Friday, November 20, 1998 at Kelley Rink (Conte Forum), Chestnut Hill, MA
BC 6, BU 2 HOCKEY EAST GAME
------------------------------------------------------------------------
BOSTON UNIVERSITY (HE) 0 2 0 - 2 0-4-1 HE (1-6-1 overall)
BOSTON COLLEGE (HE) 1 4 1 - 6 4-1-0 HE (6-1-1 overall)
Shots on Goal Pen - Min Power Play
BU 10- 9- 6 -- 25 10 - 20 1 - 8
BC 9-11-11 -- 31 9 - 18 4 - 9
BU - Michel Larocque 8- 7-10 - 25 saves/6 goals (60:00)
BC - Scott Clemmensen 10- 7- 6 - 23 saves/2 goals (60:00)
COMMENTS
---------
Boston College rode the wings of super-soph Brian Gionta and a dominant
power play to take the 6-2 victory over archrival Boston University.
Gionta had a hat trick plus 2 assists to take number one star honors;
defensemen Mike Mottau (4 assists) and Bobby Allen (1 goal, 2 assists)
were the other 2 stars. BU played better than some of their past
efforts this year, but defensive mistakes and difficulty with penalty
killing spoiled any chances for an upset. This was the largest BC
victory margin over the Terriers since a 8-3 win back in 1989.
The first period started a bit slow, as both teams were cautious and
trying to avoid penalties (usually these games are heavy on penalties.)
Both BU and BC have had troubles on the PK this year, and are at the bottom
of the Hockey East stats for that category. The Terriers played physical
but clean and ended up with more shots in the period, though most of them
were from outside. BC had the better chances overall, but whistled many
shots wide of the goal (a problem the Eagles have had most of the season.)
The only goal of the period came just before the buzzer at the 10-minute
mark (1st period played in 2 halves due to rink asymmetry.) A long flip
pass to the BU blue line by Mottau bounced off the glove of Juha Vuori as
he tried to control it, and Gionta picked it off to roar into the zone
for a 2-on-none break with Jeff Farkas. Gionta held the puck into the
left circle, forcing Larocque to play him, and sent a quick pass to the
right side where Farkas poked it into the open right side of the goal.
BU got some pressure later in the period but Clemmensen was up to the task,
and BC almost got another one when a tipped shot hit the crossbar. BU
coach Jack Parker seemed fairly pleased with his team's play, going to
the locker room only down 1-0 on the road.
Action picked up in the second period, and lots of scoring and scoring
chances were the result. BC had early pressure with 2 break-ins during
4-on-4 play, and Blake Bellefeuille used a nifty spin move to get a
backhander on net. Larocque stopped all the early chances, but BC got
it going on a power play. Allen and Mottau traded passes at the points,
then whistled a shot toward the net where Gionta got the tip up over
Larocque for the goal at 5:55. BU almost equalized on their own power
play when freshman D Chris Dyment rang a solid slot wrist shot off the
right post and back out. A subsequent turnover at the BU blue line left
Gionta flying in on a clean break, and Dyment was forced to trip him to
give another PP to the Eagles. Bellefeuille and Gionta won the faceoff
and got the puck to the point, and Mottau fired a long shot on goal. The
initial save was made but Bellefeuille was right there to collect the
rebound and slide the puck under the goalie's pads for a 3-0 BC lead.
