With a third-period offensive onslaught, the top-ranked Boston College Eagles took the opening round of college hockey's greatest rivalry with a 4-2 victory over the archrival Boston University Terriers on Sunday night at Agganis Arena.
The teams skated close to two full periods without a goal being scored after BC went up in the opening minute of play, but it scored a pair in quick succession in the late stages of regulation in the third period to grab a seventh consecutive victory and two more Hockey East points to keep command of the top spot in the standings.
BC extended its lead to 2-0 with 8:59 remaining as junior Kevin Hayes had his original shot blocked, but followed it up with a goal banked off the back of BU's Matt O'Connor, who finished with a solid 20 saves. A short while later with 7:37 left, stellar sophomore extended his team-leading goal count to seven, burying a cross-ice pass off an assist from senior Steven Whitney.
After falling victim to BC's hot senior goaltender Parker Milner once again, a freshman was able to pot his first-collegiate goal and get the host Terriers off the schneid with 4:40 remaining. Dorchester native Matt Grzelcyk saw his first shot blocked, but his rebound bounced over the line for the score.
With O'Connor pulled at 18:02, junior Bill Arnold iced the puck from his own blue line and into an empty cage to make the score 4-1. However, the Terriers were not done as sophomore Alexx Privitera beat Milner with a wrist shot through traffic from the high slot.
Post-Game Press Conferences
Joshua Kummins is the Hockey East beat writer and a weekend editor for SB Nation Boston. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaKummins.