Maine Thoughts

BC's brief unbeaten streak came to an end this weekend as they got swept by Maine, by scores of 6-3 and 2-1, respectively. This was certainly not what the doctor ordered for what was one of the most important weekends of the season, but give Maine and coach Ben Barr a lot of credit. The Black Bears have improved immensely since Barr took over for the late Red Gendron. They are not the most talented team in Hockey East, but they play hard, have a great goaltender, and really feed off the energy the Alfond Arena crowd generates for them. As bad as this weekend was for BC, they can still get a home game in the first round of the Hockey East playoff with a couple of points vs UConn next weekend. At the moment, it seems like BC will be the 8th seed, likely playing New Hampshire in the first round. Depending on how things shake out next weekend, they could finish anywhere from 6th to 10th. 

Let's start with Friday's game. BC could not have started out worse- spotting Maine a 3-0 lead almost right off the bat. The first Maine goal was just the result of poor defensive zone coverage from BC. A Maine forward beat one of BC's freshman defensemen to the net before depositing home a rebound past Mitch Benson. BC was caught running around in their own zone for a period of time and just could not clear the puck before it ended up in the back of the net. 

The second Maine goal was an absolute backbreaker. With under two minutes to go in the period, Donovan Villeneuve-Houle made a great play to redirect a pass from his skate to his stick before going in on a breakaway against Benson. I thought BC had a couple of good chances before this goal, but a blocked shot in the BC offensive zone allowed Villeneuve-Houle to streak out of the zone, past two flatfooted BC defensemen and on his way. To be honest, this was one of a couple of goals Benson probably should have had this weekend. You could tell that the Black Bears put an emphasis on getting pucks to the net and unfortunately, there were too many times where BC just could not get a stop when they needed it this weekend. 

Maine made it 3-0 at the 7:52 mark of the second period on their first power-play goal of the weekend. Luke Antonacci had all the room in the world to skate towards the BC net from the blue line, before rifling a shot by Benson. I will say, I am a bit concerned that the two issues that have plagued BC all year are still coming back to haunt them in these important games. One- they're giving up way too many goals in the last three minutes of periods. By my count, BC has allowed 23 goals this season in the last three minutes of any period. That includes empty net goals allowed against Notre Dame (1), the first Maine game (1), and the second Maine game (1). I am not really sure what the root cause of that is- but it’s an issue that keeps killing BC night in and night out. 

Secondly, their penalty kill continues to struggle, even against average (at best) power-plays like Maine and Vermont. Look, I get it, killing penalties is probably the hardest part of the game, but BC has just been surrendering too many high quality looks on the man-down, many of which have resulted in goals. As of now, BC has the 45th best penalty-kill in the country, which is the worst in Hockey East. I'm not really sure what the problem is here- they have guys like Joyce, Burke, O'Neill, Kuntar, and Nesterenko, all of whom have been solid penalty killers during certain points of their careers. However, on defense they're thin and have to rely on players they probably do not want out there killing penalties. This team does not have really any shut down defensemen that can muck it up in front of the net and make the necessary plays to kill penalties. I am talking about guys like Steve Santini, Ian McCoshen, Tommy Cross, and Mike Brennan. Big, physical defenseman who could throw bodies around and be an anchor for any penalty killing unit- this BC team does not have that. Now, I understand the game has shifted in a direction where there is more of an emphasis on smaller, more mobile defensemen who can push the puck up the ice, but you still need some defensive stalwarts. Looking ahead, BC has a couple of highly skilled defensive recruits coming in next year, but they don't really have a lot of size on the way. Do not be surprised if they look to add someone through the transfer portal to address this glaring need. 

Now, there was one bright spot this weekend- BC's power-play is lethal, currently ranking as 9th best in the nation. Could they get a little bit more out of their second unit? 100%, but those top guys have been so good that it covers up for any issues there. The Eagles had three power-play goals on Friday- from Andre Gasseau, Cutter Gauthier and Nikita Nesterenko. Credit where it is due- I thought BC's top guys were very good this weekend, with the exception of maybe one player. Cutter Gauthier was the best player on the ice this weekend, but Gasseau and Nesterenko also came to play. Unfortunately, the Eagles did not get enough help from their bottom six to supplement the production of their top players. 

Now, I know this sounds like sour grapes (and it is), but I thought some of the calls that went against BC this weekend were weak. For example, the penalty that led to the fourth Maine goal on Friday was ridiculous. Both Gauthier and the Maine defenseman were tangled up after the play, but only Gauthier was called for the extra penalty. Of course, Maine capitalized with another power-play goal. This was another goal that probably should have been stopped, but that was not the case, so Maine took a 4-2 lead. It was, to me, the turning point in the weekend. BC had the momentum after two quick goals, but when they needed a defensive stop, they could not get it. 

I liked how BC battled back, but they did not generate much when they pulled the goalie down 5-3 on Friday. They tried to make a fancy play in the slot instead of getting the puck to the net, which allowed Maine to clear it into the empty net, putting the nail in the coffin for game one. 

As for game two, to be honest, I thought they played hard and maybe deserved better. It was eerily similar to the games @ Lowell, the second home BU game, and the last game against Northeastern. They generated a lot of grade A chances, but could not break through early and failed to cash in on two golden opportunities to tie it in the final minute. Something else that hurt them this weekend? They could not garner a single five on five goal. Maine is solid enough in their own zone and they have a good goalie, but they are not the 1985 Chicago Bears. To not get a single five on five goal is concerning- this team has been too reliant on their power-play all season. Their even-strength advanced numbers are still pretty solid- they are 12th in the country in Corsi for percentage at even strength, but obviously, they are not creating enough night in and night out. 

