(Box from BC game summary sheet) Friday, February 11, 2005 at Kelley Rink (Conte Forum), Chestnut Hill, MA BC 8, MC 3 HOCKEY EAST GAME ------------------------------------------------------------------------ MERRIMACK COLLEGE (HE) 1 0 2 - 3 (8-21-1 overall, 1-17-1 HE) BOSTON COLLEGE (HE) 3 3 2 - 8 (18-4-5 overall, 12-1-4 HE) Shots on Goal Pen - Min Power Play MC 8- 6- 5 -- 19 9 - 26 1 - 6 BC 16-11- 7 -- 34 8 - 16 3 - 6 MC - Casey Guenther 13- 4- x - 17 saves/5 goals (30:18) Frank McLaughlin x- 4- 5 - 9 saves/3 goals (29:42) BC - Matti Kaltiainen 7- 6- 0 - 13 saves/1 goal (43:23) Robbie Miller x- x- 6 - 3 saves/2 goals (16:37) Referee - Tim Benedetto Assistants - James Brown, Brendan Kelleher Attendance - 5020 1st Period BC1 Patrick Eaves 15 (Ryan Murphy) 7:08 BC2 Ned Havern 5 (Peter Harrold, Brian O'Hanley) PPG 11:59 BC3 Ryan Shannon 10 (Andrew Alberts, Patrick Eaves) PPG 13:34 MC1 Bryan Schmidt 13 (Jordan Black) PPG 19:53 Penalties BC - Dave Spina (cross-checking) 7:43 MC - Jordan Hart (roughing - contact to head) 10:49 MC - Hank Carisio (elbowing) 12:36 BC - Ryan Shannon (cross-checking) 16:37 BC - Greg Lauze (hooking) 19:48 2nd Period BC4 Chris Collins 6 (Stephen Gionta) SHG 1:16 GWG BC5 Patrick Eaves 16 (Joe Rooney, Ned Havern) 5x3 PPG 10:18 BC6 Brian O'Hanley (Matt Greene, Ned Havern) 12:29 Penalties BC - John Adams (elbowing-contact to head) 0:42 BC - Dan Bertram (obstruction-interference) 7:35 MC - Bryan Schmidt (roughing-contact to head) 8:24 MC - Hank Carisio (slashing - served by Peter Hams) 9:22 MC - Hank Carisio (10 minute misconduct) 9:22 BC - Matt Greene (roughing) 12:29 BC - Brian O'Hanley (roughing) 12:29 MC - Jordan Black (roughing) 12:29 MC - Rob Lalonde (roughing) 12:29 MC - Rob Lalonde (hit after whistle-served by Jordan Fox) 12:29 3rd Period BC7 Peter Harrold (unassisted) 0:31 BC8 Ned Havern 6 (Brian O'Hanley, Matt Greene) 2:24 MC2 Brent Gough 5 (Steve Crusco, Matt Johnson) 13:04 MC3 Ryan Sullivan 2 (Jordan Black, Justin Mills) 18:56 Penalties MC - Jordan Hart (obstruction-interference) 3:23 BC - Peter Harrold (high-sticking) 13:45 3 Stars - 1. BC - Ned Havern (2G,2A) 2. BC - Patrick Eaves (2G, 1A) 3. BC - Brian O'Hanley (1G, 2A) Merrimack College: F BRENT GOUGH, JORDAN FOX, MATT JOHNSON Steve Crusco, Matt Byrnes, Jordan Black Justin Mills, Derek Fallardy, Mike Fournier Hank Carisio, Brendon Clark, Peter Hams D JEFF CARON, BRYAN SCHMIDT Ryan Sullivan. Jordan Hart Rob LaLonde, Brian Boulay G CASEY GUENTHER, Jim Healey, Frank McLaughlin Boston College: F Patrick Eaves, Ryan Shannon, Dave Spina CHRIS COLLINS, STEPHEN GIONTA, RYAN MURPHY Joe Rooney, Brian Boyle, Dan Bertram Matt Greene, Ned Havern, Brian O'Hanley D ANDREW ALBERTS, PETER HARROLD Taylor Leahy, Greg Lauze John Adams, Mike Brennan G MATTI KALTIAINEN, Cory Schneider, Robbie Miller COMMENTS -------- Boston College rebounded from Monday's Beanpot loss in a big way with an easy 8-3 win over visiting Merrimack Friday night. BC scored 3 on the power play and a shorthanded tally to open an 8-1 lead and cruise to the victory. Ned Havern took number one star honors with a career-high 4-point game, and Pat Eaves and Brian O'Hanley had 3 points each. Matti Kaltiainen and Robbie Miller shared the goaltending chores in the win. Merrimack got 3 goals from Bryan Schmidt, Brent Gough, and Ryan Sullivan, but were not really in the game from the start. The only bad news for Boston College was that senior defenseman Andrew Alberts suffered a left leg injury early in the second period and left the game, and is expected to be out until at least the playoffs. The game started fairly evenly, with both teams getting early shots, and BC's Joe Rooney missing a wide-open break chance (more on BC's shooting later.) The Eagles slowly began to assert territorial and shot dominance, and Patrick Eaves opened the scoring with a hard-to-handle sharp backhand from the low left circle that slipped inside the post. BC killed off a Warriors power play easily, then scored on