position to win and stopped everything he had a chance too. The defense in front of him did the things that they haven’t in front of Matt Di Girolamo and it showed in the performance by the young local product, Desmith.

What I thought

-Boston University looked impressive and poised on the defensive side of the puck. All six defensemen played well for Boston University on the big sheet of ice. Parker was especially pleased by the performance of freshman Alexx Privitera in the game, as he did a great positionally in the game. He also received an assist on the first Terrier goal and was all over the ice on the attack.

-New Hampshire has continually played 55 minute games and not complete 60 minute games,. Tonight they gave up two goals within three minutes on two defensive breakdowns. In the past few games, it has been brief spurts of undisciplined puck control and defensive play that have cost UNH wins on the season. Tonight they put themselves in position to win but they once more failed to be poised for brief stages of the game.

What they said

BU coach Jack Parker said, “I thought it was a really great game, from a technical standpoint. I thought both teams played very well positionally. The goaltenders played well also and from a coaching standpoint, no matter who one, it was a great game.

UNH head coach Dick Umile said, “I thought that we played good but we have moments in every game that we have two or three minutes and the game turns around us.”

UNH freshman goalie Casey Desmith said, “This was a dream come true, I have always wanted to come out of that tunnel and hear my name called, but not happy with the result.”

What they didn’t say

Matt Nieto has 16 points on the season but he was not in the lineup Thursday night against New Hampshire. One has to wonder why he was not in the lineup, as nothing was said by Jack Parker and nobody asked him that particular question, on the evening. Was this absence a one game absence or will it be long and drawn out. He is a key player in the BU lineup and will be sorely missed if it is a long and drawn out period of time without him.

What else you should know

Boston University plays again up in Orono against the University of Maine before heading off to break. The Terriers have been playing some great hockey and will look to continue their recent success against an inconsistent Maine team that has again struggled in goal this season. As the season has worn on the Terriers have only gotten better and they may finally be the great team that we thought they were going to be in before the season started.

New Hampshire heads into the break at 6-9-2 and has struggled mightily in recent weeks. The break could either be a good time to figure out the defensive woes that have plagued them this season or be a bad thing as they will have time to mull over the negative first half. UNH will be looking to avoid their first losing season since 1995-1996 in the second half of the season.

Friday, December 9th, 2011 - 1:55 am | Hockey East, Notes, Thoughts, Ramblings