In the first period on Saturday, the officials called four penalties on BC, a couple of which I thought were horrible. The penalty that led to the Maine goal- a faceoff violation on Trevor Kuntar, seemed like a pretty ridiculous call to make. Officials have kept a closer eye on these types of penalties this season, but I still thought it was weak. Maine capitalized when Nolan Renwick tipped a Grayson Arnott pass by Benson. Not much BC could have done here- this was a nice set play by the Black Bears on the man advantage. BC's penalty kill was definitely better on Saturday- Maine did not create much on most of their five power-plays, sans this goal. 

The second period on Saturday was definitely BC's best of the weekend as they outshot the Black Bears 20-5. However, it was the home team that got on the board first in the stanza, when Grayson Arnott blasted one by Benson, giving Maine a 2-0 advantage. BC had a chance to make a clear along the wall on this play, but the puck squirted out to center ice, which allowed Arnott to fire it towards the BC net and past Benson. The goal went against the grain of the play- BC had been controlling the pace to that point, but could not capitalize before Maine was able to double their lead. 

The Eagles got one back two minutes after the Arnott goal, when Cutter Gauthier beat Victor Osman five-hole. Gauthier just blew by the Maine defenseman at the blue line before depositing one by Osman- it was a great display of the skill Gauthier possesses. As I said earlier, he was BC's best player this weekend, recording a point on every Eagle goal over the course of two games. 

BC's best chance to tie the game came when they went on the power-play with 6:50 remaining in the third period. As good as their power-play was all weekend, they did not get much on net during this two minute block. 

Coach Brown pulled the goalie with just over two minutes left and BC did just about everything but score during the frantic final seconds. Andre Gasseau had the best chance as he was right on the doorstep, but Osman was able to slide over and make the stop.  I give BC credit for how they fought back in this game- to me, this has been a consistent theme throughout the season and they should be commended for that. When they're down, they seemingly always find a way to at least make it interesting in the end. However, they need to get off to better starts because they keep digging themselves into these holes that they're oftentimes unable to get out of. 

Let's reset. There is no denying that this was a bad weekend all around. They needed to get at least one win up in Orono, but were unable to do so. BC has not won a game at Maine since February of 2018 (it must have been the phenomenal managing staff they had on that team). Alfond is one of the toughest places to play in college hockey- just ask Quinnipiac, Providence, and Merrimack- all of whom have lost in that building this season. Getting a bye is now out the window, but BC should still be able to get a home game for the first round. Right now, they have a four point lead on 9th place UNH, but the Wildcats only have one more league game left, so they can only gain at most three points on BC. UMass is five points behind the Eagles, but they have to play two games at Maine next weekend. Right now, I think it is pretty safe to say that BC will be the 8th seed, likely playing either UNH or UMass in round one, but if BU sweeps Providence, the Eagles could theoretically move past the Friars. To be honest, it really doesn't matter to me who they play and when. This team has already proven they can beat anyone or lose to anyone in Hockey East. They got swept by a horrible Vermont team at home but have beaten BU twice this year- anything can happen. 

In terms of what needs to change, it is a few things for me, all of which I already mentioned. The penalty kill has to improve, they need to be better at the end of periods, and they have to score more five on five goals (preferably from their bottom six forwards). BC has just two five on five goals in their past three games- that is not going to cut it. Ideally, you would like Benson to make a few more stops, but I thought he responded with a good game on Saturday after a rough outing on Friday.  

More importantly, I've gotten a few tweets and messages concerning the state of the program. I am not going to write much about the overall picture until after this season concludes, but I do want to note that this weekend doesn't change a single thing about my confidence about where BC hockey is going. This team is better than they were a season ago and quite honestly, they're right about where I thought they would be in terms of the national picture. In my preseason post, I predicted that they would end up somewhere between 25-30 in the pairwise rankings- right now they are 25th. This isn't me saying oh look at what I said- it's about having manageable expectations and forming your opinions around those standards. Have there been some problems? Absolutely, but mark my words- BC is going to be really good, really soon. If they are not, I'll be the first one to say I was wrong, but I think the fanbase should absolutely be excited about what is to come, despite how these past two years have gone. 

Onto UConn. See you Friday. 

UMass Thoughts

Well, well, well- look who is getting back up off the mat! BC edged UMass last night 3-1 to put an exclamation point on their best week of the season with a sweep of the Minutemen and a Beanpot consolation game victory over archival BU. The two wins this weekend were vital for a few reasons, the foremost being that BC is now in a good spot to get home ice in the first round of the Hockey East playoffs. With the wins, BC is now sitting at 7th in the league standings, just five points behind the six seed Providence Friars, who are idle this upcoming week before ending the regular season with a home and home against BU. 

Before anything else, this team deserves credit for how they responded this week. After the brutal loss to Harvard and the lackluster effort at home against Maine, things could have taken a tailspin against a talented BU team and a UMass squad that was neck and neck with BC in the standings. Not only did BC win all three games, they were the better team in each contest- generating high quality looks at even strength, playing sound defensive hockey (for the most part), and winning the special teams battle. This is going to be their formula going forward- they can skate with anyone in this league at even strength, so if they don't kill themselves on the penalty kill as they did against Vermont and Harvard, I think they're going to be very dangerous down the stretch. 

