BOSTON, Mass. - Sophomore goaltender Matt O'Connor's career-high 55 saves helped the Boston University men's ice hockey team earn a 3-3 tie with No. 14/15 North Dakota on Saturday night at Agganis Arena.
BU (6-6-1) led twice but needed a third-period goal from freshman Robbie Baillargeon to erase North Dakota's (4-6-2) lone lead of the contest. Twenty-four of O'Connor's 55 stops came in the third period.
The Terriers also received goals from senior Garrett Noonnan and freshman Nick Roberto. Sophomore Matt Lane had two assists and freshman Dalton MacAfee's assist on Baillargeon's marker was his first collegiate point.
North Dakota held a commanding 58-31 shot advantage and each team went one-for-seven on the power play. UND recorded 19 power-play shots on the night.
The tie closed the books on a successful weekend series for the Terriers, as they posted a 3-1 victory over UND on Friday.
BU opened the scoring on a 4-on-3 power play at 6:57 of the first period when Noonan beat UND goaltender Zane Gothberg high glove side from the left circle on a wrister. Lane picked up his first of two assists on the night and sophomore Ahti Oksanen earned his team-best ninth assist of the season.
UND notched an equalizer just under two minutes when Bryn Chyzyk's turnaround shot from the right circle eluded O'Connor at the far post. Wade Murphy and Keaton Thompson were credited with assists on the play.
BU took a 2-1 lead in the second when it once again scored just under seven minutes into the period. Roberto notched his fourth goal of the year on a one-timer from the right circle at 6:59 after taking a feed from sophomore Danny O'Regan from behind the net.
North Dakota had an even quicker response this time around, scoring 14 seconds later when Stephane Pattyn converted from the low slot after Michael Parks caused a turnover behind the BU goal.
UND took their only lead of the weekend at 6:45 of the third when Adam Tambellini was the beneficiary of some strong power-play passing by Brendan O'Donnell and Connor Gaarder, giving him a wide-open net to shoot on at the right circle.
Baillargeon provided the game-tying tally on a broken play off a rush midway through the third. The freshman took a pass from MacAfee before finding junior Evan Rodrigues up the middle. The puck got knocked loose in the slot and made its way back to Baillargeon, who potted his fourth tally of the season at the foot of the right circle.
The Terriers gave the visitors back-to-back power-play chances soon after making it a 3-3 contest, but did not pay the price for them. BU got a chance with the man advantage late in regulation, but could not convert.
In overtime, play was back and forth before the Terriers turned on the pressure in the final minute, but ultimately settled for the draw.
The Terriers will travel to Madison Square Garden to take on Cornell in the fourth installment of Red Hot Hockey next Saturday (Nov 30). Game time is set for 8 p.m.