Hockey Series of the Week: Denver vs. Boston

Story posted October 27, 2017 in CommRadio, Sports by Ben Ferree

Denver will look to defend its number one ranking when the Pioneers travel to Boston to take on the No. 6 Boston Terriers.

The Pioneers will put their unbeaten record on the line against Boston.

Denver is 2-0-2 on the season as the Pioneers have defeated and tied No. 8 Notre Dame and Lake Superior State in its previous two series.

Boston comes into this matchup with a 3-2-1 record. The Terriers started off the season strong with victories over Union and No. 13 Quinnipiac and a tie against Prince Edward Island.

The last four games though, Boston has struggled as the Terriers were swept by No. 12 Minnesota State.

Boston was also unable to sweep Connecticut, as the Huskies tied the first game in the series only to see Boston dominate the second leg.

Boston will rely on Bobo Carpenter to have a big game as the junior is leading the team that averages three goals a game, with his team high five goals this season, including a hat trick against Connecticut.

The Terriers are very effective on the power play scoring on eight of their 24 chances this season.

Patrick Harper is tied with Carpenter for the most points on the team with eight. Harper has four goals and four assists and a .364 shooting percentage.

Jake Oettinger will start between the pipes for Boston. The sophomore has started all six games this season and averages 2.61 goals allowed per game.

Oettinger is the only goalie to receive time on the ice this season for Boston and has recorded 175 saves and a save percentage of .916.

Oettinger will have to have a good game in order for Boston to come away victorious as the Denver offense has been excellent this season.

The Pioneers are averaging 3.5 goals per game with an average of 50.5 shots per game.

Henrik Borgstrom and Troy Terry lead the Pioneers with three goals each. The duo also has two assists each. 

Denver has also been strong on the defensive side of the ice only allowing opponents an average of 23.8 shots per game and 2 goals a game.

Dayton Rasmussen will be in goal for the Pioneers. Rasmussen has only seen the ice in one game this season: the Pioneers last game where Denver defeated Lake Superior State 5-1.

The freshman had fifteen saves and only allowed the one goal in his first ever college hockey game.

Rasmussen came into goal for Tanner Jaillet as the senior started the other three games for Denver.

Jaillet allowed an average of 2.21 goals per game and has a save percentage of .911.

One weakness for the Pioneers is their play on the power play. Denver has only converted two of its 13 chances.

Denver’s power play defense has also not been stellar as the three of the eight goals the Pioneers have allowed this season have been when their opponent is on the power play.

Denver is excelling in the third period as the Pioneers are outscoring opponents 8-4 in the crucial final period.

 

Ben Ferree is a freshman majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him email ferreebenjaminc@gmail.com