BC’s abbreviated unbeaten streak of three games came to an end on Friday afternoon as they fell to rival Notre Dame 5-2 at Conte Forum. I am going to offer a few quick thoughts before diving into some recruiting and coaching updates.
First of all, this was not BC’s best effort, particularly in the defensive zone. As with any contest involving Notre Dame, that game felt like watching paint dry for much of the afternoon, but I honestly thought BC did a pretty good job of breaking Notre Dame’s vaunted neutral zone scheme and generated a few quality chances throughout the game, particularly in the first and second periods. However, the two issues that have been plaguing this team all year reared their heads on Friday afternoon- porous play below their own blue line and bad penalties.
On the first Notre Dame goal, BC just looked like a bunch of chickens with their heads cut off in their own end. The BC winger rotated down to pick up the ND forward, who then moved the puck right up Chase Blackmun (former Lowell defenseman), who made a really nice pass to the eventual goal scorer, Nick Leivermann. BC had been playing well up to that point, but two blown assignments by their wingers- on each ND defenseman- led to a pretty easy goal for the Fighting Irish. It seemed like Mitch Benson kind of tripped when he was sliding over to make a play for the one-timer, but that goal certainly wasn’t his fault.
BC had a nice response when Andre Gasseau forced a turnover and found Trevor Kuntar in the slot, who ripped home a snap shot to tie the score with under 20 seconds left in the first period. Almost a minute into the second period, BC took their only lead of the contest, when the junior class hooked up for an Eamon Powell goal. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again- right now, Powell is by far BC’s best defenseman, so it was good to see him get on the scoresheet. Unfortunately, other than that shift, Notre Dame did a really good job of shutting down BC’s top line. They clearly made it a point to take away time and space from Cutter Gauthier, who seemed frustrated throughout the night. Notre Dame answered back almost a minute later, thanks to more horrendous defensive zone play from BC. One of BC’s defensemen couldn’t make a play on the puck to the right of Benson, and then BC’s center just got beat in the slot for an easy tap in goal. BC’s second line- the “Bruins line”- has been solid for most of the season, but for whatever reason, they were outplayed in their own zone for most of the night, including on the second Notre Dame goal.
The Notre Dame goal at the end of the second period was just bad all around. First, BC had two chances to clear the puck and they failed to do so. One of their junior wingers had it along the boards, failed to get it out, and then one of their freshmen defensemen just passed it right to the Notre Dame defenseman at the top of the blue line, who sent it towards Benson for a redirection. BC has these spurts where they are the better team for most of the night, but then just commit these boneheaded turnovers in their own zone. Notre Dame’s first three goals can all be tied back to either a missed assignment on BC’s part or a turnover. Now, give Notre Dame a lot of credit, because their structure and discipline had a lot to do with what happened yesterday, but BC just shoots themselves in the foot way too often. If they clean up these mistakes, they can be a good team, but they are not talented enough to overcome so many errors.
Anyways, I thought Notre Dame was the better team in the third period- it was the one portion of the game where I thought they thoroughly outplayed BC. On the fourth Notre Dame goal, one of BC’s forwards got toasted at the top of the zone and seconds later, the puck ended up in the back of the net. Just a frustrating night all around for the Eagles on the defensive side of things.
Overall, I think there are some invaluable lessons BC can take from this game, the biggest being that they have to clean things up in their own end. The games are not going to get any easier with Providence and BU on the horizon, so they need to make sure they beat Brown on Tuesday by playing good, clean hockey that will allow them to build momentum for those three crucial games to close the first half. On the flip side, there were portions of this game where BC was the better team- they generated a few quality chances, even when they went down 4-2.
They absolutely need to beat Brown on Tuesday night, but the Bears are no pushover, given that they just beat Providence at Providence. BC hasn’t suffered any horrible losses so far this season- it is why their floor is relatively high when it comes to the pairwise rankings. However, they will need to start winning games against the BUs, UConns, and Providences of the world if they want any chance of playing hockey in the spring. If they can take care of business against the Bears, perhaps they can parlay that into a great weekend vs one of the top teams in the country.
Onto the recruiting notes. BC had one of the top prospects in the country visit on Friday as Chicago Steel (USHL) forward Michael Hage was on campus for the game. Hage, from Ontario, is projected to be a top ten pick in the 2024 NHL Draft. Unfortunately, Hage has been injured for this entire season and has not played a game yet for the Steel. Last season, for the Toronto Jr Canadiens, Hage recorded 116 points in 57 games.
Another prospect to keep an eye on is Steel (USHL) forward Michael Emerson, a former UMass commit. Emerson, from New York, has posted 24 points in 19 games for the Steel so far this year. Per a source, both Emerson and Hage are considering BC, Michigan, and BU. A member of the BC coaching staff was at the Steel game last weekend.
Last but not least, BC has a new volunteer assistant coach. Former Eagle great Paul Carey has joined the staff as Brooks Orpik left to take a full time job with the Washington Capitals. Carey, a key player on the 2012 national title team, recorded 81 points in his four year career at BC and will primarily help with BC’s forwards.
That is all I have for now. Go Eagles.
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