A point’s a point, especially on the road in Hockey East.
The UMass hockey team outlasted Boston University 3-2 in a shootout on Friday at Agganis Arena. Both teams earned a point for the tie following regulation, but the Minutemen earned the extra point in the conference standings for the victory in the shootout. It will still count as a tie nationally.
“When you lose a shootout it feels like a loss. Going the other way, the kids on the bus are feeling pretty happy,” UMass coach Greg Carvel said. “We’re in a league where every point is going to count this year.”
The Minutemen (7-2) twice put themselves in position to leave Commonwealth Avenue with all of the points. Reed Lebster scored on the power play 14 minutes, 44 seconds in, his fifth point in the past five games. Bobby Trivigno and Ryan Ufko assisted the play.
But the Terriers responded 1:18 later. Case McCarthy scored his third of the season from Dylan Peterson and Jamie Armstrong.
Garrett Wait delivered UMass’ rebuttal with 2:16 left in the first. Defensemen Matthew Kessel and Ufko added assists. Ufko had two assists for the second game in a row and is up to five points on the season.
BU struck last in regulation. Peterson knotted the game at 2 on the power play 12:13 into the second. Jay O’Brien and Wilmer Skoog were credited with assists.
“I really liked our first and third periods. When we played the way we wanted to, we played well,” Carvel said. “In the second period we took too many penalties and didn’t manage the puck well.”
UMass outshot BU 25-9 in the third and drew a power play. The Minutemen exerted dominance in the faceoff circle, winning 39-of-65, 60 percent.
UMass goalie Matt Murray helped get the Minutemen to and through overtime. He stopped 32 shots, his third game over 30 in the past four. Then he didn’t allow any shootout goals, while freshman Lucas Mercuri converted for the Minutemen.
“In a shootout against BU the odds aren’t in our favor, but Matt Murray really evened the odds out there,” Carvel said.
Sophomore defenseman Aaron Bohlinger returned from injury as the seventh defenseman in the lineup.
“We didn’t expect him back so soon. We wanted him as a safety valve,” Carvel said.
But the Minutemen also lost forward Cal Kiefiuk to injury and had to drop down to three lines at one point.
The teams will meet again Saturday at 7 p.m. in the Mullins Center.
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com. Follow him on Twitter @kylegrbwsk.