BOSTON — As was the case in a pair of regular-season wins in November, Boston University’s robust power play was too much for Maine on Friday night at TD Garden.

The second-ranked Terriers scored twice with the man advantage and added an empty-net goal in a 4-1 victory over the seventh-ranked Black Bears in the Hockey East semifinals.

BU (26-8-2) will face top-ranked Boston College on Saturday night for the conference title. Maine (23-11-2), playing in its first Hockey East semifinal in 12 years, awaits Sunday night’s NCAA Tournament selection show to see where and when it will play next.

The Black Bears outshot BU by a large margin, 33-18, but the Terriers were more opportunistic, especially on the power play.

“I thought we played hard. The first 10 minutes, I thought we were a little jumpy, which maybe is to be expected,” Maine Coach Ben Barr said.

BU’s power play, ranked second nationally only to Michigan’s in terms of efficiency, struck in the second period to open a 2-0 lead, then restored a two-goal cushion midway through the third period. Shortly after the Black Bears cut their deficit to 2-1, Ryan Greene took pass in the right circle from Hockey East player of the year Macklin Celebrini and ripped a shot past Maine goalie Albin Boija.

It was BU’s sixth power-play goal on 11 tries this season against the Black Bears, including 2 for 3 on Friday.

“You give a team like that grade-A chances in the slot, whether it’s power play or 5 on 5, it’s in the back of the net. There’s no margin for error,” Barr said.

The Terriers took a 1-0 lead at 8:59 of the first period when Greene fired a one-timer off Quinn Hutson’s pass from the right circle into the left corner of the net.

BU was held without a shot for the first nine minutes of the second period, but with Maine’s Nolan Renwick in the penalty box for holding, the Terriers needed just 25 seconds with the man advantage to capitalize. Lane Hutson’s shot from just outside the left circle made it 2-0 at 9:21.

“I thought we played pretty good overall,” said Maine captain Lynden Breen. “You make one mistake… and they just capitalize. Especially on the power play.”

It looked as if the Terriers had another power-play goal early in the third, but after video review, Shane Lachance’s goal was disallowed because BU was offsides entering the zone.

The Black Bears then struck for a power-play goal at 6:48 of the third. Breen’s tough-angle shot from the right of the net, almost parallel with the goal line, found the upper left corner and cut BU’s lead to 2-1.

BU Coach Jay Pandolfo said the sudden momentum shift that came with the loss of the goal and Maine subsequent power-play tally didn’t faze his team.

“You think you’re up 3-0, and all of a sudden it’s taken away. Then they score,” Pandolfo said. “Our guys, they do a lot of the talking on the bench this time of year. They hold each other accountable. They said ‘hey, it’s not going to hurt us. Just keep playing.’ ”

Maine pulled Boija (14 saves) for an extra attacker with 4:o4 left, and while the Black Bears maintained pressure on BU goalie Matthieu Caron (32 saves) throughout the final minutes, they could not get another shot past him. Caron made 26 saves over the final two periods.

“Knowing he’s back there, he makes it easy for our D. He’s that extra layer. He always has our backs, and we like to have his back too,” Lane Hutson said of Caron.

With 27.6 seconds remaining, Sam Stevens scored an empty-net goal for the final margin.

Despite the loss, Maine is likely to be a No. 2 seed when the 16-team field for the NCAA Tournament is announced Sunday night. Boston College and Boston University have clinched No. 1 seeds.

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