I would be lying to you if I thought there was any chance they were going to put seven goals up in a game this weekend- let alone five in the first period on Friday. To be honest, I thought UMass got the better of BC during the first two or three shifts of game one, but after that, it was like men against boys for the remainder of the opening stanza. Colby Ambrosio got the party started eight minutes into the period, when he caught UMass sleeping in their own end and beat goalie Luke Pavicich glove side, giving BC a 1-0 lead. BC's best line on Friday was definitely their second unit of Ambrosio-Nesterenko-Jellvik. They were flying around the entire game and creating offensive zone chances seemingly every shift. Ambrosio's goal was assisted by Charlie Leddy- the first of two helpers for Leddy. I thought the freshman defenseman had perhaps his best weekend of the season. On Saturday, they relied on him for a lot of minutes with Lukas Gustafsson out (we will get to that) and I thought he came through with another good game. 

BC doubled its lead six minutes later when Mike Posma put a Will Traeger shot by Pavicich. This was at the end of an outstanding shift from BC's fourth line- they had UMass pinned in their own zone for almost a minute by cycling the puck down low and after getting one to the net, Posma was able to capitalize. The combination of Traeger-Posma-Joyce was fantastic for BC all weekend- they generated a few quality chances each night, played a part in some key penalty kills, and as we will get to, got another big goal on Saturday. 

The star of the show on Friday night was Nikita Nesterenko. It was probably the best game I have seen him play in a BC uniform. There are just some nights where he turns it up to a gear that few others in Hockey East can reach- he has great speed for someone his size and a skill set in terms of his ability to make things happen with the puck that is almost unmatched in this league. His first goal, BC's third, was made possible thanks to a great play in the neutral zone by Oskar Jellvik, which allowed Nesterenko to go in all alone on the UMass net. While Nesterenko was the best player for BC on Friday, Jellvik was not far behind- he had three points in this game, which, to go along with his goal against BU on Monday, goes to show how much he has improved since the season has gone on. Like I said last week, I figured BC would maybe change their lines going into the BU game, but I don't see how they can mess with that now. Nesterenko is playing some of the best hockey of his career right now and it is fun to watch. 

BC added two more goals before the end of the opening 20 minutes. Jellvik tipped home an Eamon Powell shot with three minutes left in the period. After some games where BC seemingly ran into a hot goalie every night, they have certainly been able to score some "soft" ones over the past three games- they were not getting the bounces earlier in the year, but now are being rewarded for bringing more pressure in the offensive zone. Marshall Warren put the cherry on top of the period when he skated by the entire UMass squad and fired one past Pavicich, giving BC the 5-0 edge. If you told me on Friday night that BC would have five goals in the first period- all of them being at even strength (!), I probably would have asked if you had gotten your head examined recently. For a team that has been struggling to score 5 on 5 for the most of the year, this weekend was a welcome surprise and step in the right direction. 

After leading 5-0 after one, BC (understandably) tried to put things on cruise control for the rest of the game, but some untimely penalties and turnovers gave way to a bit of unease in Conte Forum before Nesterenko sent everyone home with his third goal in the third period. A few notes from the final two periods. First, Lukas Gustafsson was the victim of a dirty hit at center ice from UMass forward Taylor Makar. It looked to me like Gustafsson was hit up high and Makar was rightfully thrown out of the game. Now, Gustafsson did return after that hit, but apparently he was dinged up enough that they kept him out of Saturday's contest. There may have been another hit on Gustafsson late in the third period of Friday's game that exacerbated his injury, but to be honest, I did not see that hit. I do not believe it is a long term injury. Secondly, Nesternko's second goal was a thing of beauty- he looked off the UMass defenseman, getting him to move off of the net before firing one home. BC's power-play wasn't firing on all cylinders on Friday, but the game was out of the hand so early that they were mostly just trying to play keep away from the remaining 40 minutes. Their man advantage would come through on Saturday night at a big moment. Lastly, I thought BC's penalty kill was fantastic this weekend. Entering this weekend, UMass had the third best power-play in the country, but BC kept them at bay, as the Minutemen went 1-5 on Friday and 0-4 on Saturday. I am noticing that BC is trying to put more pressure on the point- which led to more blocked shots and deflections that they were able to clear. The penalty kill has been their Achilles heel for a majority of the season, but there has been a steady improvement since the Harvard game. Let's hope things keep moving in the right direction. 

I won't lie, I got a tiny bit nervous when UMass made it 6-3 with just under ten minutes to play in the third period, but BC got an important penalty kill to keep the score within three. Of course, Nesterenko put the final nail in the coffin with eight minutes to go in the game- Aidan Hreschuk made a great pass on this play. 

As expected, Saturday's game was much tighter- UMass obviously made it a point to play better in their own end, which meant that BC did not have much space to maneuver for the first forty minutes or so.  UMass got on the board 8:33 into the game, when Michael Cameron beat Benson with a tip off of a Kenny Connors shot. Watching the replay, it looks like BC may have been caught in a bad change, but I am not totally sure. If you look at it, there are only four Eagles in the frame, with the fifth guy coming in from the bench. That allowed Connors to skate in towards Benson before firing the shot that eventually got deflected by the BC netminder. I thought BC was a bit fortunate to get out of the first only down a goal- they were on their heels for most of the stanza. With Gustafsson out, they had to give regular shifts to guys that they normally wouldn't, but I thought players like Seamus Powell held their own, especially on the big sheet at Mullins Center. 

