Hockey East Tournament 2011: Boston College Wins Title, 5-3, Over Merrimack

Boston College earned their tenth Hockey East Championship Saturday night with a 5-3 win over upstart Merrimack College. Junior right winger Cam Atkinson had two goals in the third period to take the game for the Eagles.

Merrimack matched Boston College goal for goal for most of the game. Boston College scored the game's first goal, thanks to a shot by sophomore forward Pat Mullane. Merrimack's Ryan Flanigan answered just a few seconds later, shooting one past BC goalie John Muse to tie the game 1-1. 

A minute and a half later, BC senior Brian Gibbons put the Eagles up 2-1 after a nice cycle around the net by his line. The Eagles held the lead until the waning seconds of the first period, when a holding call on Mullane allowed Merrimack freshman Mike Collins to score his 14th goal of the season, tying the game 2-2.

Both teams were scoreless in the second period. Both Muse and Merrimack goaltender Joe Cannata survived a lot of traffic in front of their nets to stop several good scoring opportunities. Merrimack's team defense was able to break up many BC offensive plays, intercepting passes and not allowing BC to get into their usual scoring rhythm.

Cannata made several big time saves as the third period began, including a flashy save on BC starting left winger Joe Whitney. Eagles right winger Jimmy Hayes rang a shot off the post, but the attempts allowed BC to regain an offensive goal they had been struggling with all game. At the 9:41 mark of the third, Atkinson jumped in on the rebound from a Whitney shot and scooped it through Cannata, allowing the Eagles to go up 3-2.

Merrimack's Flanigan answered the third BC goal just like he had the first. Taking advantage of a elbowing call on Whitney after some physical play on both teams' part in the Merrimack end, Flanigan swiped the puck past Muse to tie the game 3-3.

Their lead negated for the third time on the evening, BC called upon their big-game experience to rush through Merrimack and score the game-winning goal a minute and ten seconds later. After putting a lot of pressure on Cannata, Atkinson deftly scooped the puck over the goalie to score his second goal of the night and break the game open for BC. The Eagles put the game away with two minutes remaining on a Brian Dumoulin power play goal to make the final 5-3.

Muse, who ends his Hockey East career with a remarkable 13-1 record in conference playoff games, had 36 saves on the evening for BC. Cannata stopped 30 shots for Merrimack. Atkinson, with his two goals and an assist tonight, was named the Tournament MVP.

Both BC and Merrimack will make the NCAA Tournament, which begins on Friday. Their seeds and regional assignments will be announced on ESPN2 at 11:30am Sunday morning.

Both Boston College’s and Merrimack College’s senior goaltenders kept their respective teams hanging tough in a scoreless second period of the Hockey East Championship game.

Merrimack’s Joe Cannata stopped 15 BC shots. BC’s John Muse turned away 11 Merrimack shots. Both survived a lot of pressure and traffic in front of their nets in order to keep the game even in the second.

Both teams killed off two penalties each. BC’s Barry Almeida took an interference call around the six minute mark. Merrimack survived being down two men around the mid-point of the period, with Carter Madsen in the box for hooking and Kyle Bigos in the box for slashing. BC’s Steven Whitney took a hooking penalty with 30 seconds left in the period to give Merrimack a minute and a half of power play time when the third period begins.

Merrimack’s junior left winger Ryan Flanigan continued his proflific scoring pace in the first period of Saturday evening’s Hockey East Championship game against Boston College.

Flanigan tallied the Warriors’ first goal of the game, to tie the game up against the Eagles. It was Flanigan’s 11th point of the tournament thus far, sixth straight game with points, and his fourth goal this season against the Eagles.

BC’s Pat Mullane struck first, scoring the game’s first goal unassisted at the 9:15 mark of the first frame. It was Mullane’s second goal this season against Merrimack. Not even thirty seconds later, Flanigan tied the game up 1-1.

Eagles first line forward Brian Gibbons scored a minute and a half later. Gibbons and linemates Joe Whitney and Cam Atkinson found time to cycle around Merrimack goalie Joe Cannata, then Gibbons rushed towards his left side, lifting the puck over Cannata’s skate to score.

