BU, Providence Tie Again Saturday

BOSTON -- Providence and Boston University met for college hockey's national championship down the road at TD Garden back in April. While their first and only matchups of the ensuing season were contested early on, the intensity was once again high.

And it was only fitting that a winner could not be decided in either contest as the Terriers and Friars skated to a 3-3 draw on Saturday afternoon at Agganis Arena.

BU freshman Jacob Forsbacka Karlsson and Providence sophomore Jake Walman each scored a pair of goals to lead their respective teams, but neither player's performance was enough stand up.

"Another great college hockey game, but a little bit different than last night from our perspective," BU head coach David Quinn said of the game compared to Friday's 1-1 tie. "I thought they came out and continued what they did last night while our intensity level fell a little bit."

The Friars drew first blood for the second consecutive night as sophomore Brian Pinho scored his third goal of the season at 17:13.

Senior assistant captain Nick Saracino caused a turnover at the side board and fed Pinho the puck in the slot for an accurate wrist shot that broke through BU goaltender Connor LaCouvee, who ended the opening frame with 14 saves.

The teams combined for nine penalties in the second, but the Friars cashed in on the first of a pair of 5-on-3 power play chances.

With BU defensemen Brandon Hickey and Doyle Somerby serving respective interference and hitting from behind penalties, Walman continued a red-hot offensive start with his eighth goal of the season. He teed up a one-time shot from the right side off a feed from senior partner John Gilmour.

"Even though we were down 2-0 going into the third, we kind of felt good about how that period ended," Quinn said. "They didn't attempt a lot of shots and didn't have many at the net front. The way we came out in the third, with a lot of energy. We kept it simple, and obviously our power play was huge."

The Terriers were a dominant team in the third period of games a year ago, and showed some of that same resilience in scoring three goals to take a lead just past the midway mark.

BU had some earlier chances to beat Providence goaltender Nick Ellis, who finished the night with 34 saves, in the third.

The sophomore stopped Terrier senior Matt Lane and junior Robbie Baillargeon on a pair of big chances at the top of his crease in the early stages before finally breaking through at the 7:12 mark.

Senior Ahti Oksanen found his way onto the scoresheet for the fifth straight game, taking a feed from captain Matt Grzelcyk for a shot from an off angle at the bottom of the faceoff circle to Ellis' left side.

Grzelcyk, who missed BU's first six games recovering from offseason knee surgery, has made up for lost time with four points in his first four games this year.

"We were down a lot last year, so I think we kind of learned from that," Grzelcyk said. "I think we try not to get frustrated as best as possible. ... I think we were able to use our speed to our advantage in the third period."

It took less than three minutes more for the Terriers to tie the score as Forsbacka Karlsson had his second collegiate goal set up from senior Danny O'Regan just outside the right circle at 9:40.

The Bruins prospect from Stockholm, Sweden, took it upon himself to lift BU ahead for the first time in the game, cutting in between the circles for a wrist shot that found the back of the net through traffic less than a minute into a power play at the 12:32 mark.

PC immediately pushed back on a power play as Lane was called for slashing, and Walman ― a Blues prospect and the nation's highest scoring defenseman ― did it on offense once again.

Walman's game-tying goal, which ensured his fifth multi-point game already this season, developed off an assist from Gilmour and beat LaCouvee from just inside the blue line.

"I think he's worked a lot on his shot. I think last year, his shot was very average," Providence head coach Nate Leaman said. "It's not only accuracy, it's how quick you get it off. And I think that's the big thing. Last year, he struggled hitting the net a lot, to be honest."

Both sides took two shots on goal in the extra five-minute period, but settled for a tie. Still, the Friars remain unbeaten on the season with a 7-0-2 record and have not lost in 13 consecutive games dating back to last year.

Senior captain Kevin Rooney had a chance to potentially put the game away for the Friars just before BU begun its comeback. The Canton, Mass., native broke ahead of the defense, but ran into LaCouvee's glove at the end of a long breakaway chance.

"I'm a little disappointed we didn't finish both games, but you're still growing at this time of the year," Leaman said. "I think, as a team, we got better this weekend. That's what you're concerned about right now."