For the second time in as many nights, No. 5 Boston College men’s hockey took on No. 10 Northeastern—for the back half of a home-and-home series with the Huskies. The Eagles had taken home the first win, battling back and forth with Northeastern before pulling out a 3-2 victory on the road. On Friday, BC (21-8-1, 14-6-0 Hockey East) outplayed the Huskies (17-10-3, 10-9-1) in the second and third periods, with eight separate players scoring to give the Eagles the 10-1 victory.
Early on in the game, the Eagles put themselves at a disadvantage. David Cotton took a slashing penalty just under 40 seconds into the first period, sending BC to the penalty kill against a strong NU power play. The Huskies are 19th in the NCAA for their power play at 21.7 percent, while the Eagles’ penalty kill sits at No. 34 with a 80.7 percent success rate. But the Eagles killed the penalty, sending the game back to five-on-five play.
Not long after, the Eagles struck first, with Graham McPhee scoring his fourth goal of the season against NU goalie Craig Pantano. Jack McBain fought for the puck along the boards before sending it to Marc McLaughlin behind the net. McLaughlin passed the puck to the front of the net, where McPhee shot the puck into a wide-open net, as Pantano had expected a wrap-around attempt.
The Huskies regained their confidence toward the end of the first, battling to get one goal back against the Eagles, but the two teams headed into the first intermission with BC up by one.
Just over a minute into the second frame, the Eagles got another goal up on NU. After clearing the zone, Cotton made a quick pass up the ice to Alex Newhook, who took his chance on a breakaway into the Huskies’ end. The rookie sped by two Northeastern defenders and beat Pantano as the puck bounced over the goalie’s glove. With Newhook’s tally, the floodgates were opened.
After five minutes of play in the second period, the Eagles found themselves at an advantage in the Huskies’ zone. Pantano struggled to play the puck behind the net, turning it over to McLaughlin. The sophomore attempted to pass the puck to the front of the net, but it went off the back of Pantano’s pads and into the net, giving the Eagles a three-goal lead.
Just under a minute later, the Eagles scored again. Cotton fought for possession along the back boards, eventually gaining enough control to send the puck out to open ice. Julius Mattila collected the puck and sent a centering pass to Logan Hutsko, who slammed a one-timer past Pantano.
At the next stoppage in play, the Huskies pulled Pantano to put in backup goalie Connor Murphy.
Midway through the period Biagio Lerario was called for slashing, sending the Eagles to their third power play of the game. While Northeastern is 19th in the NCAA for its power play, BC is 12th with a 23.7 power play percentage. And the Eagles are placed as such for a reason. Newhook sent a pass to Matt Boldy from behind the goal line, and Boldy shot the puck past Murphy just inside the near post.
Three minutes later, the Eagles added another point to the board. Boldy winded up for a shot from the blue line and sent the puck rocketing toward the net, where Mike Hardman was there to tip it in, putting BC up by six goals. McLaughlin netted his second of the period soon after as he got a breakaway opportunity. McLaughlin shot at the net where Murphy made the initial save, but McLaughlin collected his own rebound and tucked the puck into the back of the net.
Although the Eagles had been successful in limiting chances by the Huskies—keeping the shots on goal by Northeastern to only six in the first and five in the second—they could not prevent NU from getting on the board. With three minutes remaining in the second period, Matt Thomson scored his first career goal against Spencer Knight, cutting the Eagles’ lead to six goals.
The Eagles kept up their trend of scoring goals early in the third period as Boldy scored his second of the night just over two minutes into the final frame. Boldy collected a pass from Newhook as the two streaked into the Huskies’ zone, held the puck as he skated across the crease, and tucked the puck past Murphy.
As the Eagles continued to dominate the game, NU tried to keep up, but the cards were stacked against them. Midway through the frame Ben Finkelstein added his name to the scorecard with a slick spin that sent the puck through Murphy’s five-hole, putting the Eagles up 9-1.
After Finkelstein’s tally, head coach Jerry York pulled Spencer Knight from the net to put in backup goalie Jack Moffatt. At the same time, the Huskies pulled their second goalie of the night as Curtis Frye took over for Murphy in net.
A scrum after a stoppage in play late in the final frame sent McPhee, Finkelstein, and two NU players off the ice with 10-minute game misconducts. In addition to the game misconducts, McBain took a penalty for interference, sending the Huskies to their fourth power play of the game.
And yet, the disadvantage did not deter the Eagles from tallying their 10th goal of the game on the penalty kill. Aapeli Räsänen collected a turnover from the Huskies and skated into the Northeastern’s zone, beating Frye gloveside and netting the Eagles’ 11th shorthanded goal of the season.
“[Northeastern is] a good team,” said York following the victory. “It was just one of those nights. … Everything went our way and nothing went the right way for Jim [Madigan].”
Featured Image by Molly Bankert / Heights Staff
