Merrimack Gives BC a Fight, but Eagles Come Away with Two Wins
It wasn’t as easy as Boston College probably expected, but such is life in Hockey East. Merrimack came into the weekend 1-5 and BC No. 3 in the nation. The Warriors gave the Eagles all they could handle, but in the end BC came away with two wins to improve to 8-2.
With an early goal in the first game of the series by Eamon Powell, the first of his collegiate career, BC looked to pick up where it left off last season against Merrimack. Coming into the weekend, seven of the last 12 matchups between the two teams had been decided by one goal, although BC bucked that trend at the end of last season with 6-2 and 6-1 wins at Kelley Rink. Logan Hutsko assisted on Powell’s goal 90 seconds into the game, making him the 83rd player in BC history to log 100 career points.
The Eagles extended the lead to 2-0 when Danny Weight netted his first NCAA goal and then turned to the defensive, relying heavily on Spencer Knight in the second half of the game. BC was outshot 18-6 in the third period and had to cling to a one-goal lead following Zach Vinnell’s goal early in the third. The situation became even more dire when Trevor Kuntar was assessed a game misconduct for charging after barreling into goaltender Zachary Borgiel with about 10 minutes remaining. Merrimack put seven shots on goal during the five-minute power play, but Knight turned them all away. He was called upon to make a few more big saves in the final minute of the game, as BC lost face-offs in the defensive zone and was unable to clear. In the end, BC held on for the 2-1 win.
The next afternoon, the teams relocated to Lawler Arena for game two. Again, BC got on the board first, this time with a Kuntar goal in the first. Merrimack evened the score with a power play goal on a five-on-three chance while Kuntar and Jack McBain were in the box. The goal brought Kuntar out of the box while BC still had to kill off McBain’s penalty. The Eagles did more than kill it off, they scored their NCAA-leading fifth short-handed goal of the season on a nice Nikita Nesterenko snap-shot from the dot. The lead didn’t last for long, however, as Filip Forsmark brought the Warriors even again just under a minute later.
The teams entered the third tied at two and traded chances before Alex Jefferies gave Merrimack its first lead of the weekend. BC explosive offense, which had been stifled through the first five-and-a-half periods of the weekend, needed a jolt in the final 10, and the stars stepped up.
Hutsko tied the game and the captain Marc McLaughlin scored the eventual game-winner on the power play. Matt Boldy threw in an empty-netter with one second remaining to extend the lead to 5-3.
Special teams continued to be a big area of concern for BC on the weekend. McLaughlin’s short-handed winner stopped the Eagles skip on the power play, but BC is still just 4/36 on the man advantage this season. BC’s penalty kill has been fine, but it has been on the ice a lot in the last few weeks. BC has taken nine, four and five penalties over the last three games, respectively, including a major penalty and a game misconduct.
Even if it wasn’t pretty, the results will show two wins, which is more than the teams ahead of BC could produce. After starting the season 10-0, Minnesota has lost three of its last four, and North Dakota fell against Denver this weekend. Could BC claim the No. 1 spot in the polls this week?
Photo courtesy of BCeagles.com