Destination: The Garden !

For the 8th time in the last 10 years, the Boston College Eagles will be one of the final four teams in the Hockey East playoffs. The Eagles defeated UMass 3-2 tonight in a hard fought, emotional, and up tempo game that in the end, was won by outstanding goaltending from Parker Milner. The Eagles actually trailed 1-0 early on as UMass forward Conor Sheary put home a beautiful pass from linemate TJ Syner. This was the first time in 687 minutes (13 games) that the Eagles actually trailed an opponent at any time of a game. It didn't take long for the Eagles to match Sheary's goal as Pat Mullane knotted his 8th goal of the season while the teams were skating four on four. Johnny Gaudreau added an assist on the goal meaning he now has 14 points in his last 10 games and has at least one point in 9 of those 10 games. The Eagles were unable to capitalize on 3:30 of power play time when UMass' Steven Guzzo was ejected for hitting Patch Alber from behind. It seemed that the Eagles were taking too many shots from the point which isn't a bad thing but with the Minutemen being a team that is very good at blocking shots, they were able to kill it off. At the 8:18 mark, Bill Arnold made a fantastic pass to a streaking Paul Carey who was easily able to tap the puck past UMass goalie Kevin Boyle. I thought the Eagles played much better in the first period compared to last night's opening stanza. It seemed like every line had a lot more energy then they did a night ago.

The second period was pretty entertaining to say the least as the teams combined for seven penalties and something extremely unusual happend, BC gave up a PP goal.  Joel Hanley's power play goal towards the end of the period marked the first time since the Beanpot that the Eagles gave up a PP goal (The team killed off 16 straight power plays in that time). I thought the play of Parker Milner was fantastic once again but was at it's pinnacle in the second and third. UMass did a great job of using their speed to generate chances in the BC end but every time they did, it seemed like Parker was there to gobble up the puck. I thought the Eagles responded with a much better effort on the offensive end tonight. After the Hanley goal, I thought the Straight-Hayes-Kreider line had an exceptional shift that included a great effort by Chris Kreider who got the puck to Brian Dumoulin who then bombed one past Boyle for his 6th goal of the year. Kreider just outworked the UMass defender down low and made a great pass to Dumoulin who made a great toe drag  (He says he learned it from Tommy Cross) move past a Minutemen forward and then eventually fired one past Boyle.

In the third, I thought the Eagles did a great job of holding up on the defensive end. The Minutemen had their best chance to tie it up when Isaac Macleod took a holding penalty in the middle of the period. Led by outstanding penalty killing from guys like Bill Arnold and Barry Almeida, the Eagles were able to hold off the Minutemen. In the last couple of minutes, I thought the line of Gaudreau-Mullane-Carey did a great job of keeping the puck down low and even forcing an offensive zone faceoff with thirty seconds to play (UMass was not happy about that whistle). Overall, I thought both teams gave a valiant effort but in the end, the Minutemen will once again go back to Amherst disappointed that they couldn't finish on a lot of their best chances all weekend. Back to the Garden for the Eagles !!

Why BC Won 

1.Parker Milner is just too good. There has been no hotter goalie in the country over the last month as Parker continued to prove that he can perform well on the big stage.

2. BC had more energy tonight. I thought the team played much better tonight and came out with a lot of energy but that UMass team was definitely a tough matchup for the Eagles. 

3. I thought the Gaudreau-Mullane-Carey line was great. This line is quickly turning into one of the top lines in the league. Pat Mullane had one of his best weekends of the year while Carey and Johnny G continued to stay hot.

Problems 

1. I don't have anything to complain about. Even though we had a power play goal, I think the PP needs some improvement for next weekend.

Player of the game- I thought Brian Dumoulin played really well tonight. Yes he is injured but he battled all night and put the Eagles on top late in the second with his 6th goal of the year.

Notes- 

1. BC has now won 13 straight games and 10 straight in Hockey East.

2. This is BC's eight straight sweep of an opponent in the quarterfinal rounds.

3. Parker Milner recorded his first career point with an assist on Dumoulin's goal.

The Scenarios for who BC could play

IF these are the results...

Lowell beats PC

BU beats UNH

Maine beats MC....

BC would play Maine. 

If Providence wins, BC automatically gets the Friars. If UNH, Lowell, and Maine win, BC gets UNH. 

Until next time,

GO EAGLES