their own power play. Ned Havern got the puck to the point and broke to the net, and deflected the return pass toward goal, where it appeared to bounce off a defender and slid by the goaltender. BC continued to carry play, and were rewarded on yet another power play after a furious flurry of shots culminated in an Eaves blast off the post. It rebounded out to the top of the zone where Ryan Shannon hammered a shot that tipped off a player and fluttered into the goal. Rooney missed his third 2-on-1 break shortly after that, BC missed a shorthanded shot while killing a penalty, then a nice move by Jordan Fox around the left side forced BC to take a penalty late in the period. The subsequent faceoff was won back to Bryan Schmidt, and he powered a shot from the point that sailed past Kaltiainen to make it 3-1 at the end of one. The second period opened ominously for the Eagles when Alberts passed the puck out of his zone and was then hit by a Merrimack player, spinning him around and down to the ice. He was in obvious pain and was helped off the ice, not putting any weight on the left leg. BC took a retaliation penalty shortly thereafter, but it was the Eagles who got all the offensive pressure on the opportunity. Merrimack turned the puck over to Chris Collins, whose shot was initially saved. Steve Gionta picked up the puck in the corner and fed Collins again at the near right side, and he picked up a rebound of his first shot and potted the shorthanded goal on the second try. BC continued the momentum from there, and only a stellar save by Casey Guenther prevented Havern from scoring on a fancy move on a breakaway. You knew it wasn't Merrimack's night when they intercepted 2 bad BC clearing passes right in front and still couldn't score. Kaltiainen made a big save on Brent Gough by sitting back on a low stuff attempt on a Merrimack power play, then the Warriors gave the power play back to BC, and the Eagles capitalized. Pat Eaves 1-timed a setup pass during a 5-on-3 advantage to make the score 5-1 and chase Guenther from the nets. Not long after the power plays ended BC whacked away at a loose puck in a scramble in front of the Merrimack goal and Brian O'Hanley finally lifted it past new goaltender Frank McLaughlin. A scrum ensued during the BC goal celebration and numerous bodies went to the box for a cooldown. BC kept the momentum from that point and the rest of the period wound down without more scoring. Merrimack pushed hard to open the third period, with Steve Crusco missing an early close shot, but then the defense forgot to show up. BC defenseman Peter Harrold skated the entire length of the ice up the middle, made a nice move to push the puck around a defenseman, and held his balance long enough to lift a pretty shot into the net just before crashing into the goalmouth. Definitely the flashiest goal of the evening. Not long after that, Havern got loose on the left side on a 2-on-1 and wristed a sharp shot into the far side to make the score 8-1. BC brought in third-string keeper Miller for the last 16 minutes, and almost increased their lead when Eaves hit his second post of the night from the high slot. Play opened up a bit after that, and Merrimack got some pressure on the BC net (too little, too late.) Brent Gough got the second MC score when he tipped a nice setup pass past Miller. They got a third goal late in the game after forechecking work got it free behind the net, and Ryan Sullivan lifted a shot inside the right post. After a season where goals have been harder to come by than usual for Boston College, this was their biggest explosion of the year. BC has gotten lots of shots this year, as usual, but sometimes have not had much to show for it, often making opposing goalies look like the best in the world. This game was a welcome change to that, scoring 8 times on 34 shots (.235 accuracy), compared to their season-long accuracy up to that point of just .085. Of course, BC has been getting great defense