I thought BC started to find their game in the second period- they had a few chances five on five, but were stonewalled by UMass goalie Cole Brady, who has not seen a lot of action this season. While BC outshot the Minutemen in the second, I thought UMass did a pretty solid job of keeping a lot of BC's chances to the perimeter, something that did not happen on Friday night. On the flip side, BC's thin defensive corps did a great job of clearing pucks out of the zone, avoiding costly turnovers, and not allowing UMass to generate many high-end looks of their own. Eamon Powell and Marshall Warren played a ton last night as they are quite obviously the two blue liners the staff trusts more than anyone else right now. 

BC had their first chance to tie the game with five minutes left in the second period, when UMass forward Ryan Lautenbach was sent to the sin bid for tripping. BC did not get much going on this power-play, but that wasn't the case when UMass took yet another tripping penalty with under a minute to go in the period. Cutter Gauthier had some space near the half-wall, but instead of firing one on net, he found an open Trevor Kuntar in the slot, allowing Kuntar to redirect up and over Brady, tying the game at one. In real time, I thought Kuntar just slid the puck by Brady, but in fact, it went over Brady's head, before settling behind the goal line. Lucky bounce? Yes. Will they take it? Obviously! BC needed their power-play to come through for them at a big moment and they were certainly able to do that- this was a huge goal, allowing BC to even things up before the final period. 

The final period was relatively evenly played, but some great individual efforts on the part of Kuntar and Connor Joyce allowed BC to escape Amherst with a 3-1 victory. Kuntar's goal was just the result of hard work and speed through the neutral zone- Andre Gasseau made a fantastic play in the defensive end, taking the puck from a UMass forward, before finding Kuntar in the middle of the ice. Kuntar then went right around UMass star defenseman Scott Morrow en route to the net before putting one by Brady and giving the Eagles the lead. That goal was a great example of what Kuntar can be when he is at his best- a physical power forward who also has some speed for someone of his build. 

Connor Joyce extended the BC lead to 3-1, when he fired a loose puck by Brady with 10:15 left in the game. This was the end result of yet another great shift from BC's fourth line- Mike Posma fired to original shot towards the net, but it looks like the puck took a fortuitous bounce off the boards, which allowed Joyce, who just beat the UMass defenseman to the puck, to put it home. I do not want to be repetitive, but I thought BC's fourth line was everything they needed it to be this weekend. They got pucks low, made it hard on the opponent to defend, and cashed in on some opportunities- it was great to see. 

For a minute, it appeared as if Trevor Kuntar recorded a hat-trick, when he once again redirected a Cutter Gauthier shot into the net, but UMass challenged the goal for offsides and it was (rightfully) waved off. Anyways, I thought BC did a nice job of buckling down in their own end once they made it a two goal game. They did take a penalty (I thought it was a weak call) with two minutes to go, allowing UMass to have a 6 on 4 advantage, but they were able to get the stops needed to get out of western Massachusetts with a two goal victory. It was a gusty road performance by an Eagles team that has honestly played some pretty good hockey away from Conte Forum this season, the game at Agganis notwithstanding. 

Alright let's reset. This team is playing some good hockey at the moment and they have a chance to fly up the Hockey East standings with four games left- two apiece against Maine and UConn. Right now, BC is in 7th place and if the season ended today (which it does not), they would be playing UMass at Conte Forum in the first round of the Hockey East playoffs. Their goal should be to get the 6th seed in the league standings. There is a very slim chance that they can climb into the top five-they would probably need to 11 or 12 points in their final four games, but the most important thing is that they head into the playoffs playing their best hockey. By my math (not exactly Einstein's math skills), BC needs just one win this weekend at Maine to ensure that they get a home game in the first round. In a one and done system (I prefer the old Hockey East playoff format), anything can happen and there is no guarantee that they beat anyone in the playoffs. However, if they can stay healthy through this stretch run, they have a real chance to make a run. I mean, BC can absolutely play with (and beat) anyone in Hockey East right now. It is imperative that they get a home game for the first round, at the bare minimum. If they slide into that fifth seed and have to play at the four seed, that is probably even better because then you do not have to play on that Wednesday night. Either way, you know at some point you're likely going to have to win one road game at either BU, Merrimack, Northeastern, UConn, or Lowell to keep the season going (if they get past the first round). Unfortunately, despite this week's results, the NCAA tournament is still not a realistic avenue for BC at the moment. If they get two wins at Maine, then perhaps we can have that discussion, but they're still too far out right now. 

In conclusion, this team should be proud of the way they have battled back after some disappointing results. Right now, BC is heads and shoulders better than they were at this point last season. They play with more structure and they're more consistent on a nightly basis. Do they still have some issues? Of course, but they're righting the ship at the right time. I am excited to see what they can do over the next three weeks. 

Go Eagles

Maine/BU Thoughts

I wanted to write a post with some thoughts on the past two games as BC lost to Maine 3-1 on Friday night, before ending their eight-game wineless streak against Boston University on Monday. I thought Friday was a rough outing as they once again had a lot of problems generating five on five offense. Yes, BC outshot Maine 32-21, but in terms of high-quality looks, the game was even. Throughout the contest, Maine generated grade A chances, many that were the result of careless turnovers from BC. You can't expect a team to play a turnover-free game, but BC continues to shoot themselves in the foot, particularly from behind their own blue line, with lousy passes that find opposing jerseys. Right now, I think BC has three defensemen that they can consistently rely on when it comes to breaking the puck out. That isn't to say that these guys do not make mistakes- they've made more than a few this season, but I think right now, the staff is playing one or two defensemen every night on the blue line they would rather have as an eighth option. 

