New dogs, old trick
Terriers beat Eagles to land spot in final
Boston University had a little too much of everything for Boston College, drawing goals off the sticks of three different players and a solid 22-save performance from freshman goaltender Jake Oettinger to turn back the Eagles, 3-1, at TD Garden last night in the Beanpot nightcap.
The win advanced BU (19-7-2) into next Monday’s championship against Harvard, which beat Northeastern, 4-3, earlier in the night.
BU will be chasing its tournament-leading 31st title, while Harvard is after its 11th and first since 1993.
“Obviously, we’re very excited to be playing in the final. It’s been awhile since we’ve beaten BC in the Beanpot. We’ve had three great games with them,” BU coach David Quinn said. “I really liked our first period. We were ready to play. The second period we dropped our guard a little bit, but we got great goaltending and our forwards did a good job off the initial rush. It was just a good night for us overall.”
BU has prevailed over BC this season in two other meetings, 2-1 and 3-0 on Jan. 13 and Jan. 16. This win just completed the Terriers’ sweep over their crosstown rivals, which is the first since the 1994-95 season.
“We’ve got to find a way to score goals against Boston University. I know they have a good goaltender but that’s an excuse for most people. We have to score more goals,” BC coach Jerry York said. “We’ve had trouble putting red lights up.”
No so for BU. The thirdranked Terriers scored their goals at even-strength, on a power play and shorthanded.
BU broke on top at 4:29. Freshman left winger Patrick Harper came into the BC zone at high speed and attempted a wraparound. BC goalie Joe Woll (25 saves) attempted to pounce on the puck, but Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson slammed the puck underneath the Eagles netminder. It was the 11th goal of the sophomore season for the Bruins’ draft pick, and that’s a new career high.
BU led 1-0 after one period and added insult by holding BC (18-10-2) without a shot until there was 1:50 left in the first period as BC defenseman Casey Fitzgerald managed to fire a long shot from the neutral zone that Oettinger easily corralled.
“I think we started so slow in the first period and played very tentative. It’s not the way we’ve played the last month of the season, but even though we were outshot, 12-2, we were only down 1-0 and that was a real plus for us,” York said.
BU moved ahead, 2-0, at 3:23 of the middle period when freshman defenseman Chad Krys unleashed a drive from the top of the left circle that caught the far side on BC’s Woll. It was the fourth goal of the season for Krys.
BC senior center Austin Cangelosi fired a shot from along the left boards that was blocked in front by Oettinger. Before the Terriers defense could clear the puck, Cangelosi dashed to the loose puck and potted the rebound at 6:59. It was Cangelosi’s 12th of the season.
BU freshman center Clayton Keller rebuilt the two-goal cushion with a shorthanded goal. He took a pass from another Bruins prospect, sophomore defenseman Charlie McAvoy, and raced away to tuck a backhander between the pads of Woll at 11:06.
“Charlie made a real good play to get it to me,” Keller said. “Woll is a guy I’ve played with since I was about 10. I know his game and I was able to stick it 5-hole.”