Troy Terry lifts University of Denver over #6/#8 BU

The #1/#1 University of Denver Pioneers stole a win in their first of two games in Boston Friday night, defeating #6/#8 Boston University in a 4-3 thriller. Troy Terry scored with 16 seconds remaining to stun the BU faithful in attendance at Agganis Arena.

Colin Staub led the way with two power play goals and senior goaltender Tanner Jaillet turned away 26 shots for his third win of the season.

The first period set a frantic pace, as Denver (3-0-2) cracked the scoreboard early. A well-executed 3-on-2 by Terry, Dylan Gambrell and Jake Durflinger left a loose puck in front of the BU net, which was put home by Durflinger for his second goal of the year.

The Terriers (3-3-1, 1-0-0 Hockey East) were called for a delayed penalty on the play, giving DU its first power play chance at 3:02. Less than a minute later, the crowd at was left silent after Staub backhanded a rebound past Jake Oettinger to make it 2-0 Pioneers just over four minutes into the contest.

BU was quick to wrest back the momentum back thanks to a DU defensive zone turnover that led to freshman Ty Amonte’s first career goal at 10:50.

Minutes later, BU’s power play, one of the best in the nation, took advantage of DU’s shaky penalty kill, so far one of the worst in the nation, tying the game with the man advantage. Bobo Carpenter’s fourth power play goal of the season at 12:38 erased Denver’s fast start. BU finished the game 1-for-5 on the power play, while Denver was 2-for-4.

But as they have done frequently this year, Denver stopped the rally with a power play goal of their own. The Terriers gave Henrik Borgström too much space, allowing him to drive to the net and create a scoring chance. Staub was around the net once again and finished off his second goal with just 1:32 left in the period.

DU finished the first period with a 12-6 advantage in shots.

It appeared as if DU had re-taken its two-goal lead early in the second period, but Terry’s goal was waved off for goalie interference. The period went scoreless but saw lots of physical play, as the teams combined for four minor penalties.

The third period was largely dominated by the Terriers, and at 13:21 BU’s Dante Fabbro snuck a wrist shot past Jaillet to erase DU’s lead for a second time. With under 30 seconds to play, to appear as if the game was heading for overtime until Terry collected the puck near the wall and snapped a shot over Oettinger from a sharp angle for a stunning game winner. Terry’s fourth goal of the year was assisted by Staub, who earned a three-point night.

Oettinger made 22 saves in the loss and DU was outshot (29-26) for the first time all season.

Denver will conclude its road trip tomorrow night against Boston College. Puck drop will be at 5:05 MT and the game can be seen on ESPN3.