(Box from BC Hockey East game sheet, online sources)
Friday, March 12, 2004 at Kelley Rink (Conte Forum), Chestnut Hill, MA
BC 4, BU 0 HOCKEY EAST PLAYOFFS ROUND 1 GAME 2
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BOSTON UNIVERSITY (HE) 0 0 0 - 0 (11-16-9 overall, 6-13-5 HE)
BOSTON COLLEGE (HE) 2 0 2 - 4 (27-7-4 overall, 17-4-3 HE)
Shots on Goal Pen - Min Power Play
BU 5- 3- 6-- 14 9 - 18 0 - 5
BC 8-18-15-- 41 8 - 16 1 - 6
BU - Sean Fields 6-18-13 - 37 saves/3 goals (58:44)
BC - Matti Kaltiainen 5- 3- 6 - 14 saves/0 goals (60:00)
Referee - Conrad Hache
Assistants - Chris Aughe, Bob Bernard
Attendance - 4706
1st Period
BC1 Ryan Shannon 11 (J.D. Forrest, Tony Voce) PPG 10:09 GWG
BC2 Ryan Shannon 12 (Stephen Gionta) 16:51
Penalties
BC Peter Harrold (high-sticking) 6:56
BU David Van der Gulik (obstruction - holding the stick) 9:18
BC Ty Hennes (holding) 11:41
BU Tom Morrow (roughing) 14:47
BC Brian Boyle (roughing) 14:47
BC Taylor Leahy (roughing) 14:47
2nd Period
No scoring
Penalties
BU Brad Zancanaro (interference) 1:00
BU Brian McConnell (tripping) 6:29
BC Ben Eaves (interference) 6:33
BU David Van der Gulik (holding) 15:05
BC Peter Harrold (unsportsmanlike conduct - diving) 15:05
3rd Period
BC3 Ned Havern 8 (Ryan Murphy, Ty Hennes) 13:30
BC4 Tony Voce 27 (Patrick Eaves) SHG ENG 17:46
Penalties
BU Brian Miller (interference) 0:51
BU David Van der Gulik (interference) 5:38
BU Kenny Roche (tripping) 10:37
BC J.D. Forrest (holding the stick) 16:30
BU Brian McConnell (roughing) 19:54
BC Brian Boyle (roughing) 19:54
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, Gregg Johnson, 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, RYAN SHANNON, TONY VOCE
Chris Collins, Stephen Gionta, Dave Spina
Ned Havern, Ty Hennes, Ryan Murphy
Taylor Leahy, 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
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Boston College evened their first round Hockey East playoff series with
Boston University at 1 game each with a very strong 4-0 victory Friday
night. Unlike the previous night, BC won all the battles and carried
themselves with more aggressiveness and purpose, and outplayed BU by
a wide margin in the final 2 periods. BC jumped on top with 2 goals by
Ryan Shannon in the first and made that stand up with a complete 60-
minute performance. Matti Kaltiainen got his 4th shutout of the season
and BC's first over BU since 1960, though he didn't have to work very
hard in this one. BU again had a hard time generating offense,
particularly from their front line, and they were unable to overcome
the early Eagles lead.
This game had a different feel for BC fans from the start, with a bigger
crowd, more intensity in the fans, and more intensity on the ice from
their team. Despite that, BU got the first shots in the first minute
but Kaltiainen had no problem with them. Things were back-and-forth
for the first few minutes, both teams skating with lots of energy and
purpose, and checking was tight. BU had one of the best flurries of the
night almost 5 minutes in when they got 2 decent shots on goal and had
fat rebounds in the slot but were unable to get them before the Eagles'
defense cleared them away. BC took a penalty to give the Terriers the
first power play of the game, but that is where it started to go wrong
for BU. They did nothing on the power play, setting the pattern for the
evening, where BC's penalty killers were all over the puck. BU had 5
power plays on the evening and were credited with only 1 late shot on
the whole set. BC, on the other hand, had shorthanded opportunities on
several occasions. After killing the penalty, BC got a power play of
their own, and they didn't waste it. Tony Voce had 2 stuff attempts at
the right edge, and BU was unable to clear the zone. Eventually J.D.
Forrest sent a shot sailing in from the center point, and it was tipped
twice by BC forwards. First Tony Voce tipped it slightly to the right,
and Ryan Shannon tipped that out of midair inside the right post for the
first score. (A nice bit of hand-eye coordination.) That was Shannon's
100th career point for BC, but he wasn't done yet, scoring later in the
period.
Things were a bit physical after that, with both teams doing a fair bit
of clutching and grabbing, and BU had 2 more ineffective power plays. On
the second man-advantage, Steve Gionta was plastered into the boards in
what appeared to be a hit from behind but no call was made despite the
crowd reaction. He fought it off to continue the penalty kill, and the
puck was cleared to the BU end as the penalty expired. Gionta chased it
down, fought past 2 BU defenders behind the net, and centered it to the
slot, where Shannon was parked all alone. He settled the puck and lifted
it high over Fields' glove to put BC up 2-0. Each team put some pressure
on the rest of the period, though BC had more possession and more
opportunities, setting the tone for the remainder of the game.
