Merrimack Series Thoughts

Alright, I wanted to offer a few quick thoughts on the series against Merrimack. First of all, obviously, a bad weekend all around for the Eagles. I thought they got outplayed for five of the six periods, with the exception being the second period on Saturday. This was not a fluke- Merrimack was awesome in their own end, they blocked a ton of shots, and they won the special teams battle over the course of both games. I was very impressed with how the Warriors played, especially at their defensive blue line. It felt like at times, BC ran into a wall in the neutral zone and when the Eagles tried to get it down low to create something, Merrimack consistently won the battles on the boards. 

BC is in a rut right now on the offensive end. They have just one even strength goal in their last nine periods. On Thursday, the staff adjusted the lines with the hope of creating a more balanced attack, but Merrimack shut down any opportunities BC had and let’s be honest, there were not many. Merrimack’s first goal on Thursday was a result of a BC defenseman getting beat to the puck in the corner and then the winger just totally losing sight of the Warrior defender behind him. Furthermore, entering this weekend, BC was one of the least penalized teams in the country, but on Thursday they took three or four boneheaded penalties, one of which led to a five minute major and then an eventual Merrimack goal. I thought BC’s penalty kill had some bright spots, but Merrimack scored two goals this weekend thanks to a guy being unchallenged in front of the BC net. The Warriors’ second goal on Thursday was just a simple deflection in front of Mitch Benson- neither of BC’s two defensemen picked up the guy and what do you know, the puck ends up in the back of the net. On Saturday, BC finally got a spark when Cutter Gauthier scored a power-play goal, but two shifts later, they took a dumb too many men on the ice penalty and Merrimack once again planted a guy in front of the net who was able to score. It was disappointing to see BC come out so flat on Saturday afternoon- I figured after what transpired on Thursday they would be ready to go, but Merrimack absolutely dominated the first part of the game. Merrimack’s first goal on Saturday was the result of a horrible shift from BC’s first line in which they got pinned in their own end for what seemed like fifteen minutes. The end result was Merrimack winning a battle behind the net and then beating Benson five-hole (I think he would want that first goal back). 

Anyways, BC came out flying in the second period on Saturday. They were constantly applying pressure and were rewarded with a golden opportunity to tie the game when Merrimack took a bad too many men penalty of their own to give the Eagles a 5 on 3. Coach Brown used his timeout to give the first unit, which had already been out there for 45 seconds, a breather, but even though BC won the ensuing offensive zone face-off, they could not put the puck in the net at the most crucial point of the game. I thought BC had a couple of good looks on the two-man advantage, but in that scenario, down a goal after losing the first game of the series, you absolutely have to capitalize and tie the game up. They were unable to do that and of course, Merrimack seized on the momentum they garnered from that kill and put the game away shortly after that. 

Look, there really is no way to sugarcoat what happened this weekend- that was the first time BC has been swept by Merrimack since a month after Bill Clinton was sworn in for a second term. I thought there were a couple of bright spots- I liked Oskar Jellvik’s game, particularly on Thursday, Cutter Gauthier was playing with much more pace on Saturday, and Eamon Powell continues to emerge as the team’s top defenseman, but there were too many guys who simply just did not make enough plays to help the team out this weekend. Like I said in the preseason preview, BC is going to go by how its junior class goes- when Trevor Kuntar, Nikita Nesterenko, and Colby Ambrosio are playing at a high level, this team can win games, when they are off, it is going to be a slog. I am sure it is tough to swallow right now- no one wants to get swept- but I am also absolutely 100% confident that this team will be playing its best hockey at the end of the season. They’re still growing, learning how to play with one another, and obviously adjusting to a new way of doing things. There will be downs because they simply do not have the firepower at the moment needed to compete consistently on the highest level (that will change very soon), but they will also surprise people at certain times. 

BC is about to face a Northeastern team that, while banged up, has won three games in a row. In order to right the ship, they absolutely need to flip the switch when it comes to special teams- you can’t consistently lose the special teams battle and expect to win in Hockey East. BC has had three straight games now where its power-play has cost them big time. This team, as of now, is not good enough 5 on 5 to have a power-play that is converting at such a low rate. Anyways, we knew there would be some growing pains this year- but I have no doubt that the staff will get this team off the mat and ready to play next Friday night. See you then.