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NCAA Hockey: Jack Eichel line leads BU; Minnesota annihilated

NCAA

In which we recap the day’s events in the NCAA tournament.

MANCHESTER, N.H. — The danger was clear: Yale might shut down the BU top line.

The danger was also remote, sure, but you’re talking about Yale, the No. 1 defensive team in the country. And yeah, you’re also talking about BU, the No. 1 offensive team in the country, and a top line centered by Jack Eichel, which entered the game having outscored opponents by 39 at even strength this season, and which carried a possession share in excess of 60 percent when it was on the ice.

An unfortunate tendency toward slow starts in the first period appeared to have long since been vanquished, too.

Yale, meanwhile, was a strong possession team in their own right (53.1 percent corsi, 19th in the country) with a lights-out goaltending and a clear disposition toward … well, not necessarily stifling attempts per se, but certainly limiting second- and third-chance opportunities. Alex Lyon, as good a goalie as there was in the country this season, was the national save percentage leader for a reason. For 35 minutes or so, things seemed to be working Yale’s favor.

Then, the inevitable: BU possession started piling up, and midway through overtime, Eichel facilitated the game-winner on a shot from the right point that deflected right to Danny O’Regan, who deposited it into a wide open net. BU advanced to the regional final, 3-2, on their 42nd shot of the game.

“The way the game was going I thought I could have threw it over the net maybe,” O’Regan said.

Indeed, for much of the game, that acknowledged danger was both clear and present. The things the Terriers — and Eichel specifically — did especially well to generate the largest goal total in the nation were nowhere in evidence even as they generated all those shots. The transition was fractured time and again, and BU often struggled with even simple decision-making. Attacking-zone time was non-existent, as Lyon was either smothering the first attempts made, or the team in front of him cleared them out with relative aplomb. The puck movement on the power play was lacking. Again, the Terriers looked discombobulated.

“Well, they were playing quicker than we were, they were more physical than we were and they were winning more battles,” Quinn said. “I know that may be simplistic, but that’s the truth.”

Overall, the Terriers mostly carried play, but never a lead. Shot attempts through 60 minutes were 71-31 for BU (and 27-8 when Eichel was on the ice). Yale had to be happy with the effort to limit the Terriers’ chances, but not the fact that they squandered some early scoring chances — they hit two posts in the first period alone — and didn’t really heap on much consistent pressure of their own.

“Well, exactly where I wanted to be was up 4-0 after two,” said Yale coach Keith Allain. “But it was the kind of game we thought it would be.”

But what happened after Yale opened the scoring with defenseman Nate Repensky beating Matt O’Connor (who stopped 21 of 23 this afternoon) on a well-placed shot from the point at 13:19 of the second period appeared to have been one of those “You made me bleed my own blood” situations. 

BU has a habit of counterpunching really well (that’s what happens when you can throw Eichel over the boards every second or third shift if you have to); the Terriers conceded first in two of their last four games, and trailed for a combined 3:36 before winning both of those games in laughers. This comes in part from their tendency to lean on teams and wear them down, but still, despite the higher-seeded team rampaging out of the corner with a series of impressive attempts and — for once — sustained zone time, Lyon and the Yale defense held together admirably.

“It was funny, once they went up 1-0, I thought we just started playing better. It was almost like the pressure was off,” said BU coach David Quinn. “We’re a lot more comfortable being down than we are ahead for some reason and I just thought after that, we started playing.”

But it wasn’t until 9:21 of the third period that BU junior winger Ahti Oksanen finally equalized out of a goal-mouth scramble, one of the very few BU created in the game to that point. Then 3:59 later on a 3-on-2, Evan Rodrigues got the puck on the left wing while Danny O’Regan and Matt Grzelcyk drove the net, and his hard shot from the circle just flat out beat Lyon low.

At that point the game felt, y’know, familiar, at least as far as the Terriers were concerned. They’ve now scored 67 in the third period, more than five teams across the country scored all season (that’s a real stat which is not made up). For Yale, not so much; they’d allowed just 13 goals in the third all season coming into the game, so this added a healthy 15 percent to that total.

And then, just as BU’s obvious desperation brought the game back into its grasp, an unscreened Yale shot from the slot on a nice setup levels 1:48 after that brought the game back even again. Three goals in 5:09 for two of the best third-period teams in the country came as a bit of a surprise.

