Boston College men’s hockey headed into its overtime period against No. 10 UConn having technically already won the weekend. With its 5–2 home win on Friday night, the Eagles were sure to emerge from the series with more Hockey East points than the Huskies, regardless of what happened in Saturday afternoon’s extra period.
That wasn’t enough for the Eagles, though.
Just 24 seconds into overtime, Andre Gasseau got a shot off. He missed but got his own rebound, drawing defenders in. Then, having captured everyone’s attention, Gasseau dished the puck to a wide-open Lukas Gustafsson.
Gustafsson looked as ready as could be—it seemed as if he started winding up before the puck even got to him. The senior captain shot home a one-timer, securing his team a 2–1 overtime road win.
BC (19–10–1, 13–7–0 Hockey East) earned five total points on the weekend and sits second in the conference. UConn (17–9–4, 11–7–2) sits in third, two points behind BC.
The Eagles maintained a strong streak of overtime play, as their only loss in the extra period came to Providence on Jan. 16.
The first period of Saturday’s game proved to be quite the show for fans in PeoplesBank Arena as the teams combined for 12 penalties. Two Eagles—James Hagens and Aram Minnetian—plus UConn’s Jake Richard, all got called for roughing in the first 6:16, putting the Huskies on the power play early on. At the 7:42 mark, Drew Fortescue got called for holding the stick, and Tristan Fraser got sent to the box for holding.
But the action was really just getting started.
Minnetian picked up his second minor of the day when he got called for hooking, but Richard also picked up a penalty on the play for embellishment. That would have made things even, had Fortescue not picked up a cross-checking with 8:06 remaining.
Fortescue’s cross-checking penalty turned out to be the straw that broke the camel’s back, as the Eagles were forced to play 3-on-4. It didn’t end well for BC, as Kaden Shahan sent a one-timer past Louka Cloutier to put UConn up 1–0.
The Huskies picked up three straight penalties after that, and an interference call on Trey Scott gave the Eagles a man-up advantage that Dean Letourneau capitalized on.
Ryan Conmy found Letourneau near the top of the circle, and the sophomore sniped a shot past goalie Tyler Muszelik to tie the game 1–1.
Muszelik finished with 26 saves, and Cloutier put up 21.
The second and third periods were far more tame than the first, as both teams adopted much calmer play styles. In the third period, especially, both teams seemed to take a step back and play it safe, knowing that one minor mistake could seal their fate.
Both defenses and the goalies behind them held up through regulation, sending the game to OT. It ended just 27 seconds after it started, though, and the Eagles were the ones celebrating, huddling around Gustafsson after the Georgia native netted his fifth goal of the season.
The second and third periods were far more tame than the first, as both teams adopted much calmer play styles. In the third period, especially, both teams seemed to take a step back and play it safer, knowing that one minor mistake could seal their fate.
Both defenses and the goalies behind them held up through regulation, sending the game to OT. It ended just 27 seconds after it started, and the Eagles were the ones celebrating, huddling around Gustafsson after the Georgia native netted his fifth goal of the season.
