Saturday, March 13, 2004 at Kelley Rink (Conte Forum), Chestnut Hill, MA
BU 4, BC 2 HOCKEY EAST PLAYOFFS ROUND 1 GAME 3
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BOSTON UNIVERSITY (HE) 1 3 0 - 4 (12-16-9 overall, 6-13-5 HE)
BOSTON COLLEGE (HE) 0 1 1 - 2 (27-8-4 overall, 17-4-3 HE)
Shots on Goal Pen - Min Power Play
BU 9- 9- 3-- 21 5 - 10 1 - 6
BC 9-13-15-- 37 7 - 17 1 - 4
BU - Sean Fields 9-12-14 - 35 saves/2 goals (60:00)
BC - Matti Kaltiainen 8- 6- 3 - 17 saves/4 goals (59:00)
Referee - Conrad Hache
Assistants - Jack Millea, Bob Bernard
Attendance - 4329
1st Period
BU1 Brad Zancanaro 5 (Bryan Miller, Ryan Whitney) PPG 17:12
Penalties
BC Peter Harrold (high-sticking) 6:56
BU J.D. Forrest (hooking) 4:38
BC Ryan Whitney (interference) 5:20
BU Brian McConnell (unsportsmanlike conduct - diving) 6:12
BU Chris Collins (unsportsmanlike conduct - diving) 15:30
BC Patrick Eaves (boarding) 19:21
2nd Period
BC1 Tony Voce 28 (J.D. Forrest) 4x4 5:12
BU2 Kenny Roche 9 (John LaLiberte, Frantisek Skladany) 10:21
BU3 Bryan Miller 5 (Jekabs Redlihs) 11:46 GWG
BU4 Eric Thomassian 1 (unassisted) 15:15
Penalties
BU Brad Zancanaro (interference) 1:00
BC Justin Dziama (boarding) 3:58
BU Steve Greeley (high-sticking) 3:58
BU Stephen Gionta (elbowing) 18:59
3rd Period
BC2 Ben Eaves 8 (Tony Voce, Patrick Eaves) PPG 15:25
Penalties
BU Brian Miller (interference) 0:51
BU Sean Fields (slashing, served by Skladany) 1:58
BC Patrick Eaves (charging) 7:33
BU Sean Sullivan (hooking) 14:26
BC Tony Voce (5 min. - cross-checking) 17:00
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 University completed a surprising series victory over #1 seed
Boston College with a 4-2 victory Saturday night at BC. This is just the
second time a #8 seed has defeated a #1 seed in the league tourney in a
3-game series; BU was defeated by Merrimack when they were number 1 in
1998. The Terriers played their best game of the series in the rubber
match, scoring 3 times in 5 minutes in the second period to open up a
4-1 lead and then holding on in the third to clinch a berth in the Fleet
Center semifinals next Friday. BC again dominated the shot chart and were
credited with 3 hit posts, but will have to regroup to recover their form
when they enter the NCAA tournament later this month.
BU had noted injuries to 2 players in Friday night's game, but they put out
the same lineup Saturday night and both David Van der Gulik and Sean
Sullivan were able to play effectively. BC also played the same lineup,
with Ben Eaves getting limited play only on power plays. BU started the
first period with purpose and more aggressiveness than Friday's game,
trying to open a lead. Brian McConnell had one good chance on a wrap
attempt but the save was made. Strong Terrier forechecking forced BC
to take the game's first penalty, but then they handed it back with an
interference call. Dan Spang was wide on a tip pinching in from the point,
then McConnell was called for diving when he was hit in the corner and
gave BC the man-advantage. The Eagles had several shots wide and were
almost too-patient on the 5-on-3 time, and were pressing to get a goal
when the power play ended. BU was able to pass up to McConnell as he came
out of the box but Peter Harrold got back in time to ride him off and no
shot was made. Play was fairly physical and the referee let a lot of
contact and grabbing go both ways in the game. Brian Boyle ticked a shot
off Sean Fields' glove, both teams fanned on slot setups, and Ryan Shannon
wrapped the net and pushed one through Fields only to see it tick off the
right post and carom out. BC was starting to forecheck harder and bottle
up the Terriers, similar to Friday night. Chris Collins was tangled up in
front of the Terrier net on BC pressure and fell down, and was called
(correctly) for a diving penalty. The initial half of the power play was
not effective, but then BU got decent pressure, had a shot from an angle
deflect off a post, and Brad Zancanaro fired a wrister from out high.
Matti Kaltiainen saw the puck through the crowd and reached for it but
missed it and BU led 1-0. Pat Eaves was called for a boarding penalty
late in the period and BU went to the locker room full of energy and
optimism. (Eaves had a particularly tough game, with few shots, lack of
puck control, and a couple of bad penalties.)
The Eagles were able to kill off the penalty at the start of the second
period, and things were quiet for a couple of minutes. Matching penalties
opened up the ice and the Eagles got the equalizer on a beautiful scorer's
move by Tony Voce. He came into the zone on the left side on a 2-on-1
break, and faked a shot as he neared the crease. Fields went down, Voce
held the puck until he was past Fields, and he lifted the puck into the
open net from a sharp angle. Unlike Friday's game, though, BU did not
wilt under pressure but came right back. Zancanaro had a good setup and
Kaltiainen had to make a big pad save, then another save on a later try.