The first Maine goal was, yes, the result of a BC turnover. Cutter Gauthier got hit on the half-wall, preventing the puck from getting out to the neutral zone and not one Eagle picked up the Maine forward in front of the net as the Black Bears took a 1-0 lead. It was one of those simple plays- the puck simply had to get out and once it didn't, BC could not recover in their own zone. 

BC had a chance to tie the game up before the end of the first period, but they gave up a shorthanded goal, doubling the Maine lead. BC had a chance to corral the puck after winning the face-off, but Eamon Powell was a half-second late, which allowed Didrik Henbradt to go in all alone on Mitch Benson. BC's power-play has been great all year, but on this play, you saw two of their best players, Powell and Gauthier, just get beat to the puck on the wall. The second goal was really a microcosm of the entire game- Maine was doing the little things right all night, while BC just lost more small battles than they won. 

Throughout the rest of the game, I thought BC had a couple of chances here and there, but for the most part, Maine kept them out of the prime scoring areas. In particular, I thought BC's top guys really struggled in this game. Colby Ambrosio had a relatively solid bounce back game, but they didn't get what they needed from Gauthier, Gasseau and Nesterenko. It was eerily similar to the Vermont contests- BC had the puck for the majority of the game, got a few chances here and there, but for the most part were kept to the outside of the zone. 

Now, give BC some credit for making it a one goal game in the third, when Trevor Kuntar finally beat Maine goalie Victor Ostman with just under four minutes to play. However, once BC pulled Benson, they turned the puck over at their offensive blue line and that was all she wrote. 

This was right there with the Vermont and BU (at Agganis) games in terms of most disappointing of the season. Despite BC not getting the results they desired over the past four weeks, they've played some pretty solid hockey in a bunch of those games. That was not the case on Friday as they, quite honestly, looked out of sorts at times. Maine was not giving them much room and BC did not have enough in the tank to make one more play at the end. It was a dispiriting result and one that really hurt them in the Hockey East standings- no one wants to play in Orono for the first round of the Hockey East playoffs. 

Now, I am not going to lie, I was surprised to see that BC rolled out basically the exact same lineup for last night's game against BU, minus a defensive substitution. I honestly figured they would try to put Nesterenko with Gauthier to try and provide more of an offensive spark, but clearly I was wrong! BC bounced back on Monday, beating archrival BU 4-2 in the first ever consolation game between the two schools in the 70-year history of the Beanpot. 

I am going to be honest, I could not get out of work for this game, and it was not on ESPN+, so I could not watch it in real time, but I saw some of the highlights and heard from people at the game. From what I can gather, BC played well tonight against a Terrier team that has now lost two in a row for the first time all year. BC got on the board less than two minutes into the game, when Oskar Jellvik made a fantastic pass at the top of offensive zone to Nikita Nesterenko, who beat Drew Commesso, giving BC a 1-0 lead. 

BC doubled their lead at little over halfway through the first, when Eamon Powell recorded a power-play goal, his fourth goal of the season. Now, I have to say, after a few weeks of getting some bad bounces, BC had a few go their way today. Powell's goal deflected off of BU defenseman Case McCarthy's skate, before finding the net. Powell did a nice job of finding the open lane that BU gave him- if you watch the replay, it looks like the BU forward at the top of the box just completely whiffed in terms of finding the right spot to prevent Powell's shot from getting towards the net. A lucky break? Certainly, but I know BC will take it given the way things have gone recently. 

As has been the story all year, BC let BU right back into the game almost immediately after they took the two goal  lead. BU freshman Ryan Greene beat Benson on what appeared to be a pretty soft goal. It looked like two of BC's forwards over-skated the puck and Benson was just beat by a shot that he probably should have had. I need a better look at the shot, but it looked to me like it was a relatively innocent snap-shot, one that had a low trajectory on its way to the net. 

The teams played an even second period, but one that was filled with penalties. This is now two games in a row where BC's penalty kill has held the opponent off the scoresheet. Again, I did not see the game, so I can't really comment on what they did in terms of personnel, but in their four games against BU this year, they have had a fair amount of success on the penalty-kill. Hopefully they can keep this up going into their weekend series with UMass, who has the third best power-play in college hockey. 

The Eagles held the Terriers at bay until the 11:44 mark of the third period as Jay O'Brien beat Benson on the doorstep to tie the game at two. To me, it looked like Cutter Gauther had O'Brien covered at the top of the zone, before O'Brien darted towards the net. Then, I think BC tried to switch and get a winger (Christian O'Neill) to pick up O'Brien, but the Terrier forward was a step quicker and able to beat Benson with a tap in goal. BU freshman Jeremy Wilmer made a fantastic pass (from my vantage point) on the play. 

So, yes, I thought it was going to be the same old story with BC blowing another third period lead, but this time they got perhaps their biggest break of the season when Andre Gasseau made it 3-2 25 seconds after the O'Brien goal. Gasseau just threw a shot on net that hit Commesso's glove and ricocheted into the net. To be honest, it looked to me like the puck was going to go over the net, but Commesso tried to make a play on it. 

