Hockey East results coming in now...
Hockey East Quarterfinals
Providence @ Boston College - Game 1:
The Eagles and Friars skated to a classic tonight in Boston (well, sort of). BC took an early lead midway through the first period on a powerplay tally by Senior blue line Ben Finkelstein. PC responded towards the end of the opening frame, as Jack Dugan found Tyce Thompson in the slot, who roofed a wrister just past Spencer Knight's blocker to knot the score a 1-1 after twenty minutes. The Friars took the lead early in the second, as Dugan notched another assist, this time lifting a beautiful cross ice pass to Michael Callahan, who ripped a one-timer from the point that found the back of the net. The Eagles responded quickly, tying the game just over two minutes later when Matt Boldy found the net from the near circle. While the game remained tied for the rest of the second and most of the third, both sides had numerous opportunities to break the deadlock. However, it would be BC Junior Logan Hutsko that would break the tie with just over three minutes to go in the third. BC would add an empty netter in the waning seconds, and BC escaped with a 4-2 victory to claim Game 1 of this series.
Connecticut @ Maine - Game 1:
Sometimes, it just does not matter what you do on offense...the opposing goalie is simply up to the task. That was the story tonight from Alfond, as Maine Netminder Jeremy Swayman stunned the visiting Huskies time after time. The first stanza belonged to Swayman, who stopped all 15 of Connecticut's shots on goal, including a glorious save on a breakaway attempt by UCONN's Carter Turnbull. Maine broke the 0-0 stalemate early in the second, when Mitchell Fossier squeezed a wrister through the five hole of Connecticut goalie Tomas Vomacka. That would be all Swayman would need. Maine added an insurance goal midway through the third period when JD Greenway's wrister from the blueline bounced off UCONN Defensemen Jake Flynn and on to the stick of Patrick Shea, who wasted little time burying the puck to give the Black Bears a 2-0 lead. Swayman would stop all 31 shots from UCONN on the evening, en route to giving Maine a 2-0 victory and a 1-0 lead in this Quarterfinal series.
Northeastern @ Massachusetts - Game 1:
The visiting Huskies discovered why the hype surrounding the Minutemen's John Leonard is real. Leonard dominated the evening, scoring the game's first goal in the final minute of the first period to give UMASS a 1-0 lead after twenty minutes of play. Leonard then assisted on Zac Jones' powerplay tally midway through the second period, which gave the Minutemen a 2-0 advantage. Northeastern got back within a goal late in the second, when Matt Filipe's wrister snuck past Junior Netminder Matt Murray. That would be as close as Northeastern would get this evening. Leonard notched another goal early in the third to regain Massachusetts' two-goal lead, and assisted on the Minutemen's fourth goal midway through the final frame. Murray stoned the Huskies the rest of the way, and Massachusetts delivered a 4-1 victory for the home crowd.
Boston University @ Massachusetts Lowell - Game 1:
The Riverhawks and the Terriers skated to a scoreless opening frame tonight at the Tsongas Center. It looked like the score was going to remain scoreless going into the final twenty, until BU's Jake Wise slapped home a one-timer from the far circle on a beautiful feed from Trevor Zegras with just under 30 seconds left in the middle stanza. BU would add to that lead early in the third period, when Zegras potted his own goal, after capturing a loose puck behind the net and executing a perfect wraparound that slid underneath a sliding Tyler Wall. Lowell rebounded from the two-goal deficit, scoring twice in a span of 90 seconds midway through the third period, on goals by Matt Brown and Chase Blackmun. The game remained 2-2 through the rest of regulation. Overtime started with a bang, as Lowell Freshman Zach Kaiser was called for a five-minute checking from behind major. BU was unable to score with the man advantage, giving Northeastern a boost. The Huskies had several chances in the following minutes, but were continually denied by Senior Netminder Sam Tucker. Finally, as the first overtime trickled to an end, Patrick Curry decided that a second overtime was unnecessary. On a beautiful play, Curry won a puck-battle in the far corner, skated to the bottom of the far circle, and sniped a wrister in the top corner to give BU the 3-2 victory, and a 1-0 series lead.
Great start!
