One day after losing a shootout to No. 10 Providence in Conte Forum on Friday, Boston College men’s hockey had a chance at revenge against the Friars on the road. The Eagles found themselves in another shootout Saturday, but this time around, BC forward Matt Argentina deked out Providence’s net minder Philip Svedebäck and slotted a backhand shot into the net for an extra point in Hockey East standings.
Trevor Kuntar and Andre Gasseau nearly sealed the overtime win for BC (5–5–4, 4–3–3 Hockey East) with a tic-tac-toe play, but the Eagles couldn’t capitalize. It took Argentina’s heroics for BC to cap off its upset shootout victory over the Friars (9–3–5, 6–0–5), which they couldn’t muster in Friday’s heartbreaker.
Neither team scored in the first period Saturday although officials called back a BC goal just past the three-minute mark. Colby Ambrosio appeared to put BC up 1–0 on the power play after deflecting Cutter Gauthier’s slapshot into the net. Officials quickly reviewed the goal and overturned it due to an offsides violation, keeping the game scoreless.
Nine minutes into the game, Providence went on the man advantage but failed to score despite peppering shots into Mitch Benson’s crease. Similar to his 39-save performance the night before, Benson shut down 31 of the Friars’ shots throughout the game.
The second period was all Providence, though. As they did in Chestnut Hill a night prior, the Friars continued to send a barrage of shots from all over the ice toward Benson. Nearly 10 minutes into the period, Providence’s Nick Poisson finally broke through the stalemate. Benson originally saved Poisson’s shot, but Poisson stuck with it, corralling his own rebound and tucking the puck into the net to hand Providence a 1–0 lead.
The Eagles netted the equalizer with less than five minutes left in the period. Eamon Powell sent a shot from the point which Svedebäck stopped, but Connor Joyce found the loose puck. Joyce fired a turnaround shot through traffic that sailed past Svedebäck, making it a 1–1 game with just over four minutes remaining in the second frame.
Through two periods, the Friars outshot BC 28–14.
But despite being outshot, the Eagles broke the tie seven minutes into the frame. Nikita Nesterenko completed a cross-ice pass to Argentina, who rifled a shot past the glove of Svedebäck and into the back of the net.
The Eagles’ lead was short-lived, though. Four minutes later, Poisson found himself in the right place at the right time yet again. This time, Poisson recovered a loose puck in the crease, and with Benson out of position after saving the initial shot, put the puck into the net. Poisson’s second goal of the night tied the game at 2–2 with 9:39 left to play.
The Eagles created several scoring chances in the 3-on-3 overtime period. Gasseau missed an open net on a 2-on-1 opportunity and Svedebäck denied Cam Burke on a breakaway.
After both teams made three attempts at securing the shootout win, Argentina finally stepped up for BC, slotting home the game winner. Then Benson denied Poisson’s attempt, icing the game for BC.
