BC beats BU…again

It wasn’t pretty late, but it sure was pretty early — pretty enough for the Boston College Eagles men’s ice hockey team to gain their third-straight win over Boston University. Tonight’s margin was 3-2, the closest game in the series so far this season.

Boston College got off to a fast start with three goals in the first period. Number one was at 4:08 by Steven Whitney, number two was at 9:10 by Brian Gibbons, and number three was a power play goal by Brian Dumoulin at 16:25. Dumoulin’s goal would surprisingly be the Eagles’ last of the game, but luckily for BC, that’s all they would need.

The second and third periods did not feature the same dominance the Eagles had shown in the first. More penalties were going against BC, and the Terriers got on the board. BU struck twice in the 2nd period, getting goals by Garrett Noonan and David Warsofsky (power play). From there, Eagles’ goalie John Muse and the BC defense would lock down and not allow another goal to score, preserving the 3-2 Eagles win. Muse saved 30/32 shots for his 14th victory of the season.

It just wouldn’t be much of a Hockey East game without a lot of penalties. Fortunately for everyone, in that case, there were plenty to be had. In total, 9 were called on BC while 7 were called on BU at Agganis Arena tonight. Those 16 penalties, however, were not nearly as obscene as the total of 29 called in the first game these teams played at that arena this season.

The win technically constitutes a series sweep of the Terriers, with BC now 3-0-0 against BU this year. This is now, however, the last time these two teams will face one another: in two weeks, the Eagles have another date with the Terriers in the Beanpot seminfinal at the TD Garden. There is also the chance that they will face off in the Hockey East Tournament in March, and frankly, we wouldn’t have it any other way.

It was also an important win in conference for Boston College. Two more crucial points were added to their total, as the Eagles now sit with a record of 16-6 (12-5), remaining tied for first place with New Hampshire. Those same Wildcats eked out an overtime win over Providence to keep pace with the Eagles.

The Eagles’ next game will be at home against last-place UMass-Lowell tomorrow night at 7pm. This is concurrent with the BC Eagles men’s basketball game on the road at Florida State tomorrow night. The basketball game will be on TV (ESPNU), but the hockey game won’t. That’s why Gametracker was invented.