By Jake Seiner/DFP Staff
By the rules of sports journalism, it’s required that this sidebar focus on just one aspect of Friday night’s 9-5 win by No. 8 Boston College over No. 2/3 Boston University.
Based on the outcome, you can guess this will be about either how well BC played, or how well BU didn’t.
Now the question is just where to begin.
The Eagles blistered Terrier goaltenders with 37 shots. They held the BU power play to 3 goals on 15 chances. They scored on 3-of-8 powerplay chances, and added a shorthanded tally.
They won the faceoff battle 37-31, got points from 15 different players, and by the end of the night, finally deflated an Agganis Arena crowd that was impressively enthusiastic, all things considered.
But the biggest disappointment Friday had to be the play of BU’s goaltenders.
Juniors Kieran Millan and Grant Rollheiser combined to stop just 28-of-37 shots.
It took the Eagles just one period to chase Millan –– his first early exit from a game since Nov. 13 of last year at Merrimack College.
The Edmonton, Alberta native struggled from the get-go. The Eagles torched him and the defense for consecutive goals at 2:04 and 2:27 of the first, then Cam Atkinson netted the first of his two goals at 17:45 of the first.
The three scores came on 13 Eagle shots –– only three of which came from grade-A scoring areas.
“We weren’t playing well in front of him,” Parker said after acknowledging Millan’s struggles. “I could tell that he wasn’t at the top of his game, so I wanted to get him out and way from that, and I thought it might jack us up a little bit if [Rollheiser] went in and turned the tide a little bit.”
Rollheiser’s time between the pipes wasn’t much better. The Chilliwack, British Columbia native took the loss by letting in 6 goals on 24 shots –– an unimpressive .750 save percentage.
The performance was a stark contrast to the goalies’ play thus far in 2010-11.
Goaltending had, if anything, been the backbone to BU’s 7-1-5 start. Millan had been brilliant as the starter, allowing 2.41 goals per game with a .925 save percentage in 10 starts.
Rollheiser had been every bit as good in a part-time role. The junior was 3-0-0 in three starts, allowing 2.34 goals per game with a .931 save percentage.
To call out Millan and Rollheiser as the sole culprits in BU’s disappointing night would be unfair. BU coach Jack Parker said he was “flabbergasted” by his team’s performance, and spread the blame around after the game.
“Pick a position,” Parker responded when asked what was worse, the goaltending or defense. “Faceoffs lost, blocked shots, turnovers by defenseman, turnovers by not possessing the puck –- giving it up.
“Whole bunch of things, but we didn’t have a great night in the goal, that’s for sure. That was helped along by how poorly we played in front of our goalies.”
Parker did say he thought Millan would get the start tomorrow night at BC, but that decision will be finalized tomorrow.
Parker forgot to list coaching as an area where BU sucked.