2 successive BC penalties gave BU 4 minutes of power play after that. BC
had a quick shorthanded bid (again sparked by Gionta), and Clemmensen
came up with a couple of big saves. Finally, though, BU broke through
when Juha Vuori's point shot was deflected off Gionta's attempted block
and fooled Clemmensen as he lost sight of the puck until it was past him
at 12:43. BC had several quick opportunities after that as they picked
up the forechecking pressure, and a wild scramble near the crease led to
the puck sliding into the net. The goal was disallowed as a BC forward
had entered the crease and jostled the goalie prior to the shot. BU came
on a rush just after that, sent the puck toward the net from the right
side, and had it deflect through a screen to the left edge of the crease
where an unmarked Chris Heron tapped it into an open net. With less than
4 minutes left in the period, the BU fans thought they might go into the
third with a fighting chance. An interference penalty gave BC another
power play, though, and they scored quickly. Larocque gave up a rebound
on a left point shot, and Gionta was in front to collect it and sweep it
low into the net at 17:45. Gionta also got the killer goal and his hat
trick in the last minute of the period. Matt Mulhern popped the puck
loose from the boards in the BC end, and captain Brendan Buckley quickly
led a 2-on-1 break with Gionta. Buckley came into the zone on the left,
pushed a cross-ice pass to the streaking forward, and Gionta roofed a
sharp shot over Larocque's glove to make it 5-2 after two.
The third period was dominated by the Eagles, with their forechecking and
defensive scheme preventing BU from getting many shots. Andy Powers and
Bellefeuille had early chances, and freshman Jeff Giuliano almost tipped
in a lead pass from Gionta (Larocque made a nice sliding save -- most of
the goals were not his fault on this evening.) Another BU penalty led to
the final goal, another BC power play score. Bobby Allen's point shot
bounced off a BU stick and through Larocque's legs at 11:55 for the final
6-2 score. The last 6 minutes of the game featured power plays for both
teams (5-on-3 for both as well) but no more scoring occurred.
Boston University is struggling with their young team at the start of this
season, particularly when killing penalties. BU has a recent history of
taking a fair number of penalties, but in the past had enough talent to
overcome this. This year they are finding that they don't have the
defensive corps to risk this. Also, Larocque has been a bit inconsistent,
and the team hasn't found an identity yet. Jack Parker has a history of
getting his team to improve over the season, so they may yet become
competitive. For the moment, though, they are mired in last place in
Hockey East and face a long season. They certainly didn't have the speed
to handle BC and especially Gionta, Farkas, and Bellefeuille.
The Eagles enjoyed this victory -- it has been many years since they were
a strong favorite over their Commonwealth Avenue rivals. Normally these
games are fiercely contested, and I expect the rematch on Saturday to be
a physical, close match. BC did a much better job this evening of clearing
players from in front of their goalie, and kept their intensity for all
60 minutes (something that often hasn't occurred this season.) Gionta in
particular has picked his game up the last 2 weeks, and seems to work
well with his current linemates (Jeff Farkas was moved onto his line
last week.) The BC power play continues to move the puck intelligently
and put heavy pressure on opponents. When they combine that with good
defensive work and better penalty killing, the game flows their way
easily. BC hasn't been outshooting teams by as much as they have in
some past years, but they certainly are out-attempting them, with a lot
of shots going wide of the goal. I'm not sure this is a problem, though
in a tighter match with tougher opposition they might not want to waste
so many opportunities. This is particularly true because the forwards
have done a very good job of swarming the net and collecting rebounds.
BC gets lots of shots from their offensively skilled defensemen at the
points, and opposing teams that don't corral the rebounds and clear in
from of the goal will have a hard time stopping the BC scoring machine.
The BC defense has also not been as strong yet as it was late last
season, when they progressed to the championship game. Part of that has
been the slow start to the penalty killing efforts -- the team is still
trying to replace Jamie O'Leary and Marty Reasoner as effective checkers.
Gionta saw a lot of ice time tonight, including some on the penalty kill
to try to provide more speed on that unit. And it was largely successful,
though BU may not have been the toughest test.
These two teams meet again Saturday night, this time at BU's Walter Brown
Arena. The game will be televised in Boston on WABU-TV, Channel 68. If
BU can improve their penalty killing, take fewer penalties, and force
BC into some errors, they will have a chance to prevent the sweep. If
BC can use their speed and offensive pressure again, then they should
come away with the victory.
-------------------- ----------------------
Rick McAdoo [log in to unmask]
"Volunteer reporter" A pleased BC fan. GO EAGLES!
HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey; send information to
[log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.
|
