BOSTON — Saturday capped a particularly satisfying few days for Boston University freshman Jack Eichel.
Two days after winning Hockey East player of the year and rookie of the year as well as becoming a Hobey Baker Award finalist, the Massachusetts native added a Hockey East tournament MVP to his hardware collection.
[scg_html_hea2015]Eichel scored twice and added an assist to lead BU to a 5-3 win over Massachusetts-Lowell in front 13,352 at TD Garden, giving the Terriers their eighth Hockey East championship and assuring them of a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.
Eichel also set a freshman record for scoring at Boston University, surpassing Mark Fidler and Olympian David Silk. Terriers captain Matt Grzelcyk continued his hot streak with a goal and two assists.
“We are a true team,” BU coach David Quinn said. “We have stars, as you can see. But you don’t win with just stars. You win with everybody on your roster and in your program. I just couldn’t be happier for everybody associated with our team.”
“It’s not as pleasant being on this side of things,” said UMass-Lowell coach Norm Bazin, whose River Hawks were attempting a three-peat as league champions. “At the same time, they earned it tonight. I thought we didn’t come out as well as we would have liked, and they took full advantage.”
BU got off to a strong start and took the 1-0 lead at 13:08. Eichel got the puck behind his own net and began an end-to-end rush up the right side before attempting to cross to Grzelcyk on his left wing. A backchecking River Hawks forward got a stick on the pass, but it went right to Grzelcyk, who beat goalie Kevin Boyle from the left-wing side.
BU appeared to have a 2-0 lead just 41 seconds later, only to have Nickolas Olsson’s goal waved off when a video review revealed that Matt Lane was offside by inches as the play developed.
Despite the temporary reprieve, the Terriers got to 2-0 for real at 15:02. This time, Eichel skated along the right-wing boards before pulling up to beat a defender and go to the net. Another River Hawks defender went down for the block as Eichel released a soft shot, and the puck managed to go through the legs of both the defender and Boyle.
BU should have been able to go into the intermission up by a pair, but freshman defenseman John MacLeod leveled Michael Louria with a gratuitous high hit. It took all of six seconds for UMass-Lowell to capitalize on the power play.
The River Hawks won the draw and teed up the puck for Tommy Panico at the point. The freshman hadn’t scored a point in 17 previous games this season, but his slap shot hit goaltender Matt O’Connnor, and Joe Gambardella scored on the rebound.
BU regained its two-goal cushion at 5:38 of the second period. Right after a non-call on BU defenseman Doyle Somerby drew some jeers from the River Hawks fans, A.J. Greer set up Cason Hohmann for a shot that hit the inside of Boyle’s leg before trickling into the net.
O’Connor made his best save of the night at 8:59, flashing a glove to thwart Zack Kamrass on a power-play rebound.
“I thought he made a great save there,” Kamrass said. “I saw an opening, and he dove across and got a glove on it.”
With just 44.5 seconds left in the period, BU then picked up a huge goal to make it 4-1. On a two-on-one break with Grzelcyk, Olsson skated up the left wing and passed to Grzelcyk, whose return pass simply bounced off of Olsson’s stick and went directly into the net.
Lowell had a flicker of hope with a third-period goal by Michael Kapla, but Eichel clinched it with 5:17 remaining, muscling his way in on the right wing and beating Boyle five-hole yet again.
“He has such an ability to separate from people, and he makes it looks so easy,” Quinn said of Eichel. “I kind of joke when I say he’s kind of a Secretariat of a hockey player: If you watched Secretariat run, he just looked so different from all of the other horses, and Jack is very much in that mold.”
The River Hawks kept battling, and Louria made it 5-3 on a lunging backhander with 3:08 remaining. But that’s how it ended.
“It’s been a long four years, but I think the senior class left the program better than we found it,” Kamrass said. “It’s a tribute to the coaches and everyone who’s come through as well.”
While UMass-Lowell’s loss ends its season with a 22-11-6 record, BU awaits Sunday’s selection show to learn if it will be the No. 1 seed in Manchester or Providence next weekend.
