Eagles fall to Maine in OT

Matt Mangene had the OT winner for Maine

Well, it was truly an amazing experience being in that place for that game tonight and it is something I will never forget for as long as I live. BC really played well for the first 55 minutes of that hockey game tonight as they had leads two time over the host Black Bears. Thanks to stupid penalties and bad neutral zone turnovers, Maine was able to walk away with a big win. Coach York said after game "The gameplan was for us to not give them opportunities on the power play" he later went on to say "We ultimately failed in that mission and it cost us the game". I really liked the way guys like Chirs Kreider, Bill Arnold, Brian Dumoulin and Johnny Gaudreau played but some guys just had an off night tonight. I thought the first Maine goal, a goal in which Edwin Shea turned the puck over behind our net, was just really bad. BC appeared to go up 2-0 early in the second but it was called back due to the puck being redirected in by Chris Kreider's skate. BC's power play was the best it has been all year as they were able to go 2-4 on the man advantage but also created a lot of great chances that forced Maine goalie Dan Sullivan to make some great stops.

In the OT, Maine did a great job of taking advantage of a BC neutral zone turnover and Will O'Neil made a great drop pass to Matt Mangene who bombed one over Chris Venti to give Maine the two points. I saw a lot of good things from BC tonight, I thought the power play was great tonight and I thought that the offensive chances were there. Even though they did not score, Maine's line of Abbott-Diamond-Flynn just dominated whoever they were out against. If BC wants to get out of here with a win tomorrow afternoon, they must find a way to stay out of the box and limit that line's chances.

Why BC lost- 

1. The penalties on Whitney and Wey. Steve Whitney got the worst penalty I have seen in awhile and Pat Wey followed it up with a cross-check just 15 seconds later that led to Maine tying the game.

2. I thought Chris Venti was good but let some softies in. I think Chris would like to have back the first and last Maine goals.

3. Maine's power play and first line are amazing. I have never seen a better power play, ever, in the time I have been going to BC/Hockey East games. The move it around so well.

Positives 

1. I thought BC played well. The Eagles were able to outshoot the Black Bear's and started getting the offense going again.

2. The power play. Overall, it was the best game of the year for the power play as they seemed to go goal for goal vs the best offensive team in the league in Maine.

3. There's always tomorrow. I really think BC will be ready to go for a big one on NESN here at the Alfond.

Next Up- Tomorrow 4 O'clock on NESN @ Maine

Check the road trip page to see what I thought of Alfond Arena