In the meetings before the 292nd edition of the “Battle of Comm. Ave,” Boston University and Boston College had never played a game where they were ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the country. That changed when the two arch-rivals met this past weekend in arguably the most anticipated series of the college hockey regular season.
Game one took place at Conte Forum, in front of a sold-out, raucous crowd that had been waiting in line hours before puck drop. BC students blanketed the stands in a sea of white (these themes are a staple of the student support so far this season) and booed the top-ranked Terriers from the moment they stepped foot on the ice for warm-ups.
Despite the electric atmosphere, the visiting Terriers started the game on the front foot with a wave of extended zone time. However, after a few saves from Eagles’ goalie Jacob Fowler, BC settled down and started getting to their game. They were able to draw a few penalties and generate some scoring chances, but the Terriers held off the attacks thanks to a few saves from their goalie Mathieu Caron. The game was scoreless after one.
The breakthrough came a little over three minutes into the second when Eagles’ winger Ryan Leonard, one of the big three on the Eagles’ famous “Freshman/USA Line,” fired a wrister from outside the left circle and past Caron. Conte Forum erupted and the Eagles never looked back.
Later in the period, the two other members of the Freshman Line, Will Smith and Gabe Perreault, connected on a 2 on 1 rush, which saw Perreault receive Smith’s saucer pass and fire the puck right into the top right corner of the net. The Eagles led 2-0 after two.
In the third period, the Terriers did get one back with 6 minutes left in the game when Jack Hughes was able to sneak a shot past Fowler. However, that would be it for the Terriers, as Fowler and the Eagles were able to shut the door and hold them scoreless the rest of the game.
Two empty-net goals from Cutter Gauthier and Andre Gasseau added to the Eagles’ lead and cemented the final score of 4-1.
Game two shifted to another sold-out rink, BU’s Agganis Arena. This game was much sloppier from the start with both teams struggling to stay out of the penalty box. The Terriers’ penalty troubles resulted in a 5 on 3 powerplay, where yet again, the young freshmen on the Eagles capitalized. Will Smith fired a cross-crease pass to Perreault, who tapped the puck home, giving the Eagles a 1-0 lead.
Shortly thereafter, Lukas Gustafsson beat the Terriers’ defenders to a loose puck and one-timed the rebound past Caron, helping the Eagles go up 2-0 halfway through the first.
Despite their success on the powerplay, the Eagles started to get into penalty troubles of their own towards the end of the period. BU’s Shane Lachance scored on the powerplay right in front of the Eagles net, cutting the lead in half heading into the second period.
The Terriers wasted no time early in the second when Sam Stevens tied the game at two, shifting the momentum in the Terriers’ favor. At this point in the game, it seemed like the Terriers were going to break the game open and split the series, as most people expected. But the Eagles showcased their resiliency and wouldn’t go away.
In the back half of the period, Cutter Gauthier received a backhand pass from Ryan Leonard, leaving him wide open right inside the faceoff dot. He made no mistake with a wrister right through the five-hole of Caron and the Eagles regained the lead heading into the third period.
The Terriers continued their strong play in the third but Jacob Fowler yet again held firm, coming up with big saves when the Eagles needed him most. However, none of his saves were as big as his save on BU’s Drew Peterson which sprung the Eagles on an odd-man rush down the other end and finished with a Will Smith goal thanks to some nifty give-and-go passing between him and Jacob Bengtsson.
The Terriers were able to get one back with a little over two minutes left in the game thanks to a shot from the projected #1 overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, Macklin Celebrini, but it was not enough as the Eagles and Fowler shut the door once and for all. Fowler had 32 saves and the Eagles swept their arch-rivals.
With the sweep, the Eagles move to 18-4-1 (11-3-1) and a tie for first place in the Hockey East, while the Terriers fall to 16-6-1 (11-3-1). The Eagles will also be the new No. 1 team in the country.
These two rivals will meet again in the Beanpot on February 10th. Yet another epic battle awaits.
