Eagles First in Hockey East after Three Straight Victories

Eagles First in Hockey East after Three Straight Victories

By: J.D. Biagioni

Who: Merrimack Warriors

Where: Kelley Rink

When: Friday, November 3, 7:00 PM

Result: 3-1 Eagles

After a grueling opening stretch, which included games against the current 1, 2, 6, 7, and 11 ranked teams nationally, the Eagles welcomed unranked Merrimack to Kelley Rink for the first half of a Hockey East home-and-home slate.

The first period saw no goals scored. The Eagles had two power play opportunities in the first ten minutes of the frame but were unable to capitalize. Casey Fitzgerald was tagged for hitting from behind at 14:43; this was Merrimack’s only man advantage of the night, as the Eagles, if only for one evening, showed great discipline after being in the box often on the previous road trip. There would be only one more infraction called on either side the rest of the way, a Merrimack tripping call in the third.

Things picked up in the second after a stagnant first. The two teams played five-on-five for the duration of the period and turned up the tempo. BC asserted its dominance by winning puck battles and getting quality scoring opportunities, but Merrimack goalie Craig Pantano made the key saves to keep the game scoreless. BC inched closer and closer to a goal, even ringing one off the crossbar; it seemed like only a matter of time before the Eagles would get on the board. It was Merrimack, however, who potted the first goal. Jonathan Kovacevic snapped a wrister from the left point to beat Woll at the halfway point of the period. BC didn’t take long to even the score, as Jesper Mattila scored three minutes later on a beautiful tic-tac-toe play with Christopher Grando and Aapeli Rasanen. Grando hit Rasanen in transition. Rasanen fed Mattila who tipped the puck past Pantano. BC controlled play the rest of the period, and, even though they went to the locker room tied, it sure felt as if BC had the advantage going into the third.

A defensive battle ensued in the third, as the shot totals were only 7-5 BC, down from 16-9 BC the previous period. It started to feel like the game was headed for overtime, but J.D. Dudek had other plans. Michael Karow rocketed one towards Pantano, who couldn’t control the rebound. Brown corralled the puck and cycled behind the net to feed Dudek at the offensive zone face-off dot. Dudek wasted no time in sniping one top-shelf before Pantano had time to react to give BC its first lead of the night. There were a few tense moments afterwards, but Woll turned away all Warriors shots and Brown scored an empty netter with eight seconds left to solidify BC’s first home victory of the season.

Number to know: 92-BC has taken 92% of the points available in its history against Merrimack at Kelley Rink (28-1-3).

 

 

Who: Merrimack Warriors

Where: Lawler Rink, North Andover, MA

When: Saturday, November 4, 7:00 PM

Result: 2-1 Eagles

The Eagles and Warriors made the 40 mile trek from Chestnut Hill to North Andover to do battle in the second half of a home-and-home series. BC defeated Merrimack 3-1 the previous night and was aiming for the four-point weekend sweep.

Both teams made sure that this first period would not be scoreless, as was the one at Kelley Rink Friday night. BC got on the board first with a Casey Fitzgerald goal just under halfway through the period. Jesper Mattila faked a shot and dropped the puck back to Fitzgerald at the blue line, and Fitzgerald had no problem rifling a puck past the traffic in front of Craig Pantano. Merrimack evened things up five minutes later off a breakout play. Jonathan Kovacevic began the transition by sending the puck out of the Merrimack zone to Brett Seney. Seney skated down the right side through the neutral zone and into BC territory. He hit Sami Tavernier through the seam and Tavernier finished before Joe Woll could transition across the crease. One minute later, the scoring bonanza continued; this time it was Christopher Grando who gave BC the 2-1 lead. Aapeli Rasanen and Logan Hutsko led the charge, but Grando was the one who finished the play by tipping the puck under Pantano’s pads.

Lots of power plays dominated the second period and provided the opportunity for scoring chances, but neither team could capitalize. BC killed off a 5-on-3 power play in the first few minutes of the period. As the latter of the two penalties expired, Jesper Mattila was awarded a penalty shot on a hooking call but failed to give the Eagles a two goal advantage.

There wasn’t much action in the third before the final minute of play, when chaos ensued. Merrimack sent Pantano to the bench for the extra attacked and generated a powerful final push. With around one second remaining, Woll took exception to being run into by a Merrimack skater, which resulted in the BC goalie losing his helmet. Woll landed a few punches and even attempted a kick during the scrum that followed the whistle. He was given two for roughing, five for kicking, and a game misconduct. The disqualification meant he’d miss the upcoming UCONN game. Jes. Mattila, Connor Moore, Brett Seney, and Ludvig Larsson were also assessed minors for hitting after the whistle. Merrimack had a 6-on-3 with the remaining second and almost scored off the draw, but Ryan Edquist turned it away to secure the BC win.

Number to know: 25-the number of penalty minutes assessed at 19:58 of the third, including the Woll ejection.

 

 

Who: UCONN Huskies

Where: Kelley Rink

When: Tuesday, November 7, 7:00 PM

Result: 2-1 Eagles

Sophomore Ryan Edquist got the start in net for suspended Joseph Woll as the Eagles looked to win their third straight game. Coming into the game, the Eagles had not dropped a contest against the UCONN Huskies since the programs’ first ever meeting in 2014.

All three goals scored in the game happened in the second period and when someone was in the box. Jacob Tortora was nabbed for hooking three minutes into the second period. Jeff Wight used the opportunity to put the Huskies on the board. BC had a short-handed rush but goalie Adam Huska turned away the shot and paddled the puck to Karl El-Mir. El-Mir led the Husky rush before dumping the puck off to Wight, who snapped the puck past Edquist.

Chris Brown was whistled for slashing mid-way through the period to put the Eagles at another disadvantage. This time, however, BC was able to generate a short-handed goal. Heavy offensive zone pressure forced Huska into making an errant pass. Logan Hutsko picked off the pass and fed the streaking Julius Mattila, who finished past the discombobulated Huska.

The penalties continued, but this time BC was the beneficiary of a 5-on-4 advantage after a Ben Freeman hooking call. Graham McPhee penetrated the zone and passed to JD Dudek as Michael Kim worked to free himself from the defense. Kim corralled a Dudek pass and slapped the eventual game winner past Huska.

This was not the cleanest game BC has played, but Edquist really bailed them out. He made some excellent stops to keep the score at 2-1 and secure six points in the last three games. BC hits the road for a weekend series with Vermont and a game with UNH the following weekend. Then it’s five straight against Beanpot foes. The Eagles are currently first in the Hockey East, despite a sub-.500 overall record.

Number to know: 8-the number of Hockey East points BC has, putting them in first in the conference.