It was closer than expected, but Boston College hung on for a 3-1 win over archrival Boston University Monday night to advance to its fifth straight Beanpot final. The Eagles have won each of those last four championship games, and if they can beat Northeastern next Monday, they’ll become just the second team in Beanpot history to win the tournament five years in a row.
The Eagles (20-4-3) opened the scoring 4:04 into the game when Bruins prospect Ryan Fitzgerald took a pass from Teddy Doherty and beat Matt O’Connor from the right circle for a power-play goal. BC added what proved to be the game-winner 1:20 into the second when Bill Arnold slid a backhander over to Kevin Hayes for an easy finish.
Much like when they played two weeks ago (a 6-4 BC win), BU refused to give up. The Terriers (8-15-3) generated several good chances early in the third period, and came within inches of scoring when Kevin Duane had a look at an open net, only to put the shot off the post. They finally broke through with 13:17 to go when Robbie Baillargeon beat Thatcher Demko with a wrister through a Matt Lane screen.
BU continued to pressure BC, but couldn’t find the tying goal. Johnny Gaudreau sealed the game with an empty-netter with 24.8 seconds to go. BC and Northeastern will meet in the title game for the third time in four years.
Observations and analysis:
- Surprisingly, the Terriers were the better team for long stretches of the first period, as they generated several good cycles that led to prolonged offensive-zone possessions. They were physical in the neutral zone, aggressive on the forecheck and strong on the puck. As a result, BU wound up outshooting the Eagles 10-5 in the period and out-attempting them 23-12. Of course, the Terriers couldn’t turn that possession into goals and still went into the intermission down 1-0. But given that BU is one of the worst possession teams in the country and that BC is not, BU’s territorial advantage in the first was definitely unexpected. The second period was much closer to what you’d expect, with BC out-attempting BU 26-15.
- Gaudreau extended his point streak to 22 games. He has 21 goals and 24 assists during that streak, and he continues to lead the country in goals (24), points (53), points per game (1.96) and plus/minus (+34).
- Building off that, the Gaudreau-Arnold-Hayes line continues to be absolutely ridiculous. The three have now combined for 29 goals and 44 assists in 13 games playing together. It’s not a coincidence that BC is 12-0-1 in those 13 games.
- BU’s Doyle Somerby was ejected 11:33 into the second when he hit Hayes from behind. It wasn’t an overly vicious hit, but Hayes was in a vulnerable position and Somerby — who’s 6-foot-5 — still hit him hard enough to send him face-first into the boards. Hayes took a while to get up, but wound up not missing a shift. The Terriers actually created some momentum while shorthanded, as they generated a pair of odd-man rushes, but failed to finish. They then drew a power play of their own right after the major expired, but they couldn’t convert on that either.
- In the second period, BC attempted 15 shots from the grade-A area and put 10 of them on goal. I’m pretty sure that’s the most I’ve seen in one period this season. O’Connor deserves a ton of credit for stopping nine of those 10 scoring chances and keeping BU in the game.