It was definitely one of the poorest efforts of the year, but in the end, the Eagles defeated UMass 2-1 in game one of their best of three quarterfinal series on Friday @ Conte Forum. In reality, one good shift from Johnny Gaudreau, Pat Mullane, and Paul Carey and one terrible shift by UMass' defense, was the difference in the game. Johnny G made a pretty sweet pass to Mullane who put the Eagles up with just three minutes to go in the second stanza. A short 45 seconds later, Gaudreau made another great pass to Tommy Cross who made a great move at the point and ripped one past Minutemen goalie Kevin Boyle for the eventual game winner. Yes, BC won this game but they played maybe their worst game in over two months. The only reason they won is because Parker Milner was better than amazing all night long, especially in the second period when the Minutemen recorded 11 shots to BC's 3. There really isn't much to take out of this game besides the fact that we won. The Gaudreau-Mullane-Carey line was pretty good and the Whitney-Arnold-Almeida line was solid at times but the line of Straight-Hayes-Kreider really struggled all night long. I don't know what happend but the third line really struggled on both ends, especially late in the game when getting the puck out of the defensive zone is extremely crucial. Another thing that concerns me is that Brian Dumoulin is not playing nearly as much as he used to meaning he probably is not 100 % because I don't think his performance has been all that bad the last two weeks.
UMass outplayed the Eagles in all three zones and certainly deserved better fate tonight. The Minutemen had a goal called back in the middle of the second but they continued to battle really hard all night. Unfortunately for UMass, you really can't take a shift off vs BC. The one awful shift the Minutemen had on the night was the difference in the game by a mile. Maybe it's the speed of their forwards or something else that I can't think of but for one reason or another, BC really struggles vs UMass and even though they won tonight, they played like they did in those two losses @ UMass. I don't think I can say enough about the play of Parker Milner over the course of the last two months. It proves that even when the team in front of him is having an "off" night, he can still win a game for this team when they need it most. Overall, it's nice to get the win and get closer to making it to The Garden but if this team wants to win a championship, they need to play better for the remainder of the season.
Why BC Won
1. Parker Milner was great. Definitely one of his better performances on the season as he seems to be playing really well at the right time.
2. BC took advantage of one really bad shift by UMass. The Gaudreau-Mullane-Carey line was once again the best line for the Eagles but the other three lines need to step up.
Problems
1. The Kreider-Hayes-Straight line must play better for this team to win games. I actually think the staff could change up that line tomorrow which probably means moving Mike Sit back up.
2. BC got severely outplayed by a team that wanted it more. Yes, BC won but things MUST improve, that was not a good game.
Player of the game- Johnny Gaudreau with two assist in one shift.
Notes- The Eagles will look to end the Minutemen's season tomorrow night @ 7:00. The other winners tonight were...
Lowell over Providence (Series Tied)
Maine over Merrimack (UM up 1-0)
UNH OVER BU !!! (UNH up 1-0) !!
Stats/Notes
1. 18 shots is BC's lowest attempted all season long.
2. BC has won 11 straight vs UMass @ Conte Forum.
3. BC is now 28-7 in the Hockey East quarterfinals under Coach York.
4. BC has now won 12 straight games overall.
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