No. 2 Boston College Wraps Up the Regular Season with a 4-2 Victory Over No. 18 Northeastern
Matt Boldy scored twice, and Trevor Kuntar and Casey Carreau added a tally each to help Boston College win its regular season finale and secure home ice throughout the Hockey East Tournament.
On senior day, BC honored its lone remaining senior Michael Karow with a little video after the first intermission celebrating his only collegiate goal which came last month against this same Northeastern team. BC’s other senior Logan Hutsko received his credit as well, but the sniper unfortunately couldn’t celebrate senior day on the ice due to an injury. While Karow still has the opportunity to return next year due to the NCAA’s ruling of an extra year of eligibility for all winter athletes, Hutsko has played his last game with the Eagles; after the injury sidelined him for the remainder of the season, Hutsko signed an entry-level contract with the Florida Panthers.
Kuntar kicked off the scoring with the only goal of the first, a backhand finish off a nice lead pass from Patrick Giles. Boldy tacked on a second in the second with the Eagles nation-leading eighth short-handed goal of the season. Northeastern had four players below the BC goal line when the puck landed on Boldy’s stick. The sophomore went up ice two-on-one flanked by Mike Hardman, held to set up the three-on-one, and roofed a back-hander past Connor Murphy.
Much like last week against UMass, the Eagles saw their 2-0 lead evaporate. A quick one by Dylan Jackson and a point-blank shot from captain Zach Solow brought the Huskies back even. But this week BC withstood the surge and tilted the ice back in its favor in the third period, outshooting Northeastern 22-7.
Carreau scored the game winner early in the third on a play that perfectly summed up his season. He never gave up on the play and jammed home a rebound to put BC ahead 3-2.
Fittingly, Newhook to Boldy set up the final goal of BC’s regular season. It could very well be the last regular season game either of the two plays for BC, as both have bright NHL futures, and even in a stop-and-start season the duo reminded the nation how lethal a combination they are over the last month of the season.
Although Hockey East is not naming a regular season champion this season, BC still has the trophy from last season, so it made its way to the locker room with AD Pat Kraft after the game.
On the final day of the regular season, almost everything is sorted out, except for the 2/3 seeding between Boston University and UMass. Nonetheless, BC knows it’ll host the lowest remaining seed from the preliminary round on March 14. That opponent will be the winner of Maine and New Hampshire unless Vermont upsets UMass Lowell, in which case the Catamounts will take a trip down to Conte Forum.