This game featured a very good defensive effort by BU, some fantastic
goaltending by UNH's Brett Abel (although both goals did seem a bit
weak), and some absolutely dismal officiating by two of Hockey East's
"finest", Rich Fowkes and John Gravellese.  The first and third
periods were fairly even, but BU completely dominated the second,
outshooting UNH 19-4.  Abel was amazing, but did let in a soft goal by
Bob LaChance (Dan Donato assisting) with about a minute left in the
period.  David Sacco made it 2-0 only 13 seconds into the third period
(Kevin O'Sullivan assisting) on a two-on-one break just a few seconds
after the faceoff.  BU netminder Derek Herlofsky got to see the puck
much more in the third period (only 11 shots in the first two periods,
then 13 in the third), but he stopped them all.  New Hampshire
couldn't capitalize on a rare powerplay in the middle of the period,
and despite pulling Abel with 2:30 left, couldn't find the net then
either.
 
As for the officiating, well, I think I'll leave it to other less
biased folks to judge.  It does seem rather remarkable that Gravellese
could go 59:45 and *never* call a penalty though...
 
Chris