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One week makes a big difference. Just a week ago The Eagles barely beat Northeastern thanks to a last-minute game-winning goal by Mike Kim, Tuesday night, the Eagles handled the Huskies to come out victors in a solid 5-3 win.
A strong start put the Eagles up 2-1 in the first, and JD Dudek's hot streak continued as he earned two goals on the night. Dudek opened up the scoring just 1:17 into the game, lifting one over Ryan Ruck's left side to sink the top shelf goal. His second goal come halfway through the second period when Kim brought the puck into Huskies' territory and laid it off to Matty Gaudreau behind the left circle. Gaudreau placed a perfect pass for Dudek rushing in to take the one-time snipe from the point.
"Our early start got us some momentum, JD’s play was really good," said coach Jerry York. "Winning is hard, but when you have a team playing it’s attainable."
Dudek has improved to second on the team with eight goals and has earned five in his last four games. While Gaudreau was a key helper on at least three of the Eagles' five goals, he had a big night in the box. He earned over half of BC's penalties on the night–four of the seven to be exact, each one a different call.
The first two periods were standout for the Eagles, there was energy, crisp passing, and toughness on the ice. Freshman Zach Walker proved strong on both sides of the puck to give the Eagles their second goal. Seven minutes into the first period, he broke through traffic to intercept a pass in front of the Northeastern net and easily lifted the second tally past Ruck. David Cotton also took advantage of Ruck halfway through the second, to give the Eagles the comfortable 4-1 lead he corralled his own rebound to slip the insurance in behind Ruck's skate.
Scotty Savaged also added to the board to get the veterans in on the action; Colin White stripped the puck and played Gaudreau ahead to take it in the zone, he laid the one-timer out for Savage to take full advantage and rip the rocked off the crossbar and into the back of the net.
The difference between the final frame and the first two was night and day. As the stands emptied out, it seemed as the gas in the Eagles' tanks did as well. Northeastern was able to pull within one when it caught the BC defense sleeping. Zach Aston-Reese found John Stevens across the ice and was able to get the puck to Stevens and in the net before Joe Woll even realized the puck left Aston-Resse's stick.
"Winning is just hard, I don’t know how else to explain it. Tonight was a typical difficult game for us," said York. The final period saw sloppiness and an increased physicality as both teams' frustration grew. The Eagles' third period mistakes almost proved too costly, but Woll stayed strong to preserve the lead.
Northeastern's third-period goal to pull within one was a minor hiccup in Woll's game on Tuesday night. He proved to be solid in net making 28 saves and allowing virtually no rebounds for the Huskies to pounce on.
The Eagles will wrap up the first half of their season this Saturday at Notre Dame. With BC looking to remain undefeated in the Hockey East, the 8-6-2 Irish always provide a challenge.
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Too pale for people to actually believe that I’m from Florida. Can rap Nicki Minaj's Super Bass in its entirety. Leslie Knope is my hero. Breakfast is the only meal that matters.
