BC Hockey: The Empire Strikes Back.
BU Terriers Weekend Sweep the Eagles.
By: Luke Ballard
In their worst weekend yet, Boston College (19–12–1, 13–9–0 Hockey East) was outscored 8–2 in a home-away series by the Boston University Terriers (16–15–2, 12–11–0 HEA).
On Friday at Agganis Arena, the Terriers beat BC 3–1. Dean Letourneau scored BC’s only goal, bringing his season total to 19 and his point tally to 34. The Eagles were out-worked in all areas, a surprise after their strong showing the previous weekend.
Ryder Ritchie and Cole Eiserman would open the scoring, both netting a goal each in the first period to give BU a 2–0 lead that they would hang onto until the latter half of the second period. Eiserman now leads the Terriers in goals with 15 on the season, and one in each game this weekend. With Letourneau’s goal pulling the Eagles within one, Jack Harvey would score on an empty net to close the game.
Greg Brown continued to shift lines as the Eagles dealt with injuries and stifled production, as Oskar Jellvik appeared in his fourth and fifth games, respectively. Jellvik, who went out of commission in early March of last year, with his last game played being BC’s 8–2 Beanpot semifinal win over Northeastern, has not seen the ice much as he battles with injuries of his own. With 72 points in his career, Jellvik could be a key player in the late-season run-in.
Saturday’s contest seemingly went from bad to worse, as the Eagles suffered a 5–1 loss at the hands of the Terriers, with the lone goal coming late in the first period from Jellvik. Only trailing 2–1 heading into the third period, BC would allow three more unanswered goals.
The story of the night for BC would be their struggling power play, which has been among the best in the nation as of late. Saturday’s game saw the Eagles’ special teams unit kill two penalties, while going 0-for-3 on their own odd-man advantages. The Eagles’ lone goal on Friday was a product of the power play; however, Saturday’s unit could not seem to resemble anything close to what we have seen all season.
To put it simply, the Eagles were outclassed this weekend in unusual fashion and fell to 2–2 on the year against the Terriers. The team that swept UConn last weekend and that dismantled BU in the Beanpot final was nowhere to be found. BC looked helpless on the ice as BU seemingly skated circles around the Eagles’ defensemen and forwards.
As for implications within the NPI rankings, the Eagles have fallen to no. 13, pushing themselves closer to the bubble and imminent danger. BC remains second in Hockey East, as UConn saw itself drop its weekend series with UMass, marking its fourth loss in a row. However, BC can consider itself lucky that the Hockey East standings saw little movement, but now, going into the last weekend of the regular season, only four points separate places second through sixth.
It is imperative for the Eagles to finish within the top five, as it would be favorable to avoid the opening play in the round that seeds 6–11 participate in. As long as the Eagles can pick up some form of points in their upcoming weekend games, they should look to finish somewhere in the top four, where they would host a home game in round two.
Looking forward to this weekend, BC will travel to NPI no. 20 UMass on Thursday for a 7:00 pm puck drop. The Minutemen, who have won 11 in their last 13, are certainly a force to be reckoned with, despite BC’s dominant weekend sweep earlier in the season. The Eagles will round out their season with Boston rival Northeastern, which got the better of the Eagles with a weekend sweep early in the season. Puck drop will be at 7:00 pm for what will surely be a high-octane matchup to close regular-season play.