Merrimack took advantage of a late period holding call on BC’s Mullane to tie the game up 2-2. Mike Collins scored with 24 seconds remaining in the period with help from senior forward Joe Cucci.

The teams both showed outstanding defense during the period. BC’s Atkinson expertly broke up an attempted wraparound by Merrimack center Stephane Da Costa late in the period. Cannata showed great awareness by sliding his goalie stick across the net when knocked onto ice during a BC rush.

Teams: Boston College (29-7-1) and Merrimack (25-8-4) face each other in the Hockey East Championship Game.

Date/Time: Saturday, March 20, 2011, 7pm

Broadcast: Tom Caron and Craig Janney have the call for NESN. Because of the Boston Bruins-Toronto Maple Leafs game, the Hockey East Championship game will be moved to NESNplus for live coverage, then shown tape-delayed on NESN after Bruins coverage. If you are watching NESN on a National carrier, you will see the Hockey East game and not the Bruins game because of NHL broadcast restrictions. NESNplus stations can be found here.

Merrimack radio will have the call on 1400 AM in the Merrimack Valley and online on B2 Networks. BC radio will have Mike O’Brien and Ken Hodge on the call on www.bceagles.com.

Location: TD Garden

Series History: Merrimack took the three game season series on Boston College this season, 2-1. The Eagles won their first matchup on October 29th, 3-2 off of the stick of junior right winger Cam Atkinson, who tallied a goal and assist. The Warriors took the next two matchups, a October 30th 4-2 win off a big game from Joe Cucci and Carter Madsen, and November 16th 5-3 off a goal and two assists from sophomore center Stephane Da Costa.

Merrimack junior left winger Ryan Flanigan has a goal in all three games against BC this season. BC’s Atkinson has tallied at least a goal a game against Merrimack this season, including a two goal game in their November matchup.

BC senior goaltender John Muse started two of the three games this season against Merrimack, making 30 saves on October 29th and 27 on November 26th. Merrimack senior Joe Cannata started all three game between the pipes for the Warriors, making a season high 39 saves against the Eagles on October 29th.

Merrimack and BC last met in the Hockey East tournament at the Garden in 1998, in a semifinal game that BC won 7-2.

BC In The Hockey East Championship Game: This is BC’s 15th appearance in the championship game in the league’s 27 year history. This is also the Eagles sixth appearance in seven years. Goalie Muse is has an amazing 12-1 career record in Hockey East tournament games. BC has won seven straight games played in the TD Garden.

Merrimack in the Hockey East Championship Game: Saturday evening will be Merrimack’s first ever appearance in the Hockey East championship game.

Merrimack played an outstanding game on both sides of the puck to lead them to their first Hockey East championship game in program history following a 4-1 win over the University of New Hampshire on Friday evening.

Merrimack junior right winger Elliot Sheen had two goals on the night, while Warrior senior goaltender Joe Cannata made 29 saves.

UNH seemed to have the upper hand off the puck drop, as they looked to have gotten a lucky goal off a mishandle of a shot by Cannata, but the UNH skater was ruled offsides. UNH kept game play in their favor, scoring the game's first goal off of a Stevie Moses shot in-between Cannata's legs.

The Warriors quickly answered with a goal by junior left winger Ryan Flanigan, netting his fifth goal in as many games. Sheen would then tip-in a shot by freshman defenseman Brendan Ellis to give Merrimack the 2-1 lead late in the first period.

The second period was scoreless, though it was not without its chances for either team. New Hampshire goalie Matt Di Girolamo made several flashy saves in the second, stopping several Merrimack shots on his own. Merrimack played an excellent team defense, breaking up several UNH passes and creating a lot of layers in front of Cannata.

In the third, the game remained 2-1 until the 14 minute mark of the period when freshman left wing Mike Collins made it through a box of UNH players blocking the net, and scored over the sprawled out body of Di Girolamo to make it 3-1.

UNH's Moses and senior Paul Thompson took a few hard shots on Cannata as time wound down, but couldn't get any scoring opportunities to materialize. UNH pulled Di Girolamo around the two minute mark, but a frustrated Wildcat top line couldn't get the puck off their stick to make scoring opportunities. Sheen scored an shorthanded empty-net goal to shore up the game for Merrimack, 4-1, with just seven seconds remaining.

