March 15, 2014
Chestnut Hill, Mass. – March 15, 2014 Boston College junior left wing Johnny Gaudreau scored twice and set up two other goals as the Eagles handed Notre Dame a 4-2 loss in game two of the best-of-three Hockey East Quarterfinal series Saturday afternoon.
The series is now even at one game each with game three set for 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 16 at BC’s Conte Forum. The game will be televised on the New England Sports Network (NESN).
Gaudreau, the leading candidate for the 2014 Hobey Baker Award as college hockey’s top player is the first player to record four points in a game against Notre Dame since Northeastern’s Ludwig Karlsson had four assists on Dec. 2, 2011.With the four points, Gaudreau has now extended his point streak to 31 games, tying former Maine great Paul Kariya’s Hockey East record point streak.
Patrick Brown and Kevin Hayes also scored for Boston College. Bryan Rust and Vince Hinostroza scored for the Irish who see their six-game winning streak and eight-game unbeaten streak (7-0-1) come to an end. The Eagles out shot Notre Dame by a 37-21 margin as Steven Summerhays held the Irish in the game with 33 saves. Thatcher Demko stopped 19 shots for Boston College.
The loss drops the 11th-ranked Irish to 22-13-2 on the season while the second-ranked Eagles snapped a two-game losing streak and go to 26-6-4 overall.
“Hey, they (Boston College) are a great team. Punch-counter punch,” said Irish head coach Jeff Jackson.
“You expect that from a great team. That’s what we saw tonight.”
After dropping the opening game on Friday night by a 7-2 margin to the Irish, Boston College figured to come out fast in game two, but it was Notre Dame that would get on the scoreboard first as Rust picked up his 15th of the year just 39 seconds into the game.
The senior right wing, who tied his career high for goals set last season, took a pass from defenseman Andy Ryan in the slot, turned and fired a wrist shot that beat Demko through his pads to make it 1-0. Senior defenseman Shayne Taker also assisted on the goal.
The Eagles would pick up the tempo as they outshot the Irish by a 19-6 margin in the opening period.
Boston College would get its first of the night at 10:28 of the first period, benefitting from a penalty to Brown. An Irish scoring bid was broken up by Bill Arnold who moved the puck ahead to Gaudreau just as Brown came out of the penalty box to set up a two-on-one on Summerhays. Gaudreau held the puck until he hit the hash marks in the slot, moving it ahead to Brown who beat the Irish goaltender from in close for his 13th of the season.
The lead would go to 2-1 in favor of the Eagles at 17:39 on a five-on-three power play as Gaudreau scored his 31st of the season from the right side of the goal.
With Mike Voran and Peter Schneider off on penalties called 1:10 apart, the trio of Gaudreau-center Bill Arnold and right wing Kevin Hayes went to work. Arnold moved the puck from the left side to Hayes who slid the puck across the crease to Gaudreau who was all alone to one-time the puck into the net for the 2-1 lead after one period. The high-scoring trio had nine points (3g, 6a) in the game.
“I thought the differences from last night (Friday’s game) were the officiating and obviously BC’s top line played like the top line in college hockey,” said Jackson.
“There was no flow in the first period with all the penalties and that was the difference in the game. That’s where the whole tempo of the game was established. I thought that our power play really hurt us. It gave them momentum when they scored off of it and had a couple of good rushes. But give them their due; a big part of it was who was on the ice killing penalties too. It was those top line guys.”
“We have to play with discipline. I’m not complaining about any of the calls,” added Jackson.
“I just think they should be called the same way both ways in my opinion. I don’t know why we change officials from one game to the next when the officials have a good feel for the series. That’s just my thought process but its not my decision.”
After a scoreless second period, Boston College added two more in the third period, scoring the goals 1:31 apart.
Hayes made it 3-1 at 5:58 with his 23rd goal of the year with assists to Scott Savage and Gaudreau who then closed out the Eagle’s side of the ledger at 7:29 with his second goal of the game and 32nd of the season.
The Irish would get four power-play chances in the third period and finally capitalized at 16:18 when Hinostroza scored his eighth of the season as he beat the Boston College defense down the slot before snapping a low wrist shot that beat Demko to his stick side to make it a 4-2 game. Kevin Lind and Mario Lucia picked up assists on the goal.
The Irish were 1-for-6 on the power play while the Eagles were 1-for-5.
The four goals given up by Summerhays on the night were the most he has given up in a game since Feb. 1 when he gave up four goals in a 5-2 loss to New Hampshire. He had given up just five goals in his previous six games since Feb. 15.
With everything on the line on Sunday, the Irish and Eagles know what to expect from each other, having played three times since March 1.
“Every game is different. We have played each other pretty tough over the last several games,” said Jackson.
“Both teams will be tired. College kids aren’t used to playing three games in three days. “
IRISH NOTES:
** The loss snapped Notre Dame’s six-game playoff winning streak that included four wins last year in winning the final CCHA title and two wins this season versus Boston University and Boston College.
** Johnny Gaudreau has five goals and three assists for eight points against Notre Dame in four games this season.
GAME SUMMARY 1 2 3 - F#11/#11 Notre Dame (22-13-2) 1 0 1 - 2#2/#2 Boston College (26-6-4) 2 0 2 - 4
Scoring
1st Period: ND: Bryan Rust 15 (Andy Ryan, Shayne Taker), 00:39; BC: Patrick Brown 13 (Johnny Gaudreau, Bill Arnold), 10:28; BC: Gaudreau 31 (Kevin Hayes, Arnold), PPG, 17:39.
Penalties: ND: 4 for 8 minutes; BC: 3 for 6 minutes.
2nd Period: No Scoring.
Penalties: ND: 1 for 2 minutes; BC: 0 for 0 minutes.
3rd Period: BC: Hayes 23 (Scott Savage, Gaudreau), 5:38; BC: Gaudreau 32 (Hayes, Adam Gilmour), 7:29; ND: Vince Hinostroza 8 (Kevin Lind, Mario Lucia), PPG, 16:18
Penalties: ND: 1 for 2 minutes; BC: 4 for 8 minutes.
Shots On Goal:Notre Dame 6 - 10 - 5 - 21Boston College 19 - 11 - 7 - 37
Goaltender Saves:ND: Steven Summerhays (59:02) 17 - 11 - 5 - 33BC: Thatcher Demko (60:00) 5 - 10 - 4 - 19
Power Plays:ND: 1 for 6BC: 1 for 5
Attendance: 4,537