On Friday night, the Boston College men’s hockey team faced off once again against the Minnesota Golden Gophers in Minneapolis. After winning a close Thursday night game at Mariucci, BC skated to a tie with the Gophers after a late Dean Letourneau goal.
The first period played out much like it did in the first game of the series. Boston College came out to a strong start on offense and controlled the puck for the beginning of the period. A powerplay one-timer from Ryan Conmy near the faceoff circle got by the goalie to put the Eagles up 1-0. But not long after, Minnesota got a goal of their own past Louka Cloutier after a scrum in front of the net. The game was tied 1-1 after one period.
The Eagles couldn’t stay out of the box in the second period, giving up a powerplay goal to Brodie Ziemer after BC’s Landan Resendes got sent to the box for some undisciplined physicality after the whistle. It looked like James Hagens had answered the call for Boston College in response, but his goal was called back for being offsides after a Minnesota challenge. The Gophers maintained their 2-1 lead heading into the final frame.
BC’s offense started out strong in the third period as they tried to claw the game back, getting shots to the net and forcing Gopher goalie Nathan Airey to make some stops. A tripping call on Minnesota’s Javon Moore gave the Eagles a powerplay chance, but they couldn’t convert. BC kept up the pressure all period before finally with under five minutes remaining in regulation, Dean Letourneau followed up on a Jake Sondreal zone entry and buried it in the net to tie the game up.
Minnesota got off a few shots in what remained of the third period, but none of them got past Cloutier and the game went to overtime. The extra time was chaotic and featured some solid saves by BC’s Louka Cloutier, including a near breakaway goal.
But neither team could score in those final five minutes, so the game continued on to a shootout. The shootout did not actually matter for anything other than bragging rights, because out-of-conference shootouts don’t have an impact on conference standings or NPI (the new pairwise). Minnesota won the shootout and sent their fans home happy, despite failing to claim a win in a home series.
This was a very solid weekend for the BC men’s hockey team. They came into a difficult environment, defended well, cranked up the offense when they needed it, and earned an important out-of-conference win & tie. Next up for the Eagles is a road trip to RPI on Friday night.
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