A Huge Step

Photo from The Heights

Christmas came 12 days in advance for the Eagles last night as the picked up a potentially season altering victory over the University of Michigan Wolverines. It's been a year full of bad puck luck for the maroon and gold but they found a way to change that up last night as they converted on their chances while the maize and blue didn't. BC moved from 31st to 25th in the latest pairwise rankings, their biggest leap of the season. If you were at the game you would agree with me that the score really doesn't tell the whole story. Michigan outplayed us for practically the entire second period, with help from the refs, but the way Thatcher Demko played was nothing short of amazing. In fact, his 41 saves are the most in his young BC career. Within the first four minutes of the game, Michigan hit two posts and were denied on a breakaway chance so if Teddy Doherty doesn't find a way to put home practically BC's first good chance of the night, we might be looking at a different story. We talked about how Michigan's weakness was their play in their own end and I think it was quiet evident in the first twenty minutes last night. BC forechecked hard and forced them to run around for more time than they probably would have liked. Overall, BC was probably the better team in the first stanza but it was their execution that made the difference.

Like I think everyone expected, the Wolverines came out firing in the middle frame but thanks to Demko, they were held off the board until late in the third. The teams had a role reversal from the first as we were running around our end and taking bad penalties but ironically the usually potent Michigan power play wasn't able to come through. I'd say that the penalty kill has been the most improved aspect from day one to today. They're blocking shots, taking away passing lanes, giving opponents less time at the point and most importantly, they're getting great goaltending. It would be nice if we could get a few more power plays here and there. 

I thought there were a lot of guys that played at the type of level the staff needs them to play at in order to win hockey games in the second half of the season. Tuch was tremendous, McCoshen continues to look like BC's best overall blue liner, Doherty keeps finding ways to put the puck in the net, and obviously Demko is playing at of his mind right now. The fourth line of Silk-Gaudreau-Spiro played perhaps it's best game of the semester while seniors Quinn Smith and Destry Straight have been shining as of late. 

Anyone who thinks this is any other win is just flat out wrong. Michigan's got a lot of really good players on their club and we know that no matter how "low" BC may be at times, they still have the best defense, goaltender, and Coach in college hockey. Say what you want about this team but they clearly are working their butts off out there and getting a full roster back January 9th at Northeastern can only help the cause. Big win but still a long ways to go. 

I highly recommend attending the World Jr team camp this week at BU. They will play the Terriers on Friday night @ Walter Brown Arena before making cuts. Tuch, Santini, McCoshen, Demko, Hanifin, Miles Wood and Jeremy Bracco are all on the preliminary roster. 

Go Eagles