We're Going Three

Thanks to a pair of power play goals and an assist from Brady Shaw, the Vermont Catamounts picked up their second win of the season at Kelley Rink, defeating BC 3-1 and forcing a decisive game three tonight. First of all, tip your cap to the green and gold, I thought they came out and did a great job of weathering the storm before capitalizing on the two big chances they had. Truth be told, BC should have been up a goal or two after the first ten minutes but unfortunately, they just couldn't get anything by Hoffman. Amazingly enough, Vermont's two goals were basically living images of each other. Each time Shaw came off the half-wall, cut towards the net and fired one by Demko who seemed a tad off tonight after a solid outing on Friday. I'm not sure how those shots got by him but I also know that someone should have at least tried to block a shot. Every time we had a power play, their guys sacrificed the body to block a shot yet when we went on the kill, no one felt the need to prevent a shot from getting to the net.

The second period was another one of those in which BC outplayed an opponent for nearly the entire twenty minutes but once again, they couldn't get much by an opponent's goaltender. BC was able to convert on a 4 on 3 power play thanks to a great play by Ryan Fitzgerald, someone who played one of his better games in a long time last night. BC's second line generated a ton of quality chances, the third line had the puck in the zone every shift, the fourth line had some shots, but the first line had one of their worst games of the season. Actually, I thought Gilmour played pretty well but for whatever reason, the other two guys weren't playing nearly as well as BC needs them to be. I thought Vermont did a very good of being physical with Sanford all night long as it seemed he was worn out by the end of the game. Someone tweeted out that Tuch has just one shot in the two games so far which is surprising because he had been playing so well coming into this weekend. Hopefully he can find his groove tonight.

The third period was basically the same movie we had watched in the second, except there was absolutely nothing to show for it this time around. We had the puck in their zone the entire time which included a power play with 6 minutes to go but we just couldn't get anything by Hoffman. I thought the effort and chances were there but in reality, this team has got to start scoring more goals. We can't be outplaying teams so badly and not having any goals to show for it on the scoreboard.

In the end, this is do or die tonight. Everyone keeps saying that we're in the NCAA tournament no matter what but I am not buying it one bit. If we lose, we drop to 13th and there will almost certainly be an upset or two in the conference tournament finals next weekend. If we win, we move up to 8th and have a chance at potentially being a #2 seed in Providence or Manchester. Let's forget about the pairwise for a second though. Let's think about the Hockey East tournament. This is Boston College. We don't not make the final four of our own conference tournament, let alone for two straight seasons. I refuse to believe that Coach York will let them lose this game tonight. He knows this team has the capabilities to beat anyone in the country but he also is aware that a lose tonight could signal the end of another season and BC's NCAA tournament hopes. He's going to go in there and get them fired up to play but it's not his fault that the top guys are not putting the puck in the net. These are the types of games where your best players are truly your best players. We need that tonight. Let's see what they got.

No notes. Game 3 @ 6.

Go Eagles