BC Beats BU In OT In 1st 1-0 Beanpot Game In 64 Year History
BOSTON (AP) — Alex Tuch scored 1:57 into overtime on Monday night, and Boston College beat Boston University for its 20th Beanpot championship in the first 1-0 game in tournament's 64-year history.
The Green Line rivals played a spirited but scoreless three regulation periods, which also included a 30-minute delay when a power surge knocked out the TV lights above the TD Garden rink.
Thatcher Demko stopped 30 BU shots for his school-record ninth shutout of the season. BC (20-5-4) has won six of the last seven Beanpots, the annual tournament that determines the college hockey bragging rights in Boston.
Sean Maguire made 41 saves for the Terriers (16-8-4) and was named the tournament's most outstanding player. But he was beaten in overtime when Tuch took the puck in the middle of the ice near the blue line and wristed in the game-winner.
The tournament pits the area's four college hockey powers against each other on the first two Mondays in February. BU and BC have met in the final 22 times in the event's history dating to 1952; the Terriers lead 12-10, but BC is closing the gap.
The Eagles won five straight Beanpot titles before BU ended the streak last year behind Jack Eichel, the Hobey Baker Award winner who went on to become the No. 2 overall NHL draft pick by the Buffalo Sabres. BU went on to play for the NCAA title — in the same building where its Beanpot banner hung.
This year, it's Boston College — the No. 4 team in the nation — that is hoping to follow a Beanpot title with an NCAA championship, a parlay the Eagles have accomplished four times since 2001.
The game was delayed midway through the first period when the TV lights went out in the building. A TD Garden spokeswoman said the cause was a power surge; it did not affect the other lighting, and it was not immediately known if it was related to the storm that dumped a half-foot of snow on the Boston area on Monday.
The snow did nothing to dampen the enthusiasm of a crowd that broke into frequent chants — several of them vulgar — in support of their schools, which are separated by about two miles along Commonwealth Avenue.
Midway through the third period, the teams traded breakaway rushes. Neither was able to convert, but BU's Jordan Greenway — with a bit of help from a BC defender — barreled into Demko and left him sprawled on the ice. The training staff came out to look at the goalie, whose nine shutouts this season is the most in the nation — one more than the school record set by current New Jersey Devils goalie Corey Schneider.
BC had its five-year title run snapped by its Commonwealth Avenue rivals last year as the Terriers won their record 30th Beanpot championship.
Northeastern beat Harvard 5-1 in the consolation game. Adam Gaudette had two goals and an assist, and Ryan Ruck stopped 19 shots for the Huskies (10-13-5), who have won the tournament just four times, the last in 1988.
Ryan Donato scored and Michael Lackey made 23 saves for Harvard (13-7-3), which last claimed the Beanpot title in 1993. It was the Crimson's eighth straight appearance in the consolation game.
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