I know this is probably a cheap point to make, but BC needed a bounce to go their way for once. They've had so many close calls this season and many of those have ended in heartbreak, but on this night, they got the bounces they needed to garner a win. Now, don't get me wrong, BC was the better team in this game and deserved to win, but it certainly didn't hurt that they had a few things go their way. Lastly, credit to them for closing it out in the last few minutes. We all know they've had their struggles with that this season, but it appears that they didn't give BU much of anything coming down the stretch. Besides the O'Brien goal, this, according to those who were there, was a solid defensive performance for the Eagles against perhaps the best offensive team in college hockey.

Alright, so let's reset. Yes, it was the consolation game, but there is no such thing as a meaningless win against BU. The Eagles absolutely had to find a way to get off this skid and they did so against their nemesis. Whether or not they use this game a springboard is the million-dollar question. An at-large bid is out the window at this point, but I feel pretty confident in saying that BC can beat anyone in the Hockey East playoffs, especially with the way things are set up. Their first order of business is ensuring that they get home ice for the first round- going to Orono or Amherst in round one would be an absolute nightmare. No, BC has not been great at Conte this year, but you still take your chances on home ice in this league. To close the year, they have UMass, Maine and UConn, all two times- BC has got to find a way to win four of those six games to put themselves in a spot to play either UNH or UVM (both of whom are playing well right now) at Conte Forum.

This is an important weekend coming up against a UMass team that is neck and neck with BC in the Hockey East standings. Obviously, they have to create more chances 5 on 5. The win against BU was a good start, but UMass will present its own set of challenges.  When they score more than three goals, the Eagles are undefeated this season. They have a great power-play, but they're not getting enough from their big guns when it comes to scoring at even strength. The key from here until the end of the road is going to be whether or not they show improvement in that area. If you look at the advanced metrics, BC has probably gotten the short end of the stick in terms of their offensive production. For example, they are 13th in college hockey in terms of Corsi for percentage at even strength (% of shots taken vs opponent), but they are tied for 32nd in terms of goals per game. Furthermore, BC is only seeing 8.5% of their shots find the back of the net- that is 47th in the country. I think that says more about the quality of shots BC is generating more so than anything else, but there have been games where they simply ran into some outstanding goaltending. That is all a long way of saying that the metrics show that BC probably should have a few more goals than they've actually scored this year, but that is just the way this game goes.  Perhaps BC will start to see things swing their way a little bit in the last month of the year. 

If BC can do three things- score more 5 on 5 goals, kill penalties at a higher rate and get marginally better goaltending (they are currently 36th in save percentage nationwide), I think they'll win some of these games to close the season. UMass is a team they've had some success against over the past couple of years, so hopefully they can carry their game from Monday into the weekend. We'll see you then. 

Go Eagles

Harvard Thoughts

For the eight time since Alex Tuch's golden goal in 2016, Boston College lost in the Beanpot, this time in perhaps most the heartbreaking way possible- a 4-3 overtime loss to the Harvard Crimson. Harvard's Marek Hejduk gave the Crimson the win with under two seconds to go in overtime, marking yet another game where BC has faltered at the end of a period. After a date with Maine on Friday, BC will play BU in the consolation game next Monday- for the first time in the 70-year history of the Beanpot. It will be BC's fifth consolation game appearance in the last six years. 

I'll go through some period-by-period notes, but the first thing I want to say is that I couldn't have been more impressed with the way BC stuck with it, especially in the third period. That is a really good Harvard team- Coronato, Laferriere and Farrell are probably three of the top ten forwards in college hockey right now. I wouldn't be surprised if the Crimson are a factor come March and April, if those guys stay healthy.

I thought the first period was by far BC's worst of the game and quite frankly, some of the poorest hockey they've played in a long time- the second period at BU notwithstanding. Harvard scored less than a minute into the game, when a Jack Bar shot from the point beat Benson clean, but the goal was called back after a pretty obvious too many men on the ice penalty was missed on Harvard. Even after that goal, Harvard was all over the Eagles. They created turnovers in the BC end and were firing everything they could at Mitch Benson. On the first actual Harvard goal, one of BC's defensemen fell at center ice, leaving Harvard with the first of many odd-man rushes they had in this game. They took advantage for the 1-0 lead. I think BC was late on a change because their defenseman tripped at center ice- if that hadn't been the case, perhaps their fresh body is on the ice in time to make a play, but that did not come to fruition. Honestly, BC was very lucky to get out of the first period only down a goal. Harvard was skating circles around them for the entirety of the period- by my count, BC only had one great shift, which was the final one of the frame. 

BC came out with more urgency in the second period and for the majority of the stanza, they were the better team five on five. However, the Eagles' penalty kill continues to doom them. Harvard's Matthew Coronato (what a player this kid is) made it 2-0 after a nifty pass from Sean Farrell. BC has allowed four straight power-play goals going back to the game against Lowell and they are now ranked 50th in the country in terms of penalty-kill percentage. Since the first game against Vermont, BC’s opponents are converting at a 32% clip on the power-play. On the second Harvard goal, BC just overcommitted on Farrell. Three Eagles collapsed on the Crimson forward, leaving Coronato wide open at the dot for an easy one-time goal. 