Di Girolamo ended the night with 28 saves for UNH. Merrimack's Ellis ended up with two assists on the evening.

Merrimack will take on #1 seed Boston College on Saturday night for the Hockey East Championship at the TD Garden. Puck drop is scheduled for 7pm.

Both teams had some excellent chances, but both Merrimack goale Joe Cannata and New Hampshire goalie Matt Di Girolamo kept firm to keep the second period scoreless. Merrimack still leads New Hampshire 2-1 heading into the third period.

Each team took a penalty in the second period – Stevie Moses with an interference call for New Hampshire at the 8:45 mark, and Carter Madsen with a hooking call for Merrimack at the 15:44 mark. Both teams were effective at the penalty kill. Di Girolamo made several booming saves to ward off several Merrimack shots. The Merrimack defense formed a brick wall around Cannata to ward off several New Hampshire opportunities, and their offense did their part defensively as well.

Di Girolamo made 12 saves in the second period, while Cannata made 11. Merrimack is leading in a Hockey East semifinal game for the first time in their program’s history.

After the first period, Merrimack leads the University of New Hampshire 2-1.

Merrimack survived a scare early, when a goaltender Joe Cannata thought he was covering up a UNH shot when it trickled past him just two minutes into the game. The officials ruled the UNH skater offsides, disallowing the goal.

UNH did strike first, with junior right wing Stevie Moses scoring a goal in the third straight game. Soon after, Merrimack junior left winger Ryan Flanigan continued his scoring pace from last weekend’s quarterfinal games with a short-handed goal with help from sophomore center Stephane Da Costa.

Junior right wing Elliot Sheen then tipped in freshmen defender’s Branden Ellis shot to give Merrimack the 2-1 lead.

Cannata had 12 saves for Merrimack in the first, while UNH goalie Matt Di Girolamo had 9.

Despite a late charge by Northeastern, Boston College advanced to its sixth Hockey East championship appearance in seven seasons with a 5-4 win.

While BC had a 5-2 lead heading into the latter part of the third period, Northeastern scored two goals to bring the game close, but had defenseman Anthony Bietto called for a questionable slashing call in the waning seconds of the game to give BC the win.

Northeastern started the game strong, with senior Tyler McNeely scoring the game’s first goal past a shaken John Muse in net for BC. The Huskies had tallied the first goal in all of their playoff games this this season, but BC senior Brian Gibbons was able to score the tying goal shortly after at the 16:05 mark of the first.

BC took the 2-1 lead seven minutes into the second with a goal by the Hayes brothers – Jimmy scooted the puck to Kevin, who snuck it past Northeastern goaltender Chris Rawlings for the goal. But less than a minute later, Northeastern evened the game up with a Wade MacLeod goal past Boston College’s John Muse. MacLeod slide down the right end of Muse and slid it in for an unassisted tally.

BC took the lead for good on a flashy goal by sophomore forward Steven Whitney – a goal that Eagles head coach called post-game, “probably the highlight goal of the decade for BC hockey.” Whitney backhanded around a Northeastern defenseman, and shot it past Rawlings top-shelf while in the process of falling.

BC defenseman Tommy Cross then took advantage of an interference call on Northeastern’s Braden Pimm to score the Eagles fourth goal of the game, while Pat Mullane added insurance – or at the time, what BC thought was insurance – with a set up by the Hayes brothers.

Northeastern game roaring back to life with mere minutes left in the game, with freshman Garrett Vermeersch taking advantage of a two-man advantage to score on Muse dead center. MacLeod then scored his second goal of the game for Northeastern in an attempt to keep his colleagiate career alive, but teammate Bietto took the untimely slashing call to take down the Huskies’ momentum and keep the lead in the Eagles hands.

Northeastern finishes the season at 14-16-8, and will not receive a NCAA tournament berth. BC’s Cross admitted post-game that Northeastern was a tough opponent because their entire season was on the line. “Anytime you’re playing a team fighting for their season, it’s difficult. If we’re going to take someone’s sticks away , we have to play hard.”

