There’s something about losing that makes winning that much more satisfying—and something about breaking a 13-year losing streak against a school that makes it even sweeter.
In a game that featured a goal from Chris Kreider and two assists from Johnny Gaudreau, Boston College men’s hockey knocked out Minnesota in the 2012 NCAA Tournament Semifinal. That was its last win over the Golden Gophers.
On Thursday night, coming off a home-opening loss and entering with a five-game winless streak versus No. 12 Minnesota, No. 11 BC had the opportunity to flip that script and inspire some confidence early in the season.
A loss could have spiraled this team into a flurry of questioning. But thankfully for the Eagles (1–1–0), Will Moore’s late second-period goal stood as the game winner, and an empty-netter iced their 3–1 win over Minnesota (1–2–0).
“I think we shot ourselves in the foot several times against Quinnipiac,” BC head coach Greg Brown said. “And tonight we were able to make better decisions, not give up as many free opportunities against a very good team.”
BC showed up as a different kind of first-period team on Thursday night than it did last weekend in its home loss to then-No. 13 Quinnipiac.
“We really talked about competing and managing the game better than we did against Quinnipiac,” Brown said.
BC was physical from the beginning, and led 10–2 in shots on goal at the time of its opening goal.
The sequence leading up to that goal began with a big hit by Dean Letourneau to steal control of the puck. A batted-around puck from the point fell on Will Vote’s stick, and he slapped it under goalie Nathan Airey’s pad for a 1–0 lead with 5:51 left in the first period.
With just more than one minute left in the first, Minnesota answered 3M Arena spectators’ calls, though, as Brody Lamb found a shooting lane from the top of the circle and popped Louka Cloutier’s bottle to tie it 1–1.
“We know they’re so dangerous on the rush and they were able to create some odd-man rushes tonight,” Brown said. “We were really gonna have to focus on getting back above the puck as quickly as we can as they get out in a hurry.”
Luka Cloutier, BC’s freshman goaltender who made his first start on Thursday, quickly shut his five-hole to deny a breakaway opportunity just 30 seconds into the second frame off a 3-on-2.
The freshman from Quebec finished the game with 18 saves. He finished with an .882 save percentage through 31 games in the USHL last year.
“We think we have two very good goalies, so I’m sure we will see both of them as the season plays out,” Brown said. “But for Luka to step into his first game and play with confidence—him really being in control was a great sign.”
Cloutier and Airey traded full-extension saves throughout the second period, neither wanting to give up the go-ahead goal.
Moore finally picked up his first collegiate goal, as he redirected Lukas Gustafsson’s shot from the point into the back of the Minnesota’s net with 3:19 remaining in the second period.
“The two freshmen played great, so it was good—very positive that they could play against a good team and then perform well,” Brown said.
Now the odds had certainly swung in the Eagles’ favor—they finished last year with a record of 19–0–0 when leading after the second period.
Although faced with nearly half of the amount of shots Airey was hit with, Cloutier still delivered big saves in clutch moments throughout the third period. At 7:58, he slid post-to-post to deny a careening puck from August Falloon’s stick.
Teddy Stiga passed up a wide-open net and gave the puck to his defenseman-counterpart Drew Fortescue at the end of the game. Fortescue scored the empty-netter to cap off the Eagles’ 3–1 win.
“Hopefully we can give up fewer odd-man rushes tomorrow,” Brown said. “But other than that, I think we’ll build off the things we did well tonight.”