The Eagles finally got on the board when Mike Posma redirected a Lukas Gustafsson shot past Harvard goalie Mitchell Gibson. I have noticed over the past few weeks that the staff  has a lot of trust in Posma- they have him taking a lot of important face-offs and anchoring the net-front on the second power-play unit. It was definitely a lucky bounce, but one that BC will take. One of the key points of the game was when BC got another power-play in the second, down just a goal at the time. However, they were unable to muster any offense on that man advantage and quickly had to go back on the kill when Colby Ambrosio took a bad hooking penalty. Of course, Harvard scored- who else but Coronato? Honestly, watching the replay, this was just bad luck. BC was going to have the point covered, but Nesterenko and Burke collided with each other, allowing Farrell to just dish it over to Coronato, who beat Benson once again. This is definitely one that Benson wants back- it wasn't much of a shot from Coronato, but it found a way through and gave Harvard the 3-1 lead. 

Down 3-1 entering the third, I thought BC was dead in the water. They were better five on five in the second period, but Harvard was not allowing BC any chances in the slot. For the first forty minutes, all of BC's chances came from the perimeter and they did not get nearly enough traffic in front to make life hard on Gibson. That said, they should be extremely proud of the way they battled back in the final period. It was, in my estimation, one of their best periods of the season and the fact that they just kept plugging away is honestly all you can ask for as a fan. The easy thing to do would have been to roll over and let Harvard run away with it, but that didn't happen.

In particular, I thought Nikita Nesterenko and his line were buzzing for almost the entirety of the third. Oskar Jellvik had another strong game- he's had a couple of those in the second half of the season for BC. Harvard did not give Nesterenko much room in the first two periods, but he was absolutely flying in the third. Even before his goal, which was one for the highlight reel, he generated three or four high quality chances. On the goal, Nesterenko absolutely fooled a Harvard defenseman, before beating Gibson glove side to make it a one goal contest. You could feel the momentum swinging BC's way throughout the third, but once they made it a one goal game, the building had a palpable buzz to it. 

BC was able to tie it with 1:30 left in the third, thanks to a nifty snapshot from Cutter Gauthier. Gauthier did a pretty unreal job of making both the Harvard defensemen and Gibson think he was going for the cross-ice pass, only to roof it by Gibson. It was a high-end play by a high-end player. After the goal, BC got one great rush in, led by Nesterenko, but then did a horrible job of managing the clock and allowed Harvard's two best players to get a 2 on 1 as time expired. That time, Benson was there to bail them out, but that wouldn't be the case ten minutes later. I'm not sure what it is with this team and the end of periods- they get extremely lackadaisical and allow seemingly scores of odd-man rushes.  

Now, as for the overtime period, I have some thoughts. Quite frankly, BC got very lucky not losing five seconds into the extra frame, when Harvard had a point-blank chance, only for Benson to make another save. It was right off the opening face-off and BC just left a man wide open. 

The winning goal, I mean, I can't believe how badly BC mismanaged the clock. The Eagles had the puck in the waning seconds of the period- they were just fiddling around with it at their blue line while Harvard played prevent defense. Furthermore, BC could have put Gauthier on the ice, but opted to go in another direction instead. With about sixteen seconds left in the period, Gustafsson darted in from center ice and got a shot on net, but no one was there for the rebound. Burke tried to pin down Harvard's defenseman, who eventually took hold of the rebound from Gustafsson's shot, but the puck got out to center ice for Alex Laferriere, who dished it to Marek Hejduk for the game winner. 

If you watch the replay of the game winner, one of BC's forwards (you can see for yourself) just did not pick up his man in the neutral zone before the goal. I don't know how long of a shift this player had before the goal, but it was just a massive mistake to make at that point in the game. Furthermore, I have no idea why BC didn't wait until there were like seven or eight seconds left on the clock before they made their last dash. Not only did they not wait, but their last shot was also from just inside the blue line on a 1 on 2- those aren't going in very often! Obviously, it is easy for me to sit here and say they should have just let Gauthier take one up the boards as time expired, but I would have liked to see him out there at the end of OT. 

Certainly, that is one of the toughest losses I can remember. It really felt like they were going to win that game given the way they played in the third period, but it just wasn't meant to be. Give Harvard credit- they made the winning play. It was strange because the first period was like men against boys- BC couldn't even get the puck into the Harvard end. By the end of the game, things had flipped as Harvard was absolutely gassed, mostly because they played those top two lines seemingly the entire night. Unfortunately, BC just could not take advantage. 

Right now, there is one glaring issue with this team that absolutely has to be fixed at some point- their penalty kill. They have been unable to win three games in the past month squarely because of their inability to keep the opponent off the scoreboard during the man advantage- the second Vermont game, @ Lowell, and this one. Now, you're never going to be perfect on the man down and expecting that would be utterly ludicrous, but they have to be better than they are at the moment. I have no doubt that they'll improve towards the end of the season here, but right now they're losing games because of it.

The man down isn't the only problem in my mind- they still turn the puck over far too often, especially at the end of periods. They had all the momentum in the world after tying the game, but then give up a 2 on 1 to Harvard's two best players on the very next shift. Lastly, they need better play on the blue line. Eamon Powell was really good once again and Marshall Warren was solid, but after that BC didn't get a ton out of their back end. They need some guys to step up in that department. 

