Boston College Men’s Hockey Team Knocks off BU 4-3 in Overtime Thriller

The Boston College men’s hockey team won a thriller of a game against Boston University on Friday night, knocking off the Terriers 4-3 in overtime thanks to a last second goal by Drew Helleson. It was a back and forth game that saw both teams playing at a high level before the Eagles were able to come away with a win. Logan Hutsko was out of the lineup for BC, but the Eagles did get back Alex Newhook, who had only played in one game this season before Friday night.

Both teams had a handful of chances early on, but it was BC who got on the board first. After coming up empty on a power play, Jack McBain set a screen in front of BU goalie Ashton Abel and was able to deflect a shot from the halfboards off the stick of Drew Helleson. It was McBain’s second goal in as many games after a long scoring drought and his fourth on the season. That managed to stand up as the only goal of the period despite each team getting a power play chance and creating a few chances before the period ended. Spencer Knight made some nice stops while BC was shorthanded to keep the Eagles up a goal headed into the second.

BU tied things up 3:15 into the second period, when Knight was beaten on a short side stuff attempt after a wraparound off a rush up the ice. There wasn’t much of an angle after the first attempt was broken up, but the puck snuck past Knight to tie the score at one. BU took the lead a few minutes later, when Knight was beaten on a great shot up high. The goal came right after BC squandered a few great chances on odd man rushes without getting even a single look on net.

The Eagles tied things up with 8:04 left in the period, when they finally converted on their fourth power play chance of the night. It was Alex Newhook who controlled a loose puck and found his linemate open in the slot, allowing Boldy to snap a shot past Abel for a 2-2 tie. Colby Ambrosio gave BC the lead back with 2:24 left in the period, when he slammed home a loose puck after a battle out front. Nikita Nesterenko got the whole play started when he stole a pass in the BU zone and gave himself a chance in front. The original shot was stopped by Abel, but Ambrosio managed to win a battle in front and BC took a 3-2 lead into the third.

BU tied things up early in the third period after BC was whistled for a too many men penalty. A shot from the point got by Knight, who may have had a hard time picking the puck up through a screen. That was the only goal of the third, as BC had to kill off a late penalty and withstand a last minute push by BU in order to force overtime,

Overtime was mostly uneventful for about 4 minutes and 50 seconds, but towards the end of the fram, Drew Helleson won things for the Eagles on an end to end rush that ended with a gorgeous goal. Helleson cut through the BU defense before beating Abel with a one-on-one move to send BC home with a win.

For the first BC-BU matchup of the season, this one was about as good as we could have hoped for. The Eagles kept rolling along as they picked up their third straight win and continued to pick up points to remain in a good spot in the Hockey East standings. There isn’t much time for BC to feel good about this one, though, as these two teams get right back at it tomorrow night.