For BC (29-7-1), they have advanced to the Hockey East championship for the 13th time in the league’s 27 year history. BC’s Muse improved to 12-1 all time in Hockey East tournament games. They await the winner of Friday night’s Merrimack-New Hampshire semifinal.

Boston College jumped back in the driver's seat of their Hockey East semifinal against Northeastern, taking a 4-2 lead after the second period.

The Eagles started the period without the services of Brian Gibbons, who had scored their first goal of the game. However, once Gibbons came back, he centered the line that put BC up 2-1. Kevin Hayes teamed up with older brother Jimmy Hayes for a goal at the 6:56 point of the second. It was the third time the brothers had connected on a goal this season.

Twenty seconds later, Northeastern evened the game up with a Wade MacLeod goal past Boston College's John Muse. MacLeod slide down the right end of Muse and slid it in for an unassisted tally. It was MacLeod's twentieth career point against BC.

Eagles sophomore forward Stephen Whitney took two straight penalties around the mid-point of the second, literally picking up an interference call as he was coming out of the box for a charging call. Whitney soon made up for leaving his team down a man, and in spectacular fashion. He scored on Northeastern goaltender Chris Rawlings after backhanding around a defenseman and while falling down to put the Eagles ahead 3-2.

BC defenseman Tommy Cross then took advantage of an interference call on Northeastern's Braden Pimm to score his seventh point against Northeastern this season, to put the Eagles up 4-2. Cross was assisted by Eagles defenseman Brian Dumoulin, giving Dumoulin his second point of the game and 30th point of the season.

Northeastern has Boston College playing scared hockey after the first period of their Hockey East semifinal. The two teams headed into the first intermission tied 1-1, but the Huskies have the Eagles playing out of sorts after a dominating first period.

Northeastern senior Tyler McNeely scored the game’s first goal at the 6:12 mark of the first, getting past a skittish John Muse. McNeely got assistance from fellow seniors Steve Silva and Wade MacLeod on the goal. It was McNeely’s first goal in eight games. Northeastern has now scored the first goal in every one of their playoff games this season, and Silva has now recorded a point in every game.

Two minutes later, Boston College senior Brian Gibbons snagged his 17th goal of the season, catching Northeastern’s Chris Rawling’s out of position and snagging it past his right skate to tie the game. Gibbons had help from junior Cam Atkinson on the goal, which was his sixth point against Northeastern thus far this season.

As the first period ticked away, Northeastern freshman defenseman Luke Eiber awkwardly hit Gibbons against his own bench, which set up emotions on both sides. BC’s Stephen Whitney and Northeastern’s Braden Pimm vocally jabbed at each other, but kept their hands to themselves – for now. Gibbons didn’t return for the Eagles as the second period began.

There was only one penalty in the first period – a Gibbons tripping call just before the halfway mark of the period. BC successfully killed the penalty, leaving Northeastern only 6 for 25 on the power play against the Eagles this season.

Tonight, college hockey fans will fill the TD Garden as Hockey East hosts their championship tournament. The four teams that have made it to the Garden include a newbie, a late bloomer, a perennial contender and a quiet threat. Who will advance to Saturday evening's championship game? In a season of late surprises in Hockey East, it may be anyone's contest.

Semifinal #1 - #1 Boston College versus #4 Northeastern

The Perennial Contender: Boston College

Boston College is looking to obtain their fourth Hockey East tournament title in six years this weekend. They will need to get through a Northeastern team that caused them fits over the middle week of February, when the teams met three straight times in the Beanpot final and two games of their regular season series. The Eagles are seeing amazing production from junior forward Jimmy Hayes, who scored his 20th goal of the season in last weekend's quarterfinals against UMass Amherst and fellow junior Cam Atkinson, who has been one of the nation's most productive scorers over the past two years. But where BC's strength may lie is in their defense, with defenders that are skilled on the blue line and have scoring opportunities, like sophomore Brian Dumoulin and junior Tommy Cross. And who can forget the poise of senior goaltender John Muse in big game situations - the un-drafted goalie has two national championships under his belt, adapted his game after a rough 2008-09 season, and is having what head coach Jerry York called "his best year." BC doesn't need to win this weekend to continue - their NCAA tournament ticket was stamped a long time ago.

