BC Proves Too Much For Men's Hockey

After 20 minutes, the Harvard men’s hockey team escaped the ice with a one-goal deficit. After being dominated 17-3 in the shots on goal department, the home team in some ways had stolen the period.

But the Crimson could not escape the top offense in the nation Tuesday night at the Bright-Landry Hockey Center. Boston College (7-2-2, 4-0-1 Hockey East) rolled to its ninth straight win over its cross-town rival with a 5-1 victory in its first game in Allston since 2009.

Two goals in the final two frames from NCAA division I scoring leader Johnny Gaudreau helped the Eagles put the game out of reach for Harvard. Junior BC goaltender Brian Billett made a game-high 34 saves and was perfect through 56 minutes.

After a flat-footed first period, Harvard was on the attack and looking to tie in the second. But BC responded with quick tape-to-tape passing.

Junior Destry Straight put the visitors up, 2-0, eight and a half minutes into the middle frame after the Eagles strung together four crisp passes in the Harvard zone.

Less than six minutes later, Gaudreau scored on a breakaway off a lead pass from senior linemate Bill Arnold.

“The second period we were a step behind Harvard, but we made those two really tic-tac-toe-type goals,” BC head coach Jerry York said.

Gaudreau added another goal just over two minutes into the third period with assists from sophomore defender Teddy Doherty and freshman forward Ryan Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald slid BC’s fifth goal by junior goalie Steve Michalek off passes from senior forward Kevin Hayes and Doherty.

BC took control early with a goal from freshman forward Austin Cangelosi about five minutes into the first period. A strong Eagle forecheck kept Harvard in its own zone for most of the frame.

“In the first period we were very lucky to come out of it only down one,” Harvard head coach Ted Donato ’91 said. “We sat around and watched the first period.”

“I thought we played with a lot of anticipation here tonight,” York added. “The first period was our best period of the year so far.”

Less than 10 minutes into the period, sophomore Harvard defender Max Everson went down in the Crimson zone after taking an elbow to the head from BC captain Patrick Brown. Everson skated off the ice with the help of his teammates but would not return to the game.

Harvard bounced back in the second, outshooting BC, 15-9, and gaining some attacking momentum. But a couple of miscommunications on the defensive end prevented the Crimson from containing the visitors’ bursts of offensive firepower.

“I thought in the second we had some chances to get back in the game, and we just gave up goals too easily,” Donato said.

Gaudreau and Fitzgerald put Boston College up 5-0 in the third despite the Crimson’s increased pressure. Tensions rose late in the game as 42 penalty minutes were assessed in the last 10 minutes of regulation.

Harvard freshman defender Kevin Guiltinan and Bill Arnold exchanged pushes and grabs in the Harvard zone with six minutes left in reglation following a hit from Guiltinan on Gaudreau. Guiltinan and Arnold left the ice with game misconducts.

The Crimson’s lone break through on the night came three minutes later on a power play.

Freshman forward Luke Esposito scored his first collegiate goal off a rebound in the slot.

The mark spoiled a shutout for Billett, who turned away a game-high 16 Crimson shots in the third period.

Following the game, Donato said that his team has much to learn from the loss.

“They’re a very well coached, talented team and we weren’t good enough to give them a competitive game,” Donato said. “This is a tough team to play against and not be at your best.”

With the win, BC maintains an all-time series advantage of 71-44-5 over Harvard.

The Eagles have not lost to the Crimson since 2006.

Tuesday marks the Crimson’s last home game for more than a month. The team will travel to UNH next Tuesday before visiting Dartmouth, Brown, and Yale.