Vermont Thoughts

Well, I said last week that this team has been impressive this year because, unlike last season, they have yet to lay any eggs. That all changed this weekend, as Vermont came into Conte Forum and took five of six points from the Eagles, highlighted by a 3-2 comeback win on Saturday afternoon. The results dropped BC to 23rd in the pairwise rankings, seven spots lower than they were on Friday morning. Obviously, this was the most disappointing weekend of the year. I thought, for the most part, they were fine when it was five on five, which, frankly, should have been the case given that Vermont is an inferior team talent wise and missing their top goal scorer. As we will get into, special teams killed BC this weekend. They did not give up a five on five goal in either game, but their penalty kill continues to flounder, with at least one goal given up in the past seven games. What BC did this weekend can only be described as shooting themselves in the foot- with a bazooka. Their goals are still out in front of them, and if they have taught us anything all year, they will bounce back next weekend in the Battle of Commonwealth Avenue. However, if they miss the tournament by a spot or two in March, this will be the weekend that comes back to haunt them and that is a real shame. 

Friday night's contest was just a strange hockey game. BC got the first of two five minute major power-plays less than six minutes into the game, thanks to a Vermont cross-checking penalty in front of the BC bench. The Eagles were able to quickly capitalize, thanks to a Cutter Gauthier shot from at the top of the circle- it was twenty seconds into the five minute major. That was BC's best chance to put the nail in the coffin, but they took their foot of the gas for the remainder of the power-play. After the goal, the second unit came on and spent more time retrieving the puck than they did in the Vermont zone. The top line came out for the back-end of the power-play, but UVM clearly made an adjustment and forced anyone but Gauthier to beat them, and BC could not answer the call. Despite giving up the early goal, the rest of the kill clearly gave Vermont a ton of momentum, as I thought the end of the first period on Friday was the best they played five on five all weekend. The Catamounts tied the game with a power-play goal of their own with just under four minutes to go in the first when Isak Walther banged home a rebound. There really wasn't much to it other than BC losing the face-off and then just getting outnumbered in front of the net. It was a harbinger of things to come for the final 100 minutes of the series. 

After a relatively even second period, BC was gifted another five minute power-play in the third, when a UVM player grabbed a BC defenseman's face-mask. Unfortunately, this five minute power-play was worse than the first one as BC didn't generate any notable chances. Their power-play has been so good for them all year and on Friday, they just could not get the job done. Vermont goalie Gabe Carriere made some nice saves in both games, but it never felt like BC was really threatening, even when on those two five minute majors. Once again, Vermont took a boneheaded penalty, this time with 1:30 left in the final frame, but that golden opportunity was negated when Trevor Kuntar took a stupid cross-checking penalty with 18 seconds left in the period. There was a scrum behind the UVM net and to be honest, I thought the whistle should have been blown, but it looked to me like Kuntar just wound up and smoked the guy. Not only did he get a penalty, but he got himself suspended for game two of the series. To me, one of the main takeaways this weekend was that BC kept letting Vermont back into the games with ridiculous penalties. The Kuntar cross-check on Friday night was probably the foremost example- not only did it screw the team on Friday night, it left them shorthanded on Saturday. 

Despite BC jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the shootout on Friday, Vermont rallied with 5 straight goals to take the extra point. I've kind of become agnostic to shootouts- sometimes you win them, sometimes you lose them. I don't think it's worth getting all worked up over a shootout loss (or win), no matter the opponent. Obviously, when you're up 2-0, you feel like you should get that extra point, but it is what it is. 

Given where they were in the pairwise standings entering Saturday, I felt like game two was a must win game for this team. To make matters worse, they had to do so without Aidan Hreschuk, who got hurt on Friday. They couldn't go into next weekend without a regulation win against Vermont, but that is exactly what happened as the Catamounts again came back from deficits, this time of 1-0 and 2-1, to take five points back to Burlington. BC got off to a tremendous start as Nikita Nesterenko put home a power-play goal less than a minute and a half into the game, but like yesterday, BC was unable to get out to a two goal lead and it came back to haunt them. Against a team like Vermont, who, frankly, cannot score five on five, you have to try to get up a couple of goals and force them to play a freewheeling game- BC could not do that. 

