Boston College 5, Vermont 3: Eagles Clinch Hockey East Regular-Season Crown
By Joe Micik
The #1 Boston College Eagles have won their third Hockey East regular season championship in four years after a 5-3 victory in Burlington, Vermont over the #14 Catamounts on Saturday night.
With the win, Boston College extends their undefeated streak to 17 games in a row (16-0-1), having won ten games in a row overall. The Eagles improve to 24-4-3 (15-1-1) on the season, and their 31 points is insurmountable by any other team in Hockey East.
Junior forward Johnny Gaudreau continues to extend his own personal streak, now having tallied at least one point in 27 games in a row. Gaudreau scored a power play goal and assisted on Kevin Hayes’s goal.
| BC | Chris Calnan (SH) | 18:18 1st | unassisted | BC 1 | UVM 0 |
| BC | Bill Arnold | 19:24 1st | MacLeod, Brown | BC 2 | UVM 0 |
| UVM | Nick Bruneteau | 2:07 2nd | Brickley | BC 2 | UVM 1 |
| BC | Johnny Gaudreau (PP) | 11:41 2nd | Gilmour, Hayes | BC 3 | UVM 1 |
| BC | Kevin Hayes | 16:52 2nd | Gaudreau, Arnold | BC 4 | UVM 1 |
| UVM | Colin Markison (PP) | 5:33 3rd | Puskarich, Bradley | BC 4 | UVM 2 |
| BC | Scott Savage | 7:00 3rd | Straight, Calnan | BC 5 | UVM 2 |
| UVM | Chris McCarthy | 11:25 3rd | Bruneteau, Pattyn | BC 5 | UVM 3 |
Vermont seemed to have the better of the play in the first period, but even in spite that, Boston College was able to strike quickly for two goals in the final two minutes of the frame. Chris Calnan opened the scoring on a shorthanded goal, while Bill Arnold added another just over a minute later.
There was a scary moment for Arnold as he blocked a slapshot during Vermont’s first power play of the game. He was down on the ice and went off with some assistance — Arnold would return later in the period and pot Boston College’s second goal.
The second period saw the Eagles turn to the most productive line in the nation again. Gaudreau scored on the power play, followed by Hayes netting his 22nd of the season.
In the third, Vermont pulled their goalie, Mike Santaguida, but Brody Hoffman also ended up allowing a goal as Boston College never lost their lead. Eagles junior Brian Billett gave red-hot freshman goalie Thatcher Demko a day off, leading his team to a win. Vermont scored a few goals in the third, but Boston College’s offense did more than enough to get them through the weekend with a sweep. It was a physical series which featured some extra chippiness today, but the Eagles held their own on both ends of the ice.
Boston College will celebrate winning its third trophy of the season, but given how hot the team is, their sights are set much, much higher. Now that they have secured the #1 seed in the Hockey East Tournament, they will wait until the conclusion of the first round to see who their first postseason opponent will be. Until then, however, the Eagles will still have some key games to play against ranked opposition to help settle their resume for the NCAA Tournament.
The Eagles return to action on Friday night against #7 UMass-Lowell at Kelley Rink.