Saturday, March 13, 2004 at Kelley Rink (Conte Forum), Chestnut Hill, MA BU 4, BC 2 HOCKEY EAST PLAYOFFS ROUND 1 GAME 3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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 -------- 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!