Eagles escape with a 4-3 win over New Hampshire

Steve Whitney after his game winner. Photo by  Melissa Wade 

It was another classic Hockey East battle as the Eagles defeated UNH for their fourth straight win over the Wildcats. BC got off to a great start as Kevin Hayes (who had an outstanding game) tallied a goal just 35 seconds in the contest. After controlling the play for the rest of the period but with nothing to show for it, the Eagles then went on to give up a bad goal to the Wildcats just 3 minutes into the middle stanza. John Henrion skated in on Milner who was able to make the initial save but Henrion followed the puck to the corner and fired back in front as it was soon tipped in by Austin Block to tie things up. Right after that, it seemed UNH was really taking it to BC as the Wildcats scored again just 3 minutes later to go up 2-1. Give credit to UNH, they may not be too good this year but they really battled hard and had a lead late in this game. After the Cats' took the lead for the first time, Chris Kreider may have scored the goal of the year as he just completely flew by a UNH defenseman to get the puck and eventually beat DeSmith to tie it up while on the PK.

The third period was a lot like the first in the sense that BC was all over UNH but the Wildcats were ones who took the lead with 5 minutes to go as Scott Pavelski picked up a Trevor van Riemsdyk rebound and put it past Milner. Just seconds after the UNH goal, Austin Block was called for interference to give BC a power play. The power play struggled most of the night but scored when it mattered most as Johnny Gaudreau tied it up after tipping in a Brian Dumoulin shot from the point. With 51 seconds to go, Steve Whitney capped off his game of the year with the game winning goal when he snipped one past DeSmith from the top of the circle (An awesome pass by Pat Mullane to get it to Whitney)

Well, it wasn't pretty but any night we win and The Other School losses it's a great night. BC moved to just one game back of BU as both teams hit the ice once again tomorrow (BC @ UNH, Maine @ BU). I thought a couple of guys were just outstanding tonight. Guys like Chris Kreider, Johnny Gaudreau, and Kevin Hayes really played well tonight. As I said, the star players on this team like Gaudreau, Kreider, and Hayes need to step up and tonight they certainly did. I think Barry Almeida continues to be one of the most underrated players in the league as he played great on both ends. Did a Couple of bounces go our way ? Sure, but I thought those last five minutes were the best since the 60 minutes in the raid on Agganis in December. Great team win tonight but another must win tomorrow to keep pace in pairwise and standings.

Why BC won 

1. Key guys stepped up. When guys like Gaudreau, Kreider, and Hayes are playing at that level, BC is tough to beat.

2. The penalty kill. A great night for a unit that kind of struggled last weekend @ Maine. UNH did not have a ton of great looks tonight.

3. BC really dominated the hockey game. Not only did BC win but they controlled the game. The Eagles outshot the Wildcats by a 34-13 margin.



Problems 

1. Parker Milner struggled tonight. The goaltending issue continues to kill this team as I think we will definitely see another number in net @ The Whit tomorrow night.

2. I think the power play still needs improvement. Yes, the tying goal was big but going 1/5 isn't going to cut it.

Next Up- Saturday night @ UNH 7 o'clock puck drop

Player of the Game- I can't decided on about three guys. Ill go with Steve Whitney because of the game winner.