The Boston College Eagles, off to their best start in Hockey East history at 8-0-1, threatened to run away with the conference by the time February rolled around. But a 3-2 comeback victory by Notre Dame on Saturday against the Eagles could keep the race interesting in the New Year.
1. Three-goal explosion for Notre Dame paces Irish past Eagles
When you looked at the Hockey East standings after Friday night and Boston College had a six-point lead over a trio of teams for first place, it’s hard to to envision a runaway season for the Eagles. But leading 2-0 on Saturday in South Bend, Notre Dame responded with a trio of goals (and a number of hit posts) before the middle frame ended to take the lead. Then a solid defensive third period for Notre Dame (and a great save by Cal Peterson in the closing seconds) preserved the win for the Irish. A four-point lead for first still feels nice for BC, but games-in-hand and head-to-head matchups against the opponents in the chase should make for an interesting second half.
2. Two wins against AIC provides padding to scoring numbers for Maine
Chase Pearson just had the weekend of his college hockey career. Twelve goals in two games against AIC helped Maine’s struggling offense come alive paced by Pearson’s five goals and an assist. The rookie doubled his goal scoring in a single weekend. Blaine Byron, Maine’s leading scorer, also padded his stats on the weekend with three assists on Friday and two more goals on Saturday. Cam Brown assisted on six of Maine’s 12 goals on the weekend. The only problem for Maine is that these were non-league games. The Black Bears still have just a win and a tie in eight league contests.
3. Jerry York’s long ride
Many of you know that Boston College coach Jerry York underwent his third eye surgery a number of weeks back for a detached retina. The result was doctor’s order to not fly due to the pressure it would create on the eye. But York, the all-time winningest coach in college hockey history, wasn’t going to miss a game against long-timer sports rival Notre Dame. Thus, York hopped on a train in Albany, N.Y., and went all the way to South Bend, a 17-hour adventure each way. The Boston Herald’s John ‘Jocko’ Connolly chronicled the entire trip in the newspaper, a great read.
