Friday, January 17, 1997 at Walter Brown Arena, Boston, MA
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BOSTON COLLEGE Eagles 2 1 2 0 - 5 (9-11-2 overall, 5-6-2 HE)
BOSTON UNIVERSITY Terriers 0 3 2 0 - 5 (13-4-4 overall, 11-0-2 HE)
Shots on Goal Pen - Min Power Play
BC 8 - 14 - 10 - 1 -- 33 12 - 32 2 - 4
BU 7 - 19 - 8 - 3 -- 37 8 - 27 3 - 7
BC - Greg Taylor 7-16- 6- 3 - 32 saves (64:32)
BU - Tom Noble 6-13- 8- 1 - 28 saves (65:00)
COMMENTS
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I watched this game on the WABU-TV broadcast, and didn't always get a good
look at the events, or didn't get good stats by the announcers.
BC made a daring move by pulling the goalie with 5:43 left in the third
period and down by two goals, but it paid off as Marty Reasoner scored
to get one back. With goalie Greg Taylor back in the net, Reasoner then
scored again 1:26 later to gain BC a 5-5 tie with Boston University.
This was a game of runs -- BC opened a 3-0 lead by early in the second
period; BU scored on a 5-on-3 to get kick-started and then ran off five
unanswered goals; BC came back in the last 6 minutes on Reasoner's
heroics.
First - This period was played defensively, and neither team got a lot
of good shots. BC used a physical style to frustrate BU, and then took
advantage of their few chances to open a lead. Freshman Tony Hutchins
continued his recent goal-scoring streak by poking a Powers pass under
Noble at the right edge of the crease and seeing it trickle just over the
goal line at 11:55. The Eagles had two strong penalty kills, allowing
only a single break by Sylvia (who was tripped by the defense but got no
call.) Sylvia got another chance when two BC defenders went with a lone
BU player, but Taylor was able to block the attempt. O'Connell took a
late (and silly) slashing penalty, and BU lost the puck on a shorthanded
attempt with only seconds remaining. Mottau passed to Farkas, and his
shot beat Noble far side low for the score at 19:52. No one realized
it until the start of the second period, but BU's Tommy Degerman was
assessed a butt-ending major and DQ at the end of the period. (He missed
Saturday's rematch due to the DQ.)
Second - BC got only weak attempts early on the major penalty, and Taylor
was forced to block Drury and Walsh shorthanded bids. Finally, though,
Buckley fired a screened shot from the right point that landed high in
the net for a 3-0 BC lead at 4:45. BU started to gain some momentum
with nice work by Shawn Bates, who was robbed after a charge to the net
and then couldn't score on a one-timer on a subsequent power play. BC
took another penalty, giving BU a 5-on-3, and they didn't miss on that
chance. Penalty-killer Matt Mulhern broke his stick and couldn't work
effectively, and an outside slapshot rebounded off the boards right to
Coleman, who scored at 9:23. While the 5-on-4 continued, BU scored a
second goal, but it was disallowed. Referee Gravellese ruled that a
Bates attempt to use his stick to block the puck to a teammate actually
rebounded off his hands for a hand pass. (TV replays were "inconclusive".)
BC came back with good shots of their own, but Tom Noble was up to the
task and made the saves. BU regained the momentum, put on more pressure,
and just missed on Bates and Wright breaks. Finally Pierce got a clean
break after the BC defense missed a center ice block and Ronan sent the
pass ahead. He roared straight in and lifted the shot over Taylor's
glove for the second BU goal. BU killed a penalty with no problems and
then got the equalizer at 18:47 on a bit of a lucky break. LaCouture sent
a long cross ice pass from left to right to spring Drury; his attempted
pass to a wing on the left struck defenseman Joe Harney and deflected into
the net past a surprised Taylor.
One unusual penalty called late in the period was a 10-minute misconduct
on BC senior Brian Callahan for not wearing a mouthpiece. It appeared
it wouldn't have been called except he had complained to the referee about
something and the ref came back with the misconduct call. (I thought
Gravellese showed too much emotion/anger in his dealings with the two
teams during this game, as if they got to him a bit. Of course, it would
not be the first time that an emotional BU-BC game stirred things up.
Neither school or coach is known to be real laid-back ...)
Third - BU used power plays to open up the lead to 5-3. Chris Heron got
both scores after weak BC defensive play gave him opportunities. The
first came at 4:58, as O'Connell fed Heron from the corner, and Heron
slid around the defenseman to lift it past Taylor's stick side. (The D
played the puck instead of the body and got neither.) The second chance
was after BC failed to clear the puck from the zone when they had the
opportunity. Coleman fired toward the net from the right point, and
Heron skated in front and deflected the midair puck into the net. BU sat
on the lead a bit at this point and BC was not having much luck getting to
the net. Two separate 4-on-4 situations had not produced anything, so
when a faceoff was called in the BU end, Jerry York resorted to pulling
his goalie for the extra skater (giving BC a 5-on-4 advantage.)
As the teams fought for possession, BU's Drury and BC's Reasoner both
moved to the puck as it slid out toward center ice at the right point.
Reasoner kept it in, moved down the boards and then cut to the middle,
and fired a low shot past Noble to get BC back within one (14:45). Taylor
now returned to the goal, and Bates nearly beat him with a nice stop-move-
and-shot that rang off a post. BC pushed hard to forecheck and keep
possession, and it paid off when an outside shot was deflected and then
bounced to the right side, where Reasoner was able to lift it in for
the tie at 16:11. Frantic action followed -- Taylor was screened and
barely stopped a Pierce tip attempt, then BC came back on a counterattack.
Callahan's left point slapper bounded off Noble's pads right to Reasoner
coming down the slot, and his quick shot rang off the crossbar and bounced
up out of play. BU took their timeout to try to settle down, and it
seemed to work as neither team could threaten until the overtime.
Overtime - Both teams were fairly cautious in the OT. Mottau fired one
wide right from inside the blue line (missing an opportunity, as he had
an unmarked teammate to the left of the goal on the break.) Sylvia came
back and forced Taylor to make a good stop, and the game wound down with
no more scoring attempts.
Some players have star quality, and Reasoner appears to be one of those.
I had remarked in the middle of the third period that he had not been a
factor in the game at all, and then all of a sudden he scores the two
quick goals to tie the game. BU has their own star, of course, in
Chris Drury, and he has been a thorn in BC's side in all their games
this year. BU has the better players overall, but BC is now making it
close in all their games with BU, which is a change over the last two
years. If the Eagles can shore up the defense and not give up so many
breaks on Taylor, they could make things interesting down the stretch,
especially with an easier upcoming schedule. BU continues to be
unbeaten in Hockey East, but they haven't been as dominant as the past,
and will have to push hard to maintain their lead.
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Rick McAdoo [log in to unmask]
"Volunteer reporter" A positive BC fan. GO EAGLES!
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