BOSTON — Surprisingly, Boston University has only shut out archrival Boston College only once since Hockey East was launched in the 1984-85 season.
Tonight, the Terriers came within 2:05 of doing it a second time, only to have a late goal by Ryan Fitzgerald result in a 1-1 tie in a highly-entertaining game with great goaltending in front of 6,032 fans at Agganis Arena.
BU senior Sean Maguire made 38 saves, while BC junior Thatcher Demko stopped 30 shots. The upshot was that while BC coach Jerry York was prevented from winning his 1,000th game as a head coach, the Eagles won the season series by following Friday’s win at home with a tie on the road.
“It was really a good college hockey weekend for both teams,” York said. “We push each other, and we’re better because we play each other. As we approach Monday’s practice, both teams have benefited from the good, hard physical play, the good goaltending on both ends. You benefit a lot from playing good teams.
“The outcome is a tie, but it’s a late tie, so I think it’s good for our team to stay patient and hang in a game.”
After a listless performance at BC on Friday night, BU coach David Quinn was much happier with his team’s effort tonight, but still left deflated by letting the win slip away late.
“A typical BU-BC hockey game,” Quinn said. “Some great goaltending on both ends; both teams had some great chances – physical, fast-paced, certainly a crowd-pleasing game.
“It’s disappointing the way both games ended. We were two and a half minutes away from at least getting a point, and tonight we’re two and a half minutes away from getting a win, so disappointing from that regard, but it’s January 15th, and you don’t want to be playing your best hockey now.”
BU came out strong, skating well and playing much more physically than last night. Both teams enjoyed some five-on-three power-play time in the first period, but couldn’t score. Demko had the best save of the period when he thwarted Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson from point-blank range when Brandon Fortunato set him up with a back-door pass halfway through the period.
The second period was a thrill to watch, with both teams having plenty of chances. Shorthanded, Matt Gaudreau set up Colin White on a two-on-one break, only to have Maguire make the save at 4:45. Maguire stopped White on another two-on-one at 10:30.
Just 40 seconds later, BU scored. Forsbacka Karlsson almost potted a highlight-reel goal, making a great move and nearly scoring while flying over Demko’s pad. A BC defender got the puck behind the net and attempted to clear it, only to have Danny O’Regan intercept it, leading to BU’s lone goal by captain Matt Grzelcyk.
“I saw JFK going in on the breakaway there, just kind of followed the play in case there’s a bounce,” Grzelcyk said. “Puck made its way up the wall, and Danny made a heads-up play to throw it to the net, just tried to get a stick on it. A little bit of puck luck there.”
Gryzelcyk now has seven goals in just ten games played this season – a remarkable total for a defenseman.
BC nearly tied it with some puck luck of their own at 16:00. BU defenseman Brandon Hickey’s pass from behind his own net bounced off of someone and almost went in his own net, only to have Maguire keep it off the goal line.
“Both teams had chances to score more goals, but Maguire and Demko were clearly the stars of the night,” York said.
BU tried to batten down the hatches in the third, and there were far fewer scoring chances. BC kept threatening, though, holding the puck in the BU zone for a long stretch with five minutes left and then having Maguire rob Adam Gilmour on a lunging save at 17:06.
“He played great last night, too,” said Quinn regarding Maguire’s play. “He’s been getting better and better. The great thing over the weekend is we got elite goaltending, and that certainly bodes well going forward.”
Maguire had a few shaky outings early in the season, and Connor LaCouvee ended up with the bulk of the time in net during the fall semester. But since beating previously undefeated Quinnipiac right before Christmas break, Maguire has had a solid grip on the starting job.
“I think he just has a little bit more confidence now,” Gryzelcyk said. “I’ve known him for four years now, and he’s probably the most competitive kid I’ve ever met. I think all of the guys were confident at the beginning of the year that as long as he got a few games in, he would work his way back into the lineup.”
After Maguire’s save on Gilmour, BU promptly used its timeout, only to have BC score 49 seconds later. Behind the BU net, Gaudreau found Fitzgerald with his back to the net in the slot. The right wing wheeled and fired a pinpoint wrist shot that beat Maguire high on the stick side.
“It was made possible by a really creative play by Matt Gaudreau, just kind of found him and put it right on his tape,” York said.
That’s how it ended.
BU now has a 3-1-3 record this season when playing teams ranked in the top five compared to an 8-6-1 record against all other opponents. For now, Kieran Millan is still the only BU goaltender to shut out the Eagles in a Hockey East game, winning a 5-0 game back on Nov. 13, 2011.
Meanwhile, York will look to get his 1,000th win against Massachusetts next Friday night.
