Black Bears Use Big First Period to Defeat BC

Devin Shore had two goals for Maine

For the fourth straight game, the Eagles gave what could be described as a "half hearted" effort only this time they payed the price as they were blown out of the building by the Maine Black Bears, 5-1. First of all, let's give a lot of credit to Red Gendron and his team. They played extremely tenacious in all three zones but especially in the neutral zone. They didn't give BC anything, no odd man rushes, no breakaways, no real grade A chances, just nothing. I don't know how good that Maine team will be this year but man did they play hard last night. From puck drop to the final whistle, white shirts were flying all over the ice.

As for the boys in maroon and gold. That certainly wasn't the case. How do you know your team is not ready to play ? When you give up a goal thirty seven seconds into the game on what should have been a relatively simple 2 on 2 rush. BC's defense just got beat all night in every aspect, it also didn't help that Brian Billett had as tough a night as he is ever going to have in between the pipes. You know how we were talking about how BC's first period vs Harvard was their best of the year ? Well last night was without a doubt their worst of the year. They looked liked they wanted to be somewhere else besides Alfond Arena. Their opponent on the other hand looked like a pack of gorillas that had just been released from the zoo.

Surprisingly, none of Maine's five goals came on the power play and I actually thought BC's penalty was the only bright spot on the night. When it came to the goals though, they were just awful. Not picking up guys, letting up awful rebounds, being outnumbered in front of the net, losing battles in the neutral zone...I could go on for while but I will stop. It was just an all around horrible effort in the first period and you can't beat good hockey teams on the road without playing solid for all sixty minutes.

The Eagles actually carried the play substantially over the course of the last forty minutes but Maine's goalie Martin Ouellette stood on his head. If he continues to play like that, Maine is going to be real tough come playoff time. I thought BC's second line of Hayes, Straight, and Fitzgerald was probably the only line that played somewhat OK but other than that, it was pretty horrific to watch. The defense, well, they struggled. Mightily.

At the end of the day, Maine is a tough place to win and it's just one loss. When you keep playing the way BC has, you're going to lose hockey games and when you face quality clubs and play like that, you will get smoked. That's what happened last night. If it sounds like I'm worried, I'm not. I think we have a great team this year and when Demko gets back next week, I think the goaltending situation will start to play itself out. With a young team, we're going to see bumps in the road and tonight certainly was. It's no reason to blow it all up and fix things but the Eagles certainly need to be ready to face what will be a determined Holy Cross team next weekend.

Why BC lost- 

1. The first period was awful. There is no other way to put it, no one stood out and played well in maroon.

2. Maine played awesome. They were ready to play. We weren't. End of story.

Positives- 

1. The penalty kill was fine. The Black Bears were 0/5 on the PP.

Go Eagles.