Boston College Men’s Hockey Knocks off Vermont 3-2

The Boston College men’s hockey team bounced back after a bad loss on Friday night by defeating Vermont 3-2 in the second game of a weekend series. BC didn’t lead for long in this one, but they were pretty decisively the better team on the night and probably could have won by a bigger margin if they had gotten a few bounces to go their way. But the final score doesn’t matter much in the end, as this was a game the Eagles really needed to have after Friday’s loss. It wasn’t as easy as we might have hoped for a few days ago, but they got the result they needed to cap off the weekend.

BC looked to be in control for the majority of the first period, but it was Vermont who got on the board first with a power play goal after Drew Helleson was called for a penalty. BC came up empty on a power play chance of their own shortly thereafter, but managed to tie things up a few minutes later when they got another chance on the man advantage. Jack McBain put home his fourth goal of the season when he redirected a shot from Drew Helleson from right in front of the crease to make it a 1-1 game with about a minute left in the period. It didn’t stay that way for long, however, as Vermont made it 2-1 after the puck ended up in the net during a bit of a scramble in front of Eric Dop’s net with just over a second left on the clock. The refs took a quick look at the goal for possible interference, but it stood as a good goal and Vermont lead 2-1 after 20 minutes.

McBain got another power play goal when he redirected another shot from Helleson just about halfway through the second period to tie things back up at 2. The goal came on BC’s first shot of the second period after Vermont really carried play for a good stretch at the start. That changed drastically after McBain’s goal, as the Eagles dominated play for the remainder of the period. BC got plenty of looks at the net in the shifts immediately after the goal, and much of the last five or six minutes were spent entirely in Vermont’s zone. It didn’t lead to anything, however, as Vermont managed to hang on and head into the second intermission still tied at two.

BC continued to dominate play through large stretches of the third period, but for a while, it looked like Vermont was going to be able to keep them off the board again. The Eagles had the puck for what felt like shifts at a time, but were never able to get a real grade-A scoring chance. With 3:19 left in regulation, however, Eamon Powell found Trevor Kuntar with a great cross ice pass, and Kuntar was able to hit a one-timer into the back of the net to put BC up for the first time all night. That was it for the scoring, as Vermont pulled their goalie with a little over a minute to play as they pushed for a late equalizer, but BC didn’t give them any real chances and held on for a 3-2 win.

This was a nice bounce back for the Eagles after a tough loss last night, and definitely a result the deserved. BC really dominated the game for all but a six or seven minute stretch early in the second period, winning the shots battle by a wide margin and constantly pressuring Vermont in the offensive zone. A sweep would have been nice, but it was important to get a result tonight after dropping the series opener on Friday. BC will get back at it next weekend with a home-and-home series with Merrimack.