Without captain Eamon Powell and reigning Hockey East Defender of the Week Lukas Gustafsson, Boston College men’s hockey had some hurdles to jump entering Monday night’s game.
This involved Aram Minnetian on the ice for longer shifts and Teddy Stiga picking up a defensive role for the time-being.
Some four-on-four action after penalties from both sides didn’t help with the line jumbling, either.
“I think everyone on this team can play with everyone,” forward Will Vote said about the shuffled lines. “We’re all predictable players and we all read off each other.”
No. 2 BC (12–3–1, 6–2–1 Hockey East) fought through the extremes, though, coming away with a 3–2 victory versus No. 10 UMass Lowell (10–4–2, 5–3–1).
BC gained an early 1–0 lead at 16:09 in the first when a roughing penalty from UMass Lowell’s Connor Eddy was followed by a Will Vote backdoor tap-in aided by Oskar Jellvik.
“He does so many little things right that you don’t see on the score sheet,” BC head coach Greg Brown said about Vote. “He really knows how to manage his game … has a great knack for getting to the net at the right time, like his goal tonight.”
After a Gabe Perreault hooking call and the penalty kill remaining perfect on the season, both squads headed into the locker room with no change to the scoreboard.
That didn’t stand for long, though, as Drew Fortescue was sent to the box for slashing. Mirko Buttazzoni then knotted the game up at 1–1, placing the puck top-shelf while almost parallel to the goal line with 10:14 left in the second frame.
Play began heating up nearing the second period’s midway point — pushing and shoving ensued, allowing for unsportsmanlike conduct calls and four-on-four battles.
“[UMass Lowell] plays very hard, they play very well,” Brown said. “They don’t give anything for free and tonight followed the same script.”
Nearing the final minutes of the period, Ryan Leonard turned himself around with a two-on-one opportunity, looked off Perreault, and fired a shot left-side to regain a 2–1 lead.
“I thought a real turn of momentum for us was we had a good penalty kill,” Brown said. “And then Leonard scored right after that.”
The first line continued to control possession after Leonard nailed a pass to Perreault, who quickly found James Hagens for the easy finish and a two-goal cushion with 1:15 remaining.
Just 19 seconds later, the Riverhawks pushed quickly to their offensive zone, though, and earned a get-back goal on a screened shot from Nick Anderson at the point.
All the Eagles had to do now was stand their ground for the remainder of the game.
And they did just that.
UMass Lowell totaled only five shots in the final frame and failed to find the equalizer. BC finished the game with 31 shots on goal.
[The] good part is we have some injuries that can heal,” Brown said heading into a month-long hiatus. “Tough part is everyone’s got to really take it upon themselves to stay sharp.”
