Jasper Mattila and Patrick Curry tangle along the BC bench on Saturday night. Photo by Jenna VanSickle.
The Terriers were taken down by No. 4 Boston College 4-1 on Saturday night at Agganis Arena in the season’s third edition of the Battle of Comm. Ave. Here are my three main takeaways from the game – all opinions are my own.
Despite SOG deficit, BC was best
The shots on goal margins may have favored BU throughout the game, but it didn’t really feel that way to me. The Eagles had the most dangerous chances in every period, while BU’s efforts were either from low-percentage areas or far too easy for Spencer Knight to handle. It was nice to see BU outshoot an opponent, but its equally important to get high-quality looks, and I thought BC did that much better than BU did.
BC defense kept BU quiet all game
In the two previous meetings between BU and BC, the Terriers came back from four deficits in total. The Eagles didn’t let that happen a third time around, riding an early advantage and timely insurance goals to a comfortable victory. Their offense has stolen the show in recent weeks with 39 goals during this seven-game win streak, but I think their defense deserves its share of praise with just 11 goals conceded over that span.
Tucker did everything he could
Sam Tucker took the net on Saturday for his second start against BC, making 25 saves on 28 shots. Albie O’Connell has continuously mentioned Tucker’s competitiveness, and while that’s not always the first adjective used to compliment a goaltender, I think it’s exactly the reason Tucker has retaken the starting job. Like usual, he never gave up on a play on Saturday night, and the only shots that beat him were a pair of top-corner rockets and a long effort through traffic that he never saw.
BU will end the regular season with a two-game set against Northeastern next weekend.
Brady right on about our shots . We keep shooting from perimeter we need to get to the center of the ice. I will say this and it makes me feel better if bc is the top team in hockey east they can be beat. We just need to play our game . Bc goalie is very good add to that as you pointed out where we shot from and our net front presence or lack there of he was able to control his rebounds. I know our goal was on pp but it was a shot from center of ice deflected these are the types of goals we need. I’m still optimistic about this team