(Box from my notes, online sources)
Thursday, March 11, 2004 at Kelley Rink (Conte Forum), Chestnut Hill, MA
BU 3, BC 2 HOCKEY EAST PLAYOFFS ROUND 1 GAME 1
------------------------------------------------------------------------
BOSTON UNIVERSITY (HE) 2 1 0 - 3 (11-15-9 overall, 6-13-5 HE)
BOSTON COLLEGE (HE) 0 0 2 - 2 (26-7-4 overall, 17-4-3 HE)
Shots on Goal Pen - Min Power Play
BU 6- 2- 2-- 10 7 - 14 1 - 4
BC 10-10-10-- 30 4 - 8 0 - 7
BU - Sean Fields 10-10- 8 - 28 saves/2 goals (60:00)
BC - Matti Kaltiainen 4- 1- 2 - 7 saves/3 goals (59:03)
Referee - Scott Hansen
Assistants - Jack Millea, Glen Cooke
Attendance - 3250
1st Period
BU1 Brian McConnell 11 (Jekabs Redlihs, Mark Mullen) PPG 8:57
BU2 Brad Zancanaro 4 (Matt Radoslovich, David Van der Gulik) 11:11
Penalties
BC Dave Spina (obstruction - holding the stick) 0:41
BU David Van der Gulik (obstruction - tripping) 5:00
BC Chris Collins (slashing) 7:09
BU Dan Spang (obstruction - interference) 13:22
BU Sean Fields (contact to head - roughing, served by Greeley) 15:28
BU David Van der Gulik (delay of game) 15:28
BU Sean Sullivan (contact to head - high sticking) 19:34
2nd Period
BU3 Kenny Roche 8 (Frantisek Skladany, John LaLiberte) 16:17 GWG
Penalties
BC Pat Eaves (obstruction - hooking) 9:35
3rd Period
BC1 Andrew Alberts 4 (Ty Hennes) 5:40
BC2 Ben Eaves 7 (Chris Collins) 6x5 19:20
Penalties
BC Dave Spina (contact to head - roughing) 7:09
BU Jekabs Redlihs (obstruction - holding) 11:38
BU (too many men, served by Steve Greeley) 13:28
3 Stars - None selected
Boston University:
F DAVID VAN DER GULIK, BRAD ZANCANARO, MATT RADOSLOVICH
Mark Mullen, Brian McConnell, Bryan Miller
Kenny Roche, John LaLiberte, Frantisek Skladany
Steve Greeley, David Klema, Eric Thomassian
D SEAN SULLIVAN, RYAN WHITNEY
Dan Spang, Kevin Schaeffer
Tom Morrow, Jekabs Redlihs
G SEAN FIELDS, Stephan Siwiec, John Curry
Boston College:
F PATRICK EAVES, STEPHEN GIONTA, TONY VOCE
Chris Collins, Ryan Shannon, Dave Spina
Joe Rooney, Ty Hennes, Ryan Murphy
Ned Havern, Brian Boyle, Justin Dziama
Ben Eaves
D ANDREW ALBERTS, J.D. FORREST
John Adams, Peter Harrold
Brett Peterson
G MATTI KALTIAINEN, Joe Pearce, Robbie Miller
COMMENTS
--------
Boston University jumped to an early lead on a sluggish BC team, then held
on for a 3-2 upset in the first round of the Hockey East playoffs Thursday
night at BC. BU got a power play goal and a surprise goal on an outside
shot to take a 2-0 lead after one, then took advantage of a Matti Kaltiainen
miscue in goal to get the third score in the second period. BC made a late
run, scoring a second goal with the goalie pulled in the last minute, but it
was too little, too late for the Eagles. Sean Fields played well in net for
the Terriers, who were content to play defense once they had the big lead.
BU only had 4 shots on goal in the second and third periods total, while
BC dominated possession and play. However, strong defense and penalty
killing by BU, helped by BC hitting 2 posts and a crossbar, led to the
surprising result.
From the beginning of the first period, BC appeared less motivated and
prepared for this game, while BU worked hard and was strong defensively.
Kaltiainen was tested in the first minute after a BC turnover, but stopped
both the shot and the rebound. BU was ineffective on a power play, and BC
carried most of the play following that. The Terriers were able to block
a lot of shots on a subsequent Eagles man-advantage, and got a breakaway as
the penalty expired when David Van der Gulik was sent away clean as he left
the box. Kaltiainen saved that one, but Chris Collins took another penalty
trying to affect the shot, and BU made them pay. Late in the power play,
Brian McConnell fed the puck to the right point and moved to the front
of the net. He was able to tip the shot from Jekabs Redlihs and it popped
up over the shoulder of the goalie to put BU up 1-0. Kaltiainen had to
make a big save a couple minutes later when John LaLiberte fired one from
the short slot. On a later deep forecheck, the puck was pushed free in
the corner and passed to Brad Zancanaro at the outside of the circle. He
flipped a quick wrist shot at the goal, and somehow Kaltiainen missed it
as it cleanly hit the twine.
BC cranked up the skating after that to try to rally and forced a BU
penalty. The Terriers had a shorthanded 3-on-2 but tipped it wide, and
BC was buzzing but could not put the puck away. As this power play ended,
with BC storming the net, Sean Fields was called for a (delayed) penalty.
On the delayed call, Van der Gulik deliberatly pushed the net off for a
second penalty; a full 2-minute 5-on-3 advantage for BC. They fired several
shots, some were saved, some were wide, 1 hit a pipe and 1 hit a crossbar.
