(Box from BC game summary sheet)
Friday, January 14, 2005 at Kelley Rink (Conte Forum), Chestnut Hill, MA
BC 6, BU 3 HOCKEY EAST GAME
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BOSTON UNIVERSITY (HE) 1 1 1 - 3 (13-8-0 overall, 9-2-0 HE)
BOSTON COLLEGE (HE) 1 3 2 - 6 (13-3-3 overall, 7-1-3 HE)
Shots on Goal Pen - Min Power Play
BU 7- 8- 7-- 22 9 - 18 1 - 10
BC 10-13-16-- 39 11 - 22 3 - 8
BU - John Curry 9-10-14 - 33 saves/5 goals (58:58)
BC - Cory Schneider 6- 7- 6 - 19 saves/3 goals (60:00)
Referee - Tim Benedetto
Assistants - Tom Fyrer, Joe Andrews
Attendance - 7884
1st Period
BU1 Brad Zancanaro 9 (Kevin Schaeffer, Dan Spang) PPG 4:23
BC1 Patrick Eaves 9 (Ryan Shannon, Dave Spina) PPG 5:36
Penalties
BU Ryan Weston (obstruction-holding) 0:59
BC Brian Boyle (roughing-contact to head) 1:27
BC Mike Brennan (obstruction-interference) 2:29
BU Tom Morrow (holding the stick) 4:50
BU John Laliberte (cross-checking) 8:23
BC Dave Spina (slashing) 13:50
BC Ryan Murphy (unsportsmanlike conduct) 19:31
BU Bryan Miller (obstruction-interference) 19:31
BU Kevin Schaeffer (obstruction-interference) 19:44
BC Andrew Alberts (holding) 20:00
2nd Period
BC2 Ryan Shannon 7 (unassisted) SHG 2:43
BC3 Brian Boyle 7 (Dave Spina, Patrick Eaves) PPG 15:35
BC4 Patrick Eaves 10 (Ryan Shannon, Dave Spina) 17:25 GWG
BU2 Peter MacArthur 11 (Matt Radoslovich) 17:43
Penalties
BC Greg Lauze (obstruction-hooking) 2:32
BC Dave Spina (obstruction-hitting from behind) 5:09
BC Taylor Leahy (holding) 8:59
BU Bryan Miller (roughing-contact to head) 11:15
BU Tom Morrow (obstruction-holding) 15:11
3rd Period
BU3 Ryan Monaghan 3 (Eric Thomassian, Matt Radoslovich) 8:52
BC5 Dave Spina 8 (Ryan Shannon, Brian Boyle) PPG 14:43
BC6 Ryan Murphy 3 (Peter Harrold) ENG SHG 19:19
Penalties
BU Brian McConnell (slashing) 0:42
BC Andrew Alberts (holding) 5:09
BC Chris Collins (hooking) 5:57
BU David Van der Gulik (obstruction-interference) 14:00
BC Taylor Leahy (tripping) 18:17
3 Stars - 1. BC - Ryan Shannon (1G, 3A)
2. BC - Patrick Eaves (2G, 1A)
3. BC - Dave Spina (1G, 3A)
Boston University:
F DAVID VAN DER GULIK, BRAD ZANCANARO, JOHN LALIBERTE
Kenny Roche, Brian McConnell, Ryan Weston
Matt Radoslovich, Peter MacArthur, Bryan Ewing
Brian McGuirk, Eric Thomassian, Ryan Monaghan
D JEKABS REDLIHS, BRYAN MILLER
Dan Spang, Kevin Schaeffer
Tom Morrow, Sean Sullivan
G JOHN CURRY, Karson Gillespie, Stephan Siwiec
Boston College:
F PATRICK EAVES, RYAN SHANNON, DAVE SPINA
Ned Havern, Matt Greene, Dan Bertram
Chris Collins, Stephen Gionta, Ryan Murphy
Joe Rooney, Brian Boyle, Pat Gannon
D ANDREW ALBERTS, MIKE BRENNAN
Brian O'Hanley, Peter Harrold
Taylor Leahy, Greg Lauze
G CORY SCHNEIDER, Matti Kaltiainen, Robbie Miller
COMMENTS
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Boston College took the opening game of a big Hockey East weekend over
their
rival Boston University Friday night at BC, 6-3. The story of the game was
special teams play, with BC scoring 3 times on the power play and getting
2 shorthanded scores while holding BU to only a single score on 10 power
play attempts. The game was choppy with some frequent penalty calls during
stretches but BC noticeably outskated BU to most of the loose pucks and
were able to ring up 6 goals, tying their top output for the season.
Referee Benedetto started early, enforcing the reemphasized interference
penalties and providing lots of special teams play. While BU could not
score
on a 5-on-3 opportunity they got their lone power play goal shortly after,
on a rebound from the left side. Brad Zancanaro roofed a sharp angle shot
after Cory Schneider made a leg pad save on a point slapper. BC got a
power play of their own right after that, and nice work kept the puck in at
the right point. Ryan Shannon fed it low to Dave Spina, and he threw a
pass
to Patrick Eaves pinching down at the top of the right circle. The puck
was fluttering a bit, and the shot did not have its expected velocity,
bouncing once on its way toward the net, where it fooled John Curry and
skipped past him. Curry made some big saves on the next BC power play,
holding off Peter Harrold and blocking 2 rebound attempts. Curry was
caught
out of position on a failed clearing attempt and Brian Boyle fired a wrist
shot towards an open net. Curry dived across the goal with his stick put
missed the puck only to have it ping off the far post. Steve Gionta and
Pat Eaves both missed close shots, and BU forced Schneider to make a good
save. Curry had to make several saves on late chances, especially on a
point-blank screen/tip, and penalties at the end of the period took away
any even flow.
