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CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – In a hyped matchup between top 10 squads, the defending national champion Boston College Eagles got the best of the No. 3 University of Maine, defeating the Black Bears at Conte Forum 4-0.
The Black Bears fall to 6-2-3 on the season and 4-1-1 in Hockey East play while the 9th ranked Eagles improve to 7-4 on the year and 5-3 in Hockey East Conference play.
The first period started out slow, with both teams taking turns with control in the other team’s defensive zone.
The first chance for the Black Bears came four minutes into the period, when junior forward Gustav Nyquist found fellow junior forwards Spencer Abbott for a clean look on Eagles’ goalie John Muse. Muse was able to deflect the puck clear and keep the game scoreless.
Not a minute later, sophomore forward Joey Diamond crushed BC forward Brian Gibbons, earning him a five-minute major for boarding. The teams played four-on-four for two minutes as BC defender Patrick Way went to the box with an interference penalty.
During a subsequent three-minute man-advantage, freshman UMaine goalie Dan Sullivan and the Black Bears collectively blocked every opportunity the Eagles threw at the net.
The Black Bears earned the best opportunity on the penalty kill when Nyquist got tied up on a breakaway and was awarded a penalty shot. His trickery was no problem for Muse, who got his right pad on shot, changing the momentum of the game in BC’s favor.
The Eagles took control of the game after that point.
Back-to-back penalties by the Black Bears put them in a difficult predicament — down two men to a highly-talented team. The Eagles made the most of UMaine’s miscues when forward Paul Carey put the Eagles up front 1-0 off of assists by Gibbons and forward Joe Whitney.
Each team had four players spend time in the sin bin during the first period, but the Eagles capitalized on the chances much more than the Black Bears did. On the Black Bears final power play of the period, Sullivan attempted to clear the puck out of his zone, but the puck ended up on Gibbons’ stick.
He flicked the puck into the net before Sullivan could get into position, giving the Eagles the 2-0 lead on the shorthanded goal.
Just 20 seconds into the second period, the Black Bears got an early power play opportunity, but were unable to convert.
Under eight minutes into the second period, the Eagles added another, expanding their lead to 3-0. After a block by a UMaine defender, forward Tommy Atkinson snuck the shot slowly through Sullivan’s legs and across the red line. Center Patrick Brown and defender Brian Dumoulin assisted on the sophomore’s first collegiate goal.
The Eagles controlled the pace in the second period, but was interrupted by various penalties. After the Eagles killed the Black Bears second power play of the period, BC withstood an onslaught of Black Bear chances during a 5-3 chance with less than five minutes remaining in the period.
Muse demonstrated why he is one of the best goalies in the country, as the Black Bears failed to score through two periods for only the third time this season.
The Black Bears continued to get power play chances, yet Muse and BC foiled every opportunity, cashing in on opportunites.
Right after a UMaine power play completed, The Eagles scored off the face off from their own man advantage when center Pat Mullane found the net for the fourth Eagle goal of the game, assisted by Dumoulin and fellow defender Philip Samuelsson.
Sullivan was relieved after letting in the fourth goal, and sophomore Shawn Sirman took over between the pipes.
The end of the period saw more Black Bear power plays with no goals, as the Black Bears went 0-7 on the power play, and ended up scoreless for the first time this season.
Black Bear senior defender Jeff Dimmen left the game with an apparent leg injury. His status for Sunday’s 1 p.m. game is questionable. His injury adds to the woes in the UMaine defense, with senior Will O’Neill already sidelined with a lower body injury.
Bangor Daily News