The Late Bloomer: Northeastern University

In October, Northeastern found themselves losing to lower tier Atlantic Hockey teams and struggling to find any spark offensively. In February, the Huskies showed leadership, offensive prowess and strength in net from both shutout happy sophomore Chris Rawlings and unheralded freshman Clay Witt. Northeastern made it to the tournament semifinals thanks to seniors Steve Silva, Wade MacLeod, Tyler McNeely and Mike Hewkin stepping up both on the ice over the past few weeks and off, when head coach Greg Cronin was suspended due to recruiting violations. Cronin returned in time for the playoffs, and has been welcomed back with strong performances from freshmen defenseman Jamie Oleksiak and forward Brodie Reid. Northeastern needs to keep winning to keep their season going - their slow start has them unable to obtain an at-large bid.

Semifinal #2 - #2 New Hampshire versus #3 Merrimack

The Quiet Threat: University of New Hampshire

The University of New Hampshire is looking to redeem themselves after dropping the Hockey East regular season title after their final regular season series of games against Boston College. Though getting to the Hockey East semifinals was their overarching goal all along, after not making it to the Garden since 2008. Our guys were determined to get to Boston; our seniors…made it happen," said head coach Dick Umile in a conference call earlier this week. With two of the league's top five scorers in senior forwards Paul Thompson and Mike Sislo, New Hampshire has the offensive firepower to dominate most teams they face. They also are seeing increased contributions from their second line of freshman Kevin Goumas, junior Mike Borisenok and junior Stevie Moses, who are creating opportunities all over the ice. What can't be overlooked is the play of junior goalie Matt Di Girolamo, whose lack of playoff experience hasn't been a problem for a goalie known for his consistency. UNH will most likely make the NCAA tournament even if they don't win out the weekend, but the motivated Wildcat seniors are hoping for a title.

The Newbie: Merrimack College

Merrimack has been building to this semifinal appearance for several years. Head coach Mark Dennehy has turned around a team that had not made noise nationally since winning the Division II National Championship in the 1970s. College hockey fans knew the Warriors would be a force this season, but who would have known that it wouldn't all be on the skate blades of Stephane Da Costa? With giant contributions to the score sheet from senior Chris Barton, junior Ryan Flanigan, and freshman Mike Collins, the Warriors were able to weather the storm when Da Costa was out with an injury a month ago. They manhandled a preseason favorite Maine team with Hobey Baker finalist Gustav Nyquist last weekend, closing out the series in two games, including a 6-2 domination last Saturday evening. Even if the Warriors can't get past a loaded UNH team tonight, this will not be the end of their season - the Warriors will most likely receive a NCAA tournament at large bid thanks to their current 6th place spot in the Pairwise rankings.

Northeastern University took game three of their quarterfinal series against Boston University, 5-4, to advance to Friday night’s Hockey East semifinals at the TD Garden.

Northeastern, originally the #6 seed, will face a Beanpot final rematch against Boston College, the tournament’s first overall seed and regular season champion. University of New Hampshire will play upstart Merrimack in the semifinal’s second game.

Northeastern became the only quarterfinal road team to advance to the semifinals. The Huskies struck first Sunday night against BU, scoring the game’s two goals. Northeastern freshman Brodie Reid had a banner game, scoring two goals and an assist to keep the game out of reach of BU. Unlike previous games this season against BU, Northeastern was able to convert on their power play opportunities, scoring two goals with the man-advantage. BU was able to covert 3 power play opportunities into goals, but were ladened with a slow start and shaky performance by junior goaltender Kieran Millan. BU attempted a last minute comeback, after being down 5-2 with just over two minutes left in the game. The Terriers scored two goals in a minute to bring themselves within one, but the Huskies held onto their lead.

Northeastern ended BU’s nine-year semifinal appearance streak. The Huskies made it back to the Garden after a one year hiatus. Northeastern needs to win the Hockey East championship to make it to the NCAA Tournament, while there remains an outside chance that BU could make the tournament with an at-large bid.