But none went in. BC had more chances the rest of the period but kept
firing wide or high or Fields had the save. BC ended the period with a lot
more shots, but many of them were off-target or blocked by the defense in
front of Fields.
Boston College opened the second period on another power play, and had 2
good shots from the slot that both sailed wide. Joe Rooney fired a hard
wrister back at even strength that Fields got a piece of and it skittered
wide of the post. A big save came from the BU netminder when Tony Voce
was sent away on a clean breakaway (great saucer pass by Peter Harrold!)
Voce tried moving to his left and shooting high but Sean was equal to the
task. BC had all the possession and play, BU would just clear or ice the
puck at every opportunity. BU did not get a shot on goal in the second
period until after 16 minutes had gone by, despite their own power play.
On the play following a faceoff after that, BC failed to clear the puck,
and a BU forward pushed it weakly toward the net. Kaltiainen came out
to cover the puck to the side of the crease, only to see if slide under
him and into the crease behind him. A mad scramble ensued but BU's
Kenny Roche was able to collect it and push it into the vacated net for
a 3-0 BU lead. That took some of the wind out of the Eagles and they
did not do much the rest of the period.
The third period went much the same way as the second, as BC put on most
of the pressure and BU was content to play defense and counterpunch when
possible. Play was physical to start, but without penalties. Steve Gionta
was wide left on a clean shot from the slot, then BC finally broke through
on another weak goalie maneuver. Fields went out of the net to play the
puck behind the cage, but a BC forward beat him to the puck and was able
to throw it out in front. Andrew Alberts pinched down and was able to
shoot it low into the goal just as Fields slid back through the crease.
The Eagles were flying after that, with BU again trying to dump the puck
repeatedly. Brad Zancanaro did have one bright moment for the Terriers
when he got a partial break, went around Ryan Shannon back on defense,
and fired a shot that Kaltiainen had to save. BC took a stupid penalty
when they had the momentum and cost themselves some precious time. BU
got one more shot on goal on the power play but Matti K. flashed his
glove for the save. BC again cranked up the pressure, Pat Eaves trying a
wraparound, a stolen puck fed through the crease and out, and Fields
made a great sprawling kick save on a penalty kill. It turns out the
penalty kill was even better than expected because BU had 5 skaters out
at the time, and they got caught for too many men. BC got 6 clean shots
on the man-advantage and only one was on net, which Fields gloved. Time
was getting short when Ned Havern clanked a quick shot off the near post
and back out, and the BC crowd was getting very frustrated. A pass to
the slot was tipped wide, Andrew Alberts was wide on a big slap shot, and
a rebound was caromed off Fields' mask as he dove forward. Nothing was
going in. With a minute left Kaltiainen came out for the extra skater,
and everyone crashed toward the BU net. A shot was kicked free, and
the rebound shot was saved by Fields, only to see it bounce off his
defenseman and back into the net to make the score 3-2 with only 40
seconds left. BU took a timeout to settle down, but play immediately
went back into the BU zone after that. There were 3 faceoffs at the end,
and Zancanaro did a great job to win each one and his teammates iced the
puck to waste time, and eventually win the game.
While BU did play well defensively, and clearly wanted the game more than
the Eagles at the start, it was a formula that obviously depended on them
getting the early lead. Absent the 2 soft goals allowed by Kaltiainen,
BU would have had a much harder time in this game, and they have to hope
they can repeat the formula in the second game on Friday. The longer they
let BC carry the puck and pepper the net, the less likely the Terriers can
hold them off. They didn't vote 3 stars for the playoff game, but I
would have put Zancanaro first, with good energy, a big goal, and some
yeoman faceoff work at the end. Fields was probably number 2 for the
accumulated saves, a few of them big saves. BU went much of the season
having a hard time putting the puck in the net, and I'm not sure they can
count on getting the easy goals they got in this game again.
BC had a "sort of" full roster available, but Ben Eaves was hampered by
his knee injury (made worse by his play last week at Maine.) He only
dressed as an extra forward and played mostly on power plays and faceoff
situations. A few other BC players were noticeably off their normal high-
speed games; Steve Gionta, Ryan Shannon, J.D. Forrest. I don't know if
they just had bad games or were still feeling affects of illness or
injury (Gionta missed a game last week due to illness.) The BC top line
didn't click, for whatever reason. In particular, their shots were almost
always off target or blocked by the defense. Fields rarely had to make
the stop on the top players, and BC as a whole had a hard time getting
shots to the net (there were a ton of blocks by the defense.) That was
partly the BU defense working hard to cut down shooting angles and clear
looks, but BC didn't help matters any with their techniques. The Eagles
were able to crank up the pressure in the second half of the game, and
they did hit posts and crossbar, so they weren't far off. However, this
is now 4 losses in a row for the former number 1 team, and they want to
get back on track before the NCAA playoffs.
Overall, this was an unusually tough #1-#8 matchup for Hockey East. BU
is clearly a team that can be much better than their season-long form, with
lots of talented players and a hot/cold goalie. Combine that with the
rivalry factor and the season history (BC had won all 4 meetings before
this, including a hard-fought Beanpot final), and this isn't your typical
playoff series. Game one showed that clearly. The question now is, can
BC recover its form and assert its superiority to advance in the playoffs?
Can BU salvage one bright light in this dimmest of seasons? Game two is
at 8 PM Friday, with a possible game three on Saturday at 7 PM should BC
even the series Friday.
Rick McAdoo
"Volunteer reporter"
A satisfied but concerned BC fan. GO EAGLES!
|
