CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — As a significant winter storm plowed through the city of Boston, winds whipsawed as Mother Nature took its toll on the eastern seaboard.
The winds whipsawed about the Boston College campus, leading snow to shift and whipsaw with the wind.
Inside Kelley Rink Saturday night, the winds of Mother Nature were not present due to the arena’s insulated nature. Yet the winds of fate in the matchup between the No. 4 Eagles and Connecticut mirrored the winds outside the confines of the arena, with the lead shifting between the two teams the entire night.
In the end, the shifting winds of fate did not produce a winner, with the two teams skating to a 3-3 tie.
The Eagles were not able to continue the success of Friday night where Jerry York picked up his 1,000th career win.
“I don’t think [it was hard to get in the right frame of mind],” York said. “Back to back games, we got three out of four for the weekend, but we were pressing to get the home win tonight.”
The Huskies were able to hold the BC attack at bay with backup goaltender Tanner Creel in net. Creel was playing in just his fifth game of the season.
“[Creel] was good,” UConn coach Mike Cavanaugh said. “I told him before the game that Tom Brady was a backup at one point, too. We buy equipment for him, he has a jersey, you gotta expect that he’s going to play. To his credit, Robbie [Nichols] is the No. 1 goaltender, but he works hard every day and prepares himself.”
The winds of fate took their first shift a quarter of the way through the first period. Thatcher Demko stopped a shot from Derek Pratt, but was unable to control the rebound. Jesse Schwartz was able to convert on the long rebound, sending the puck over Demko’s glove side shoulder, giving the Huskies the early 1-0 lead.
In winter storms, the wind doesn’t stay in one place permanently, and the winds of fate shifted back towards BC in the tail end of the period. Travis Jeke, a fourth-line player that going into Saturday night had all but two points to his name this season added another to his scoreline. Travis Jeke converted on a rebound from Chris Calnan to notch his second goal of the season, and the goal tied the game where it remained going into the intermission.
The wind of fate continued to roar BC’s way in the second period. Alex Tuch, who had struggled offensively in the first half of the season, has resurged in recent games. He continued his resurgence Saturday night, rifiling a shot past Creel to give the Eagles a 2-1 lead. The goal was one of seven shots for the sophomore Saturday night.
“I thought that was the best game [Tuch] has played,” York said. “He was certainly a man out there.”
Yet the winds of fate shifted again. Patrick Kirtland matched Tuch’s snipe with a snipe of his own, beating Demko to tie the game at two.
Yet again, the wind shifted. After the Kirtland goal, toward the three-quarter mark of the second period, several BC players had significant scoring chances. One of those chances came from the stick of Zach Sanford, who fired a shot that rang off the crossbar. Colin White was able to clean up the rebound and put the Eagles ahead 3-2, where the score stayed at the second intermission.
But the winds were not done a-shifting.
In the third period, Austin Cangelosi got whistled for a high sticking penalty. It was the second penalty taken by the Eagles, but unlike the first, the second would be costly.
During the power play, Max Letunov received a feed in between the faceoff circles. Letunov beat Demko on a wrist shot, tying the game at 3.
The deadlock did not break, and the Huskies were able to deny Jerry York his 1,001st win.
“I’m glad [York] got [win No. 1,000] last night,” Cavanaugh said. “I helped him get enough, he didn’t need to get one more off me.”
Steve Santini left Saturday night’s game with an apparent injury. York said that Santini will be evaluated Sunday.
Nichols will also not play in UConn’s matchup Tuesday evening against Sacred Heart.