BC came back with forechecking efforts from their 3rd and 4th lines, and
things went back-and-forth. Ned Havern threw a puck at Fields from an
angle and it bounced in the crease and ended up underneath the goalie but
not over the line. BU regained the lead on a fortunate bounce when
Kenny Roche circled out from behind the net and flipped a shot into the
crease, where it deflected up and over Kaltiainen's desperate swipe. The
Terriers stretched the lead just a minute and a half later when a
defensive breakdown left Bryan Miller skating in on the right side on a
BU 2-on-1 break. He waited a bit, and with Kaltiainen worrying about a
pass to the wing, snapped a hard shot that zipped through the goalie's
legs just before he closed up the 5-hole. This shot was one that BC needed
Matti to save but he couldn't do it this time; perhaps the speed of the
shot surprised him. The Eagles came back with energy to try to get back
into the game and had shots from outside though Fields had no problem with
those. Then there was a scramble in front off a Havern snap shot, and
Brett Peterson pinched in to collect it with a free shot at a wide-open
right side of the net. His wrister instead bounced off the crossbar and
wide, and BU cleared it out. As BC and BU players were tussling for the
puck along the boards just inside the BC zone, it was pushed loose into
the middle of the zone and out of a BC player's reach. Fortunately for
BU, frosh forward Eric Thomassian was there to collect it and skate in
on a breakaway. He came straight down the slot and stuffed it into
Kaltiainen, and it squirted through and into the goal for a 4-1 BU lead
(and Thomassian's first goal of his career.) At this point BU knew they
had all the goals they needed, and went back into a shell to protect
the lead. BC got some shots during the last few minutes of the frame
but they were saved or fired wide.
Boston College had to be aggressive in the third to try to come back, and
they had most of the shots in the period. BU had a couple of power plays
but generally it was BC forcing the play shorthanded. The Eagles also
had a power play early but were unable to get shots through the bodies
massed in front of the net or Fields's pads. Tony Voce had a backhander
from the slot that hit his own player in front, and J.D. Forrest collected
a loose puck on the right and fired one off the post during some desperate
BC pressure. The BU defense was content to clear the puck and force the
play to the boards, letting BC cycle but not getting clear passing lanes.
After lots of physical play BU's Sullivan had to hook a player down and
BC got a power play goal when Ben Eaves picked up a loose puck in front
on a scramble and flipped it high into the right side. It seemed too
little, too late, and indeed it was. BC continued to press and had a
couple of shots saved, then Tony Voce took a bad penalty with 3 minutes
left, a major for cross-checking Jekabs Redlihs near the BU net. That
left BC killing a penalty the rest of the game while trying to mount a
comeback. BC was the aggressor shorthanded, especially after pulling
the goaltender, but they couldn't get any good shots and the Terriers
pulled off the upset.
BU played their best game of the series, with a more attacking style and
much better defensively. One night after BC's top line had 17 shots on
goal, they only got 4 in this one. Sean Fields played well in net but
he wasn't the whole story, as the defensive effort from the whole team
was much more pronounced. Opportunistic scoring and a little "puck luck",
as Jack Parker likes to say, gave them a lead and that is a difficult
situation for BC to be in. They are much better at holding a lead than
in coming back from a deficit. BU had some players banged up entering
the game but you wouldn't have known it from the way they played. On the
other hand, BC had some players who did not perform to their usual form
(again.) Pat Eaves struggled all game, the top line did not get the
clear chances they did on Friday, and BC again was too inaccurate in the
shots they did get. The referee let the players be physical and allowed
lots of clutching and grabbing, and that helped BU's defensive efforts.
BU did not give up that many power plays and thus helped limit BC's
good offensive opportunities. They also got their own chances, with the
final 2 goals coming from breakaways, and BC's goalie was unable to make
the big saves when he needed to. (To be fair, they were tough saves to
make and he is still coming back from an injury, but these were the times
he needed to step up and wasn't able to do it.)
The Eagles go into the NCAA playoffs on a down note and are not playing
with the same confidence they did earlier in the season, combined with
some injuries and fatigue that is limiting their effectiveness. They
did defeat BU 5 of 7 times this year but struggled in 3 of the last 4
meetings and will face even tougher opposition in the national playoffs.
BC's strong regular season effort continues to keep them near the top of
the Pairwise comparisons that are used to select and seed the tourney,
and I expect they will remain one of the top 3 teams in the country. It
isn't clear where that puts them once the brackets are announced, but
it probably means they will remain in one of the 2 eastern sites despite
the late season slide. Given a 2 week rest, that might help them get
healthy and prepare for the NCAA's. They may have to face a very tough
team in the first round, though, unlike their prospects a couple of weeks
back, and there is no guarantee that they can win even 1 more game. Coach
York's teams usually have performed well in the post-season, and it may
just be that this group is struggling with the health issues more than we
think. Friday night's strong effort showed that they can still be a
dominating team when they put in the effort; Saturday's game indicates they
probably don't have the stamina to win multiple games in the playoffs
unless they can regain their form.
BU, having had an extremely disappointing and uneven season, can finally
celebrate a big win. Having the victory over their archrival BC makes it
just that much sweeter. The question now is, can they maintain that
intensity and effort in the Hockey East semifinal, especially without the
motivation of the rivalry? BU will be playing Maine, the team that is
the toughest to score on in Hockey East, with strong goaltending. Can they
jump to a lead and hold on like they did against BC, or will they return
to their normal form of the season, which is to not win back-to-back games?
Anything is possible in a single game, and Sean Fields has shown he is
more than comfortable in the Fleet Center. I'm not sure that will be
enough for the Terriers, or that they have learned how to play consistently.
Their only hope for an NCAA berth is to win the Hockey East title, and
I'll be surprised if they can perform at that high level for 2 more games.
Rick McAdoo
"Volunteer reporter"
A satisfied BC fan. GO EAGLES!
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