GOAL BY GOAL: BC Men’s Hockey Takes 2-1 Win Over UConn

As tough as the opening gauntlet to start the season was, playing the next three games against Merrimack (bad), Merrimack (bad), and UConn (UConn) must have felt like swinging a baseball bat after warming up with a giant hitting donut. Still, the Eagles still had to play the games, and the fact they they’ve come away with wins in all three is encouraging.

BC capped off the three game bodybag stretch with a 2-1 win over UConn Tuesday night at Conte Forum.

UConn Goal #1 (PPG): 5:01 of the 1st period
Jeff Wight (Karl El-Mir, Adam Huska)

UConn 1, BC 0

UConn landed the first blow tonight and took a lead early in the 2nd period on this power play goal.

Goal assist alert! It wasn’t exactly Patrice Bergeron, but UConn’s Adam Huska does indeed get the secondary assist thanks to his save on BC’s shorthanded shot.

Jeff Wight comes onto the ice off a change, and BC’s caught puck watching a bit as El-Mir skates the puck below the goal line. All four BC defenders are way down low, leaving no one at all to cover Wight coming into the slot from the bench. El-Mir finds him for the one timer right between the hash marks. Not good!

Boston College Goal #1 (SHG): 10:10 of the 2nd period
Julius Mattila (Logan Hutsko)

BC 1, UConn 1

I’m sure Huska would give up his assist if it meant he could remove himself from taking the blame of BC’s shorthanded tying goal. This is terrible all around from UConn, but it starts with Huska backhanding the puck behind the net for no reason right to the stick of Hutsko.

Then to make matters worse for UConn, Mattila is just totally unmarked coming in across the blue line after the turnover. How does that even happen? The Eagles thank the Huskies for the miscue and notch their first shorthanded goal of the season.

Shout out to Mattila for the nice no-nonsense finnish on this goal, too.

PUNS!

Boston College Goal #2 (PPG, GWG): 16:34 of the 2nd period
Michael Kim (JD Dudek, Graham McPhee)

BC 2, UConn 1 — FINAL

A handful of minutes later, the BC special teams came through again — this time on the power play.

There’s not too much to dissect on this one. Michael Kim wants the puck from Dudek and he does not disappoint, walloping a bomb all the way through and beating Huska clean on the one-timer. Huska might be just a bit screened by his own player, but he still has a good look at at Kim winding up. It was probably for the best that he didn’t save it, because it might have sent him into the net along with the puck.

And that was that for the scoring. UConn and BC put together all three of the game’s goals in an eleven and a half minute span, and that was good enough for the Eagles to take the win. UConn had a chance or two as the clock was winding down through the third period, but BC felt like they were in control for the most part over the course of the sixty minutes.

With Casey Fitzgerald out of the lineup with an injury and Joseph Woll on the bench due to a suspension, BC will take the win any way they can get it. Ryan Edquist played very well, allowing just the one goal on 28 shots, which was really just what the Eagles needed. Edquist has played like the 1b to Woll’s 1a — quite the embarrassment of riches for BC in net.

BC continues its Hockey East slate with a pair up in Burlington, Vermont this weekend against the Catamounts. Vermont — like several of BC’s conference mates — has had a tough start to the year, and if BC can go up and take 3 or 4 points, it would probably bring BC pretty close to the NCAA tournament bubble.