All of that said, I hope people continue to have a positive outlook on this program going forward. I feel a lot better about the state of BC hockey today than I did during this tournament last year. Look, playing in the consolation game for the third year in a row stinks, but we were extremely spoiled from 2008 to 2016 in terms of how BC fared in this event that drives us all nuts. I appreciate the way this team competes night in and night out- they still make a lot of frustrating mistakes and they don't have a ton of firepower, but you can count on them to bring it and that's, quite honestly, all you can really ask for at this point. Trust me, the tables will start to turn for BC hockey sooner rather than later.  

Onto Maine. Go Eagles. 

 

Northeastern Thoughts

I just want to offer a few quick thoughts on the game last night. In the interest of time, this is not going to be as thorough as some of the previous game recaps. 

I said it in my tweet last night and I will repeat it here- I thought BC played really well last night against Northeastern. It was eerily reminiscent to the game on Saturday versus BU- the Eagles were clearly the better team in the building for the majority of the game, but the opponent's goaltender turned in another incredible performance. As good as Drew Commesso was for BU on Saturday, Devon Levi was better last night for the Huskies, stopping 29 of 30 BC chances- many of those being high quality looks. 

I thought the key to the game was Northeastern being able to get out of the two early BC power-plays without giving up a goal. On both man advantages, but particularly on the first one, BC generated a lot of good looks. They're doing a nice job of moving the puck from east to west on the man advantage, forcing the opponent to scramble around. They're also becoming less reliant on Cutter Gauthier's one-timer as Gauthier is growing more patient with the puck on his side of the ice. They just missed a few deflections in front on those cross ice passes. It would be one thing if they weren't creating any good looks- such as what happened vs Vermont- but that isn't the case. If they keep moving it around at the level they are, the goals will come. 

Levi's best save of the night was probably when he stonewalled Cam Burke on the doorstep during BC's second power-play. It looked like Burke had a ton of open space, but Levi came out of nowhere to make the save. It would be the first of three big stops he had on Burke last night. 

Northeastern's goal was just the result of good net-front play by the Huskies. It was really the first time all game where they had sustained zone time and they took advantage when Matt Choupani beat Mitch Benson, giving the Huskies a 1-0 edge. 

I am not sure if it is an exaggeration to say that the second period on Tuesday was BC's best of the season. They outshot the Huskies 11-6 in the stanza, with more than half of those being high quality looks. I will say, despite the lopsided play, BC still gave up one or two chances on the rush each period. The play would be in the Northeastern zone for minutes on end and all of the sudden the Huskies would find a trailer behind the play, only for Benson to bail BC out. Obviously, it didn't help that Charlie Leddy was out with an upper body injury, but BC is still very susceptible to those type of plays through the neutral zone. 

BC tied the game up when Christian O'Neill tipped home a Connor Joyce shot from inside the blue line, two minutes into the second period. I thought BC's "ISL line" of Joyce, Burke, and O'Neill was their best unit on Tuesday. All three players generated some quality looks and consistently applied a tough forecheck on the Northeastern end. They probably could have had two more goals if it wasn't for Levi's heroics. 

They may have to appoint another special counsel to look into how BC only scored one goal in the second period. It felt like the puck was in the Northeastern end for almost the entire period. Whether it was a lights out save on Joyce in front or Marshall Warren (another guy I thought played well) later in the period, Levi was just outstanding. As I said after the second BU game, sometimes you just run into a hot goalie and there isn't a whole lot you can do. 

I thought the third period was the most even of the three, but BC just gave the game away on a pretty bad goal. BC had a chance to get the puck out from behind their own net, didn't, and after another failed clear from one of their freshmen defensemen, NU ended up taking the lead for good. It was a bang-bang play as the BC defenseman was definitely surprised that the puck ended up on his stick, but he was unable to make the play nonetheless before Jakof Novak put home a breakaway chance. 

Towards the end of the game, BC's best opportunity to tie it was on a power-play a little over halfway through the stanza, but much like Saturday, they were unable to score. Again, they generated a couple of good looks, but could not get the red light to go on. Unfortunately, the Eagles took two pretty obvious penalties at the end of the game, killing any chance they had to pull Benson and get a goal with the extra attacker on. With NU not getting a power-play for the first 57 minutes of the game, you had a feeling BC was due for an infraction and that is exactly what happened. 

So, let's reset. I don't want to sound like I'm trying to be overly optimistic, but if BC keeps playing the way they've played their past two games, they'll be a tough out at the end of the season. Obviously, going winless in five games is a killer when it comes to the pairwise, but if they're playing their best hockey come Hockey East tournament time, they can beat anyone. What's wrong right now? Well, I think it's two main issues. One, they've run into some fantastic goalies. Besides the first BU game, where BC got dominated, the Eagles have faced a combination of the Great Wall of China and the former Berlin Wall. At some point, if they keep generating the chances, they will find twine more often than they currently are. Secondly, and I think this is beginning to rear its head a bit more in the second half, this team doesn't have the killer goal scorers BC has had in the past. When their top guys aren't scoring goals, this team is going to have a really hard time winning games. That sounds like an obvious take (and maybe it is) but they're very dependent players like Gauthier and Nesterenko to the extent where if they are off, BC probably is going to struggle to score more than two goals. Now, that is a problem, but they have more than enough goal scoring help on the way next year so if players like Jellvik (who I also thought was great vs NU), Gasseau, and Joyce can continue to play well, they'll be adding that top end talent to a group of players that is improving. 

Obviously, Lowell is not the team you want to play when you're struggling to score goals, but we will see what happens on Friday in the Mill City. See you then. 

Go Eagles