It just took a small boost of confidence for Brody Hoffman.
After being inserted as a replacement for Mike Santaguida Friday night, Hoffman started to find his rhythm, despite eventually losing the game.
Tonight, it all formulated as one. Behind his 39 saves and two power-play goals by Brady Shaw, Vermont beat Boston College 3-1 and force a game three Sunday night.
“It feels good,” Hoffman said. “I think the most frustrating part is wanting to contribute. That’s tough as a backup goalie. Just try to stay positive and do what you can in practice. It’s always nice to contribute on Friday and Saturday.”
Boston College(21-12-3, 12-7-3) outshot the Catamounts (21-14-14, 10-9-3) 40-25 in the game, but on this night nobody was going to beat Hoffman.
“Very proud of our hockey team tonight,” said Vermont coach Kevin Sneddon. “Our power play got us off to a good start, going two-for-two early in the game. From then on, I thought BC did a good job putting shots on net, but I thought Mr. Hoffman was certainly the difference in the game for us.”
Under a minute into a power play, Shaw scored his first of the night. Taking a pass from Brendan Bradley from the right boards, the junior danced in the slot and put a shot on net that beat traffic and ultimately Demko.
The Catamounts got their second power play of the period with 3:30 left to go. With Quinn Smith off for holding, Shaw found a way to beat Demko yet again. Using his speed along the right side of the cage, Shaw deked around an Eagles defender, skated toward the dot, and fired a wrister that once again got through traffic and into the back of the net.
“Good puck movement by the power play and it opened up a seam for me,” Shaw said. “They gave me the same shot twice in a row and I was happy to take it.”
“I thought tonight we started slow,” said Eagles coach Jerry York. “Vermont got the two power-play goals in the first period; it kind of gave them some momentum.”
Boston College came out firing in the second period, outshooting Vermont 20-8 in the frame.
“I thought he was great,” said Sneddon of Hoffman. “He was our best guy at the battle tonight. He had a lot of traffic in front of him and bodies flying everywhere. BC did a great job getting pucks to the dirty areas. There were a lot of scrums and I thought he did a great job staying strong on it.”
The play continued to stay chippy throughout the period. In a stretch of time between 8:40 and 12:38, both teams went to the box twice. On the last of those penalties, Boston College made it a one-goal game.
With Alexx Privitera off for a cross-checking, Ryan Fitzgerald made it a 2-1 contest. All alone on the left side boards, courtesy of a Matheson pass, Fitzgerald skated in and put a rocket on net that cleanly beat Hoffman.
The first half of the third period started off slow for the two clubs. Playing within the neutral zone, both teams played cautiously defensively, trying to not give up a golden opportunity.
With the Eagles on a power play, they were in prime position to strike. Once again there were five white jerseys in front of the net digging away at a loose rebound, but Hoffman stood strong with the pads, not giving BC anywhere to shoot.
Boston College continued to battle in the third period, but couldn’t beat Hoffman. Vermont added an empty-netter by Brendan Bradley to hang on for the 3-1 win.
“Vermont played well,” York said. “I liked our effort except the first period. We took two bad penalties the first period that they both capitalized on.”
“We’ve played with our backs against the wall all year,” Shaw said. “We haven’t had much success in the past at BC, so it’s a huge step for us to get this win and have an opportunity to come back tomorrow.”