The second period started slow as teams skated 3-on-3, then Curry had to
make a nice toe save of a Chris Collins shot. BU had a short, ineffective
power play but managed to draw another penalty right after that. However,
they fumbled the puck at the blue line and Ryan Shannon poked it free and
took off on a shorthanded breakaway. At full speed he outraced the
defense,
skated straight in on goal, and then, just before reaching the net, slammed
on the brakes and moved to the right as Curry had gone down, stuffing the
puck behind him for a BC 2-1 lead. It was a great move by the skilled
senior and got the crowd into the game. The Terriers got another power
play and did little with it until a long break pass found John Laliberte
moving into the zone alone and he had a 1-on-1 with the goalie. Schneider
made a big save, though, and later stopped another chance to hold off BU.
Schneider kept playing well, making nice saves on MacArthur and Laliberte,
and BU avoided another shorthanded BC score when the defense got back to
stop Pat Eaves on a breakaway before he could shoot. The teams traded
power plays with little effect, then BC got a break on another power play,
when a BU clearing attempt went right to Brian Boyle at the center point
position. He flipped a high wrist shot through a huge screen of players
in front and it sailed past Curry's shoulder for BC's third goal. Curry
never saw it till it was by him. Late in the period more good fortune
came BC's way when Shannon's centering pass on a 3-on-2 break was
deflected,
only to go to Eaves on the left side. He made no mistake with it, firing
a hard shot inside the left post to make the score 4-1. It looked like
BC might coast in from there, but just 18 seconds later, on BU's first
chance after that, Pete MacArthur fired a hard shot from the outside that
eluded Schneider and made it 4-2 after two.
The third period was fairly even to start, with BC getting most of the
opportunities, but BU finally woke up when they got another 5-on-3 power
play and started putting pressure on the Eagles' defense. BC started to
look tired, losing battles along the boards and making weak clearance
attempts. BU didn't score on the power play but finally took advantage
of bad passes by BC when they intercepted the puck low and fired a shot
that was blocked by the defense. The rebound bounced right to Ryan
Monaghan and he hammered a high shot past Schneider to bring the Terriers
within one and give them lots of momentum. BU couldn't turn that into
any offense, though, and BC gradually got a few chances on net, forcing
Curry to make some good saves. Eventually BC forced BU into a late
penalty, and it didn't take long before the BC power play capitalized.
A deflected shot found Shannon to the left of the crease, and he pushed it
to the front to an unmarked Dave Spina. Spina had to fumble with the puck
before getting it to the right side, but eventually got his stick on it
and pushed it into the open net to restore a 2-goal lead. BU tried to
come back by pulling the goalie on their final power play chance with 2
minutes left, but Ryan Murphy collected a puck along the boards in the BC
zone and backhanded a clearance that sailed down the ice into the open net
for the sixth and final score.
This was a game where the BU players did not skate well, and their special
teams efforts were not good. Their power play was very ineffective, with
lots of standing around and no movement (they miss Chris Bourque's puck-
handling and creativity on the man-advantage, no doubt.) Their defensive
efforts weren't much better, letting BC control the puck at the points
and work for decent shots, and relying too much on Curry to bail them out.
Curry played well, especially in the first half of the game, when he kept
BU in the contest despite their poor overall play. But there was no
energy or spirit to the Terriers on this night, and that was surprising,
given the rivalry status of this game and the fact that BU was defending
their first-place position in the league.
BC played well in this game, got a few breaks to give them opportunities,
but also made the most of their chances with strong skating and another
big night on the penalty kill. BC was more aggressive than BU, skated
harder, faster, and better, and controlled play even more than the score
indicated. Lots of blocked shots by the defense, especially on the BU
power plays, made life easier for frosh goalie Schneider. BC's top line
of Eaves, Shannon, and Spina was tremendous on the evening, racking up
11 points and 4 goals, collecting all 3 stars of the game. The game had
plenty of penalties, but mostly due to the obstruction emphasis, not
because the two teams came out too fired up and physical. In fact, this
was one of the least heated BC-BU games I can recall, with no real tension
between the teams and little to no after-the-whistle jostling and baiting.
Perhaps they've learned to control themselves better, knowing the
consequences of power plays for the other team, or it was just the lack
of energy by BU that kept this quieter than usual. Playing in front of
a quiet crowd (no students at BC) didn't help.
The game brought BC within 1 point of the Terriers heading into the
rematch one night later in the first Hockey East game ever at the new
Harry Agganis Arena at BU. BC had won their last 7 games with this win,
having won their holiday tournament in Florida, swept Merrimack, and
toughed out a win at Yale 3 days earlier.
Rick McAdoo
"Volunteer reporter"
An optimistic BC fan. GO EAGLES!
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