(Photo: BC Athletics )
Whew.
There is not much else to say after that one. BC has had other huge games in the past, but I am not sure if I have ever been more nervous during a game- the enormity of the potential upset was kicking in throughout the third period. Thankfully, James Hagens saved the day on a wraparound goal with just over a minute to go to give BC the victory over Bentley. Ryan Leonard added an empty netter to make it a 3-1 final.
Bentley played a heck of a game. It was a carbon copy of what Northeastern did two weeks ago, but BC was able to make one more play in this game. The Falcons got great goaltending, won the special teams battle, and blocked 20 shots. That program has come a long way over the past few years, and I have no doubt they will continue to be a threat in Atlantic Hockey.
Readers might not agree with this, but I did not think BC played all that poorly. They were definitely sloppy at times, particularly in the third period, but Bentley had no more than three quality chances in the game. BC did a better job of working pucks low to high than they did in their last outing, the problem was that their defensemen had a brutal time getting the puck to the net because of Bentley’s traffic. The formula for Bentley was to get out of the first period alive, block shots, prevent odd man rushes, and capitalize on their few chances. They pretty much did everything they could have but Hagens made one great play at the end of the third and that was the difference. On the goal, I thought Bentley goalie Connor Hasley (who was terrific) overextended a bit, which allowed Hagens to finish the wraparound. The story of the game for BC was obviously the top line. They combined for 14 shots on goal. They did a better job of getting pucks behind Bentley’s defensemen as the game wore on, but Bentley was packing everything into the slot, which made it virtually impossible for BC to do any cross-ice passes. The first goal was just a beautiful play by Leonard- instead of shooting it, he somehow got it to Perreault, who did the rest. BC’s dynamic duo had one two on one early in the second, but Perreault opted for a pretty weak shot instead of dishing it to his linemate. That line was off the charts- they were generating chances at a high clip and avoiding turnovers in the neutral zone, even when Bentley clogged it up.
My concern right now is that they are not getting any depth scoring. The Stiga-Gasseau-Vote line was invisible for most of the game. This goes without saying but BC will not beat Denver without their second line being a factor. Some have suggested that they go back to Stiga-Hagens-Vote and Perreault-Gasseau-Leonard. I do not see this happening for two reasons. One, I think it is too late in the game to make that change. I am not sure why they moved Gasseau off the top line after the Vermont series, but it happened and this is how the lines have been since. Secondly, if you are going to go down, you have to do it with your three best forwards on a line together. Is the lineup too lopsided? Yes, but when Jellvik got hurt, we all knew this was a potential problem. Vote has been fine but the gap between him and Jellvik as their seventh forward is wide. Mike Posma turned in a nice game on the bottom six- they were going with just three lines throughout most of the third period. In a physical, win or go home game, you need players like Posma and Berard to fill their roles and they did that.
The power play almost killed them at the worst possible time. BC had back-to-back power plays towards the end of the game (including 18 seconds of 5 on 3), yet they lost the face-off and were unable to garner much of anything. That said, give BC credit because they took it to Bentley at the dot, winning 38 of the 65 draws against one of the top face-off teams in college hockey. Gasseau and Posma were a combined 21-6. The problem with the power play was that they were not able to get anything to the net. Their best chance in the third (before the goal) came when Hagens slid a pass cross ice on the first power play, but no one was able to tip it home in front. Of course, they gave up the one power play goal. This was a weird play because Fortescue was unable to break free from the netfront forward, which allowed for an easy backdoor goal. Fortescue struggled in this game, as did Gustafsson. BC will need both players to be at their best for Denver on Sunday. Bentley is not exactly the 1985 Oilers offensively, but BC deserves credit for shutting them down for pretty much the entire game. There were few turnovers, zero odd man rushes, and BC won every rebound battle in front of Jacob Fowler. Next up? Arguably the best offensive team in the country.
I should probably address the other elephant in the room (besides the near stunning loss). SNHU Arena is a dump. The PA system was in and out, they were playing music during the game, the lighting sucked, the parking sucked, they screwed up the introductions, and of course, it looked like they were playing in a foot of snow. How about the nets? We can’t have a rink with functioning net pegs? What the heck is going on? This is the NCAA tournament! It was pathetic. I am agnostic when it comes to on campus vs neutral sites but if we are going to have our sport’s biggest games be at neutral sites, can we at least pick ones with, you know, an actual functioning ice surface? A complete embarrassment for college hockey. I honestly do not remember being there since the Eaves goal in 2004 (BC has been back once since)- the place is a total dump. If you are going to have a regional in the Northeast, it should be in Hartford, Providence, Portland, or Worcester. No more Manchester.
Anyway, this is what BC wanted. They talked all year about getting another shot at Denver and now the opportunity is right in front of them. Denver is a heck of a team- they steamrolled Providence tonight, marking yet another postseason disappointment for Nate Leaman. I really hope they get the ice figured out because these are two teams that love to play hockey the way it should be played- up-tempo and free-flowing. Until then, I am going to be thankful we did not witness the biggest upset in college hockey history today.
Go Eagles (and Big Red tomorrow)