Period two didn't end up with any scoring, but it wasn't because BC didn't
throw everything at Fields' net. Shots on goal were 18 to 3, shots
attempted were 31 to 5 in favor of the Eagles. It started early and
didn't let up. Pat Eaves, Andrew Alberts, and John Adams all had good
shots in the first minute, with Alberts' shot trickling just wide off the
goalie's glove. BC had several shots on a power play, and Dave Spina was
wide on a partial breakaway. Alberts had 2 more shots on a 4-on-4
stretch, Shannon missed on a tip, Forrest forced a pad save with a low
shot and Fields somehow gloved the immediate doorstep rebound by Ty
Hennes. BU got their best chance on a deep rush by Ryan Whitney, when
he fed the puck back to the slot and it was shot wide by the trailer.
BC had more shots on another 4-on-4, and Gionta rang one loudly off the
post on a 3-on-2 break. Despite the BC domination, BU was still within
comeback distance as the period came to an end.
BU needed to get some offense in the third, and they tried to be more
aggressive moving the puck forward, but didn't often get a good shot. It
didn't help that they took more penalties trying to slow down BC or by
crashing the BC goalie. The Eagles buzzed the net early and Spina fired
another shot off the post (5 posts in the series so far for the Eagles.)
BC missed the net when Fields was down and out after a big rebound, and
Fields did everything he could to catch and cover everything near his
net. BU got a close-in shot after a steal but didn't get the goal, and
David Van der Gulik was called for goalie interference. (It was even
worse, as Van der Gulik pulled a muscle on the collision and may not be
available for Saturday's game.) BC kept buzzing, and Fields kept making
saves. J.D. Forrest missed on one shot but forced a good save later on
a nice setup (Forrest had a great game, getting good looks at the goal.)
Steve Gionta made a nice break pass to the slot and that drew another
penalty,, and BC kept the pressure on. Still, BU hadn't given up the
third goal and maintained hope that they could steal one and get back in
the game. The streak of hope came to an end when BC's third line had
a monster shift cycling and forechecking along the end boards, and Ned
Havern finally spun out from behind the net. He flipped a short stuff
shot into Fields, and it rode up his pads and over his shoulder, dropping
into the net for the 3-0 lead. BC, determined to not let up, kept the
pressure on. Taylor Leahy made a steal and fired on net with a breakaway,
though it was an easy save, and Shannon hammered another chance on goal.
BU fought back with desperation and missed on a tip in front, and Matt
Radoslovich forced a big pad save by Kaltiainen to keep the shutout.
When the Eagles took a late penalty, Fields was pulled to give the
Terriers a 6-on-4 advantage. However, after one missed try, Pat Eaves
broke up a BU breakout and found Tony Voce in center ice, and he nailed
the coffin shut with the empty net goal near the end.
On Thursday, BU scored early and then sat back and played defense to
protect the lead, and it worked. Friday, BC got the early lead, and BU
never really got untracked offensively. They had endless trouble getting
the puck out of their own zone, and BC really played 60 strong minutes to
ensure there would be no comeback. Fields played well in net but looked
like he wanted to ask for a different set of defenders in front of him.
It is asking a lot of your goalie to carry you when you can't play good
defense in front of him. It might work for a short while, but you can't
continually play so ineffectively on offense and give all the momentum
to the other team. They barely hung on Thursday and were never in a good
position Friday. Along with Van der Gulik's injury, defenseman Sean
Sullivan is reported to have been injured (shoulder), David Klema was
reinjured in Thursday's game, and Kenny Magowan is out injured. That means
BU enters Saturday's rubber game missing some key players.
BC was obviously not happy about their performance Thursday and was a
different team Friday. Every loose puck, every battle in the corner and
on the boards, every physical opportunity went to the Eagles in this game.
Ryan Shannon and Steve Gionta, who didn't play to form on Thursday, were
my number one and two stars in Friday's game. They switched lines Friday,
with Shannon centering the top line, and Gionta matching up on faceoffs
with BU's Brad Zancanaro, and that seemed to work better. Ben Eaves
continues to play as an extra forward, mostly on the power play, and did
look more effective Friday night, but overall it was the team effort for
the Eagles. Kaltiainen didn't have to do too much to win the game, though
he did make a couple good saves to preserve the shutout. BC fans were
much more satisfied after this effort, and now have hope that their team
can win Saturday and advance to the Fleet Center. Saturday's game is
at 7:00 at Conte Forum.
Final stat of the night: BC's front line of Voce, Pat Eaves, and Ryan
Shannon had 26 attempts and 17 shots on goal between them; BU's entire
team only had 28 attempts and 14 on goal. That's not going to get it done
for BU, even if Sean Fields is standing on his head. The Terriers have
to play better offensively to have a chance.
Rick McAdoo
"Volunteer reporter"
A satisfied BC fan. GO EAGLES!
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