Boston College extended its winning streak to six games with a 5-2 win over Providence in a matchup of top-10 teams Friday night. Johnny Gaudreau led the way with two goals and two assists, extending his point streak to 15 games in the process. Kevin Hayes registered a goal and two assists, while Michael Matheson notched three assists.
BC came out of the gates buzzing and struck first 7:29 in. Just as a Providence penalty expired, Hayes found Gaudreau at the side of the net for an easy finish. The Friars answered with 4:29 left in the first when Ross Mauermann fed Shane Luke right in front.
The Friars took a 2-1 lead 13:51 into the second on a pretty setup from Mark Jankowski at the point to Nick Saracino below the goal line to Derek Army in the slot, but BC answered three minutes later on a similar setup from Matheson to Gaudreau to Bill Arnold.
The Eagles scored what proved to be the game-winner just 37 seconds into the third when Patrick Brown redirected a Hayes shot. Gaudreau scored his second of the game with 2:10 remaining, and Hayes added an empty-netter.
The Eagles improved to 14-4-2 (8-1-1 Hockey East) with the win, while the Friars dropped to 13-5-4 (6-4-1 HE). Here are some observations from the game:
-Eight more points for BC’s top line of Gaudreau, Arnold and Hayes. The trio has now played six games together, and they’ve combined for 14 goals and 21 assists in those six games. It just isn’t fair when they’re on the ice. They’re three of the five best forwards in the league, and Gaudreau and Hayes are two of the best in the whole country — they’re first and third, respectively, in points per game. While the Eagles aren’t getting a ton of goals from their other lines, they’re getting enough offense that Jerry York doesn’t feel the need to split up his top three forwards in order to spark a more balanced attack. Whether or not he has to do that at some point remains to be seen, but for now, college hockey fans can marvel at what the Gaudreau-Arnold-Hayes combination is doing.
-The Eagles dominated most of the first period, especially early on. Prior to BC’s opening score 7:29 in, the puck had only left Providence’s zone for an occasional clear. But even when that happened, the Eagles re-entered the zone and went right back to cycling at will. Hayes was particularly dominant with the puck on his stick, as the Friars’ defensemen seemed completely overmatched trying to knock him off the puck. Possession did even out a little bit as the period went on, and the tying goal seemed to give the Friars a boost. The second and third periods were much more evenly matched.
-Penalties killed the Friars. Even though BC’s power play hasn’t been great this season, you just can’t give the Eagles six power plays and expect to win. BC scored on two of those chances, and scored a third goal two seconds after a power play had ended. The timing and nature of some of the penalties made them even more devastating. Mauermann went off for diving two minutes after the Friars’ first goal, when it looked like they were finally getting some momentum. Steven Shamanski was called for cross checking less than two minutes after they took a 2-1 lead. Then there was the too many men penalty that led to what proved to be the game-winning goal.
-The Friars are now 1-3-1 in the second half. While they played poorly in the first period Friday, it didn’t really cost them since they went into the locker room tied. They played BC pretty evenly the rest of the way, and the game was closer than the final score would indicate. That said, the Friars are struggling to score goals. After averaging 3.59 goals per game in the first semester, they’re now averaging just 1.80 in their five games since Christmas. They’ve outshot their opponents in four of those five games (BC outshot them, 31-28, Friday night), so it’s not like they’re not getting any chances. They’re just not finishing. Until they start to, this slump will continue.