The theme on Saturday was once again the dumb penalties. At the end of the first period, one of BC's freshmen defensemen came flying into a scrum and hit a Vermont player, after the period had ended. Can't do that! Of course, that gave Vermont the momentum they needed as they tied the game thanks to a goal that Benson probably would like back. BC took back the lead when Nesterenko found a streaking Colby Ambrosio, who put home a breakaway opportunity. On Friday night, the staff moved Ambrosio to the fourth line during the third period, but I thought he responded with a solid game on Saturday. After BC took the lead, they put together a couple of really good shifts, and came inches away from making it 3-1, as Cam Burke just missed a chance on the doorstep, but another dumb penalty from one of BC's freshmen defensemen led to a Vermont power-play and eventual goal. It was basically the same sequence as before, as Benson got beat by a shot from the outside- one that should have been blocked by a BC forward. Vermont took the lead for good with six minutes to go in the period, on another power-play goal, on yes, you guessed it, another penalty from one of BC's freshmen defensemen. This penalty I thought was a bit more borderline, but still, you can't put the referee in a position to make that call. It was a brutal night all around for some of BC's youngsters as some of their costly mistakes basically handed Vermont the game. Now, all that said, BC has to be able to kill off a penalty there. It seemed to me like BC was giving them way too much space at the top of the face-off dots, hoping that Benson would fend off any chances from the outside, but that didn't happen. I am sure Benson would probably be the first to say that a couple of those goals were ones he probably should have had, but he has been great for BC all year and I don't think it is fair to pin that game on him. 

BC didn't really make much of a push in the third period. The strange part is that BC had the puck basically for the entirety of the weekend, but they did not generate more than ten good scoring chances over the course of 125 minutes. Vermont did a nice job clogging up the middle of the ice in their own zone, preventing BC from getting anything in the slot. BC was down a goal in the third, but spent more than half of the period on the penalty kill- you aren't going to score many goals that way! Seamus Powell was called for a five minute major for contact to the head- I thought this was a bit of a bad call because the Vermont forward was already falling down before Powell made contact. It looked like an inadvertent play to me, but given that they had already given BC a couple of five minute power-plays all weekend, I wasn't shocked that the Catamounts got one to. In my opinion, the more concerning call was Cutter Gauthier's misconduct with three minutes left in the contest. As good a Gauthier was one Friday night, game two on Saturday was probably one of his worst of the season as he was not really a factor at any point in the contest. This penalty was more of a clear cut contact to the head call and as much as I hate to say this, I would not be surprised if he is suspended for game one at BU on Saturday. BC did have one great chance to tie it up late in the game, when Nesterenko forced a turnover behind the Vermont net, but it was to no avail. 

In conclusion, the optimist in me would like to think that this is the wake up call they needed before heading into the toughest part of their schedule- two vs BU, at NU, at Lowell, and Harvard. While their pairwise hopes are not totally up in flames, they'll need to probably win at least three of those games to keep their heads above water, which is a tall task given how those teams are playing. Like I said, at even strength, I thought they were fine this weekend. They still turn the puck over way too often, but they didn't spend much time running around their zone chasing UVM forwards. Obviously, their penalty kill is a major concern right now. Now, give them credit, they killed off that five minute major in the third period on Saturday, and I figured that would give them the momentum they needed to come back, but that did not happen. 

Obviously, you have to hope that Gauthier does not get suspended for the game at Agganis on Friday night. No matter how good (or bad) BC and BU are, that is always the most entertaining regular season game of the season and for him not to be able to play would put a real dent in the excitement for the game and obviously, BC's chances of winning it. There was no disqualification issued on the play, so if he does get suspended, it will be because the league reviewed the hit. 

I still believe that this team can compete with the best in Hockey East- if they clean up their penalty kill and cut down on the ridiculous penalties, they can absolutely steal a game from BU next weekend. Let's face it, the Terriers are playing extremely well right now and will be fired up after losing the first game in December. Yes, this was BC's worst weekend of the year, but I expect them to come back next weekend and play their two best games of the season because if you can't get up for those games, well, then what the heck are we doing here?

Go Eagles