“At this time of year, you’re not going to spend 60 minutes in the offensive zone,” Quinn said. “You’re playing good hockey teams and you’re gonna have to weather a storm, you’re gonna have to fight through a difficult shift. I thought we did a good job of that.”

But the Terrier onslaught continued, led by Eichel’s line. Rodrigues drew a penalty with just 11 seconds to go in the third, and Yale killed it off (BU was a rare 0 for 7 on the night), but it didn’t really generate much afterward; at that point, though, the game very much felt as though it was fully in BU’s control. Lyon fought admirably, with 39 saves in the game, but one can only resist the irresistible so long. The Eichel line netting the game-tying and -winning goals was a fitting fait accompli.

“To be able to turn it on like we did,” Quinn said with the snap of his fingers, “says an awful lot about our mental toughness."

And overwhelming talent, for that matter.

St. Cloud 3, Michigan Tech 2 (OT)

A confluence of very strange events led to St. Cloud pulling out the ‘W’ in a game they trailed 2-1 with 38 seconds remaining in regulation.

First, the referees called a pair of penalties with 2:18 left in the third period, creating a 4-on-4 situation on which St. Cloud eventually scored through Jonny Brodzinski. But the goal itself was goofy too, because Jamie Phillips came way out of his crease in an attempt to cover a puck he should have left alone, but never gained control. The puck was then wrapped around and drilled into a wide-open net.

Then in overtime, defenseman Riley Sweeney fell at his own blue line during a decent attacking-zone shift, opening the door for Joe Rehkamp and Judd Peterson to go the other way on a 2-on-1. Peterson’s first shot was blocked, pulling Phillips out of position, and Peterson slid it past him in stride to ice the game. It was two awful bounces in the space of five seconds.

Just a brutal way for Tech to lose, especially because they had a 38-21 edge in shots for the game. Sometimes they just don’t go your way.

Minnesota-Duluth 4, Minnesota 1

Let’s not sugarcoat things: The Gophers got annihilated. The scoreline you see above flatters their performance.

The requisite information is that four different guys — Tony Cameranesi, Justin Crandall, Willie Raskob, and Carson Soucy — had the goals. Raskob also made a gorgeous pass to Cameranesi to open the Bulldogs’ account.

At the other end of the ice, the hope among most attendees was that Kasimir Kaskisuo brought his phone, because he had plenty of time to rip through a dozen levels of Candy Crush. He was only asked to stop 31 of 32 shots (the majority of which came in the third period, when the game had already long since been decided) in a 60-minute game that must have felt to Don Lucia as though it lasted a lifetime.

“We didn’t have enough offensive zone time and we didn’t generate enough from an offensive standpoint,” Lucia said. “When we had our chances, whether we blew it, misfired, missed one-timers....it just wasn’t our night tonight.”

Seth Ambroz scored for Minnesota at 15:06 to make sure his team was completely humiliated. Didn’t help much but there ya go.

North Dakota 4, Quinnipiac 1

Speaking of teams getting annihilated.

Tucker Poolman scored a power play goal for NoDak at 12:59 of the first but at that point this was still anyone's game; shots were 9-9 for a while there.

Then Quinnipiac goalie Michael Gartieg gave up two absolutely awful gut-punch goals in the space of 2:46 in the second period. Sure, you gotta score goals, but the difference between being within a goal against Zane McIntyre and down three is basically the difference between being in a knee-deep hole and looking up from the bottom of the Grand Canyon.

Quinnipiac really didn't do much even at that point, though, except to score a 6-on-4 power play goal late to make the game seem closer than it was. Such is McIntyre's power. He ended with 24 saves.

Three stars

1. Charlie Lindgren, St. Cloud

Well when your team gets outshot 38-21, and you win the game anyway, you would think the goalie had a lot to do with that. Lindgren has been a bit above the NCAA average for save percentage this year, but this was a prime performance at a time his team needed it.

2. Danny O'Regan, BU

Talked about him a little bit above, but he scored BU's game-winner and assisted on the tying goal. Plus, his line was 75.6 percent corsi (31-10). So, y'know, dominant game.

3. Drake Caggiula, North Dakota

The undrafted junior had goal and an assist for NoDak, but it was the former that plunged a knife into Quinnipiac's heart. With the Q down a pair, they drew a penalty and had a decent look or two on the power play. A reason for hope might have seemed to be springing. But then Troy Stecher and Caggiula went on a shorthanded 2-on-1 and Gartieg couldn't seal his equipment shut. This was Bane breaking Bruce Wayne's back. Just ruthless.