On a night when the weather was as bad as could be for a Beanpot finale, the two teams — No. 3 Boston College and No. 7 Boston University — combined for a game that was historically low-scoring.
Boston College’s 1-0 overtime victory on Monday at TD Garden in Boston was spurred by Alex Tuch’s overtime goal at 1:57 of the extra period.
[scg_html_beanpot2016]”[Zach] Sanford made a nice play to me in the middle,” Tuch said of the game-winning play in a TV interview. “And I made a play post-in with [Sanford] driving the net and it was a good goal.”
Good goal to say the least. In fact, the goal was historic.
The game, played in front of a less-than-capacity crowd at the TD Garden, went through 60 minutes without a single goal, the first time in the tournament’s 64-year history.
Thus the 1-0 decision will stand forever as the lowest-scoring game in the tournament’s history.
“That was one of the classic Beanpot finals that I’ve been involved with,” said BC coach Jerry York, who won his sixth Beanpot title in the last seven years. “Both goaltenders kept each other in the game. To keep it 0-0 with these offensive weapons is quite impressive.”
The overtime game-winner came after regulation play that began as an exciting back-and-forth game but slowly began looking more like Sunday’s Super Bowl between Denver and Carolina. It was possibly one of the better defensive games, particularly over the final 40 minutes of regulation, that each team has played this season.
The first period of the game, despite that Boston College mustered 23 shots to BU’s 12, will be most remembered for a 29-minute stoppage as the TD Garden’s lights failed. Teams sat on the bench for much of the stoppage and, minutes after heading to the locker room for what seemed like an early intermission, returned to complete the stanza.
At the time of the break, BC had a 14-5 shot advantage and the Eagles held the advantage over the final 11 minutes 9-7. BC maintained its territorial edge but not as significantly after the extended and unscheduled rest.
Not much changed in the second period, except the shot totals. Although BC held a 9-8 advantage, neither team sustained offense despite two power-play attempts for the Eagles, which mustered little offense.
Another slow third period led to the overtime, but little of that was played after Tuch mustered the time and space he needed.
When asked what he was thinking on the play, York’s thoughts were simple.
“Just shoot the puck. Just shoot the puck,” said York. “Keep it inside the post.”
The victory ended a dream-like tournament, however, for Boston University netminder Sean Maguire. Maguire received the Eberly Award as the tournament’s top netminder and also took home the event’s MVP honors.
“I wanted to win this really bad this year,” said Maguire. “It’s my last chance. I gave it my best effort and gave it my all. It was my best.”
Thatcher Demko made 30 saves for the Eagles.
