BC got its most important win of the season on Friday night as they took down archrival Boston University 9-6 in front of a packed Conte Forum crowd. The win propelled the Eagles to 21 in the pairwise rankings, nearly 20 spots ahead of where they were after the 4-4 tie at Northeastern a month ago.
For time's sake, I am not going to recap every goal- we would be here until Christmas if I did so, but I want to touch on a few key points I took away from Friday. First of all, I loved the way they competed all night. They got punched in thejerthere, but they kept sticking with it. To be honest, it was probably one of the wildest BC BU games I can ever remember- right there with the game in which BC put up another 9 spot, this time in 2011 at Agganis Arena. It honestly felt like watching a Big 12 football game involving two high powered offenses- you knew when BC had a chance, they were going to score. Conversely, when BU got on the rush, you knew they were going to cash in as well. Whether it was the first game at Northeastern, at Providence last weekend, or Friday, this BC team has shown an ability to battle back after facing some adversity that is a great sign going forward.
In a game like that, you need your top players to show up. In my mind, Nikita Nesterenko played his best game in a BC uniform. BC went down 3-2 a little less than two minutes into the second period, but Nesterenko came back down the ice and made a great pass to Liam Izyk, who had all day to tap one by BU goalie Drew Commesso. You could tell right from the get go that Nesterenko brought his A game- the Terriers controlled the first five or so minutes of the game, but after a really good shift from Nesterenko shortly thereafter, BC took momentum and was able to score two really quick goals, both from freshmen defensemen- Lukas Gustafsson and Charlie Leddy. I thought Gustafsson had a really strong game- he continues to be a catalyst on the offensive side of things, but I also liked his defensive game as he did a good job of making some critical clears and leading breakouts.
Obviously, Cutter Gauthier was tremendous in the offensive zone. Gauthier looked like a man amongst boys out there- he reminds me of Chris Kreider in the way he plays because of his shot and his playmaking ability- he may not be the skater Kredier was (few come even close), but it seems like every time he gets his stick on the puck in the offensive end, a scoring chance is on the way.
Another guy who played his best game in a BC uniform was Connor Joyce. On Gauthier's first goal, BC's fourth, Joyce made a great play in the corner by finding Gauthier wide open in the slot, only for #19 to do the rest. On BC's sixth goal of the night, the eventual game winner, Joyce just made a great individual play- he forced a turnover in the neutral zone, thanks to an errant BU pass, and then took all the time and space BU captain Case McCarthy gave him to eventually roof one by Commesso, giving BC the one goal advantage. It is always pretty cool seeing a local kid, especially one who is so familiar with this rivalry, play such an immense role in these games, so kudos to Joyce for putting together that type of performance.
I thought the third period was one of BC's best all season. I won't lie, after what happened at Matthews a few weeks ago, I was feeling a bit queasy going into the final frame, but they played exceptional defensive hockey for the vast majority of that period. On top of that, despite not having his best night, Mitch Benson made some key saves in the middle portion of the period to preserve the three goal advantage for the Eagles. BC was able to get out of last week with a win and two ties because of Benson's play- it was time for the team in front of him to step up and they did that. Another note- how about BC's power-play? The Eagles went 3/3 on the man-advantage and they now have the 6th best unit in the country- a vast improvement from a season ago, when they were 30th. When you have a handful of skilled players who bring so many different attributes to the table like BC does, it is a recipe for a really good power-play and we are at the point now where it feels like they are going to get a prime scoring opportunity on almost every chance they get. Hopefully they can continue to play at this level.
On the defensive side of things, I already mentioned Gustaffson, who I thought was great, but I thought Eamon Powell continued to display why he is BC's best defenseman. I know I sound like a broken record on this, but Powell has cemented himself as one of the top blue liners in Hockey East this season- he really uses his speed well when it comes to getting out of trouble in the defensive zone. It is an area where I think a few of BC's younger defensemen could really learn from him. It felt like he was out there every other shift in the third period as BC was fighting to fend off a Terrier charge and he did more than his part in preserving the lead.
BC did give up a goal with 1:30 remaining, which, yes, did make me a bit nervous, but an empty net goal from Christian O'Neill shortly thereafter put the game on ice- it was his first in a BC uniform. You knew BU would make a push at the end, but BC stood tall and was able to come away with their most important win of the season to this point.
I will have a post over Christmas break detailing where this team is at the moment and what they have to do to make a run in the second half, but all in all, I am feeling very optimistic about this program at the moment. Make no mistake about it, on paper, BU is supposed to have the better team on Commonwealth Ave this year- that will change starting next fall. For BC to thump them like that on Jerry York night (I will get to that), during a rebuilding year, was nothing short of amazing. I am still not sure BC is an NCAA tournament team- they are going to have to beat some really good teams (including BU again) in the second half to propel themselves into the top 15 in the pairwise, but they have a chance given what they accomplished on Friday. Hopefully the players can get some well deserved rest to gear up for what should be an exciting second half of the season.
Last but not certainly not least, I want to discuss the ceremony for Coach York. To be honest, I thought BC did a really nice job, sans the idiotic "Boston College University" comment from Blake James. They had a cool tribute video and Brian Gionta was on hand to say some really nice remarks prior to the presentation of a golden hockey stick and a trip to Hawaii on BC (or BCU if you're Blake James). It was a really cool way to celebrate a man who brought this program to unprecedented levels of success. That said, I hope Coach is getting down to Florida as often as possible and getting that index down- he would probably have to give me shots the way I played this summer.
That is all I have for now. What a fantastic night for Boston College hockey- the sun is staring to rise again in Chestnut Hill.
Go Eagles
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