and goaltending, and near the top of the country in almost every defensive category, which means they still are at the top of their league and near the top in national rankings. Not too shabby. But my comment to others is that this is probably the poorest shooting team I have seen at BC in my years of watching (at least when measured against the good BC teams, leaving out some of the weak years.) Some players have the knack of getting the puck on net, and finding the holes in the goalie's armor. Others seem to have no such knack. The one player that is an enigma for BC is Joe Rooney. He is an energetic player, small in stature, but skates well and should be a productive scorer on occasion. He takes a decent number of shots (54 for the season so far) and has scored merely 1 goal for a shooting accuracy of 1.85 %. Now, mind you, that is just the shots that have gone on net. He also has a wealth of shots that are fired wide, not even producing a rebound. In Friday's game he had 3 2-on-1 breaks, took the shot on all 3 chances, and either put it right into the goalie or fired wide. I don't mean to pick on Rooney especially, but merely to use him as an indicator of how many BC players seem to approach shooting the puck. It seems as though they miss the net a very high percentage of the time, and then can't get it past the keeper when they do hit the cage. It is one of the elements that make this team vulnerable when it comes to playoff time and the crunch of extreme pressure. BC teams in the past were masters of good power plays and picking up lots of rebound goals in the slot. This team seems to lack in these areas, though things have been improving in the second half of the season. I don't know that you can change players that much, or revise your style to improve your shooting, but at the least you would think you could advise some players that they might be better off feeding their teammates instead of shooting it right into the keeper's gut themselves? Time will tell if this proves a problem for the Eagles in the postseason. Merrimack's season of woe continues, with just 3 points in the league. Unless they find some magic for their last few games, they will probably finish with their fewest league points since joining Hockey East. Quite the falloff for a team that a few years ago was competitive in most games and occasionally battling for possible home ice. In an era when defense has come to the fore and goals are hard to get, they have not been able to find the net regularly. Combine that with a defense that has not improved as much as the rest of the league, and there is no positive spin you can provide. It can be almost guaranteed that the Warriors will miss the playoffs this year. BC now has a tough stretch to finish the year, starting with a meaningful Beanpot consolation with Harvard. This game has national positioning implications and gives BC a chance to gain a little revenge for an earlier loss to the Crimson. Then the Eagles finish with 2-game sets with Lowell, Maine, and UNH, tough opponents all. The only good thing about it is that 4 of the final 6 games are at home. A final note on scoring, and how it has changed. This year, Hockey East teams average a combined 5.65 goals per game, up from last year (5.36), but down from the first league season of 1984-1985, when it was 7.81 goals per game, a drop of over 2 goals per game. The lowest scoring team of that first season was Maine, at 3.09 per game, and the best scoring defense that year was BC, at a whopping 3.68 goals per game. This year, there is not a single Hockey East team scoring more than 3.65 goals per game (that's the BEST) and all but 2 teams are giving up less goals than the 3.68 that lead the league in 1984-1985. Things have really changed in college hockey, as they have in the pros. I'm not sure it is more entertaining, but it is more pro-like than the early years of Hockey East. Rick McAdoo "Volunteer reporter" An optimistic BC fan. GO EAGLES!