If hardened criminals were forced to watch this game as punishment, they’d suddenly be afraid to jaywalk.
It was a morass of poor goaltending, brain-dead defense and vomitous officiating with a plethora of offsides and a game disqualification thrown in for consistency.
However, after sloppy play for two periods that had the score 6-5, Boston College tightened up defensively in the third and scored three times to walk away with a 9-5 win over UMass-Amherst in its first league game.
“It was a Halloween-type hockey game,” said BC coach Jerry York. “It was spooky watching us play. We were just out of synch.
“The game got away from us: 6-5 after two periods is not the type of game we’ve been involved in a long, long time. Both goaltenders had to be pulled. Our defense was thinking scoring goals, scoring goals. When we didn’t score, we gave great chances.
“After two periods we just had to settle down and get back to defensive hockey first. I thought we responded well in the third period.”
Bobby Allen, an Eagle assistant captain and the leader of the defense, scored twice, but like his coach, emphasized BC’s return to solid hockey in the third.
“I’m disappointed that we didn’t play well right off the bat,” he said. “We played two bad periods. When you score six goals after two periods, that should be enough to win the game but we were in the middle of a dogfight.
“But I was real impressed with our team and how we came out in the third. We really showed how we can play.”
A total of 35 penalties for 84 minutes were called by referee Tim Benedetto, putting special teams at a premium. In this category, Boston College held a whopping advantage. The Eagles went 5-for-12 on the power play and added a shorthanded goal while the Minutemen went 0-for-9.
“The game was extremely disjointed,” said UMass coach Don Cahoon. “The team with more physical ability won the game. All those [specialty team] situations favored them. That’s not the type of game that we’re going to be able to do well in against them right now.”
An execrable first period got off to a reasonable start. Brad Nizwantowski put the Minutemen on top at 2:32 of the first period, collecting a carom from the right corner and ripping a low slapshot past BC goaltender Tim Kelleher.
At 7:10, however, the follies began. With one penalty already on the books, Benedetto whistled a string of nine non-matching penalties at 7:10, 9:32, 11:26, 11:49, 12:33, 13:34, 15:00, 17:24 and 18:57. From 7:10 through the end of the period, there was never a stretch of even one minute of five-on-five play.
BC evened the score at 12:48 while on a four-on-three advantage. Ben Eaves moved the puck from one point down to Brian Gionta on the left faceoff circle. Gionta cut to the net and then slid the puck to Allen on the weak side post where he stuffed it in.
At 15:05, Krys Kolanos took advantage of poor UMass defensive play and goaltending to score his fifth of the season. Playing four-on-four, Kolanos walked off the faceoff without the opposing center laying a glove on him. His shot on Markus Helanen broke off the goaltender’s stick and into the net.
Little more than a minute later, Boston College was on the power play and the UMass defense dangerously put the puck into the middle. Eaves eventually shot from the point, Helanen blocked it, but it trickled just over the line anyway for a 3-1 BC lead.
Eagle netminder Tim Kelleher then began to give Helanen a little company in Sieve City. A Darcy King shot at 16:49 broke off Kelleher’s glove and into the net.
At that point Helanen had surrendered three goals on seven shots and Kelleher two on five.
On another BC power play at 17:48, Jeff Giuliano got the puck on the right doorstep and lifted it past Helanen far side.
The second period didn’t prove much better than the first.
Kris Wallis brought UMass within one goal at 6:38, beating Kelleher far side high from the right faceoff dot.
BC freshman defenseman J.D. Forrest restored the two-goal margin with his first collegiate tally at 11:45. Kolanos hit the far post from the right wing and Forrest put in the rebound. With the score 5-3, Cahoon pulled Helanen and inserted Mike Johnson.
Two minutes later, Minutemen freshman Mike Warner duplicated Forrest’s achievement. He scored his first collegiate goal by roofing a backhander at the doorstep over Kelleher’s shoulder, prompting the removal of the Eagle goaltender. Scott Clemmensen replaced Kelleher.
At 16:15, Forrest fed from behind the goal line to fellow freshman Chuck Kobasew in front, where he put the first one past Johnson.
With the period drawing to a close, however, the Minutemen made it a one-goal game once again. King took advantage of poor BC defense and stuffed the puck in at the doorstep for his second of the night.
With 22 seconds remaining in the period, Marty Hughes and Luke Duplessis, among others, tangled in a fitting ending of the first 40 minutes. The penalty time — two double minors and a five-minute major — all cancelled out with the significant exception of Hughes also receiving a game disqualification for spearing. He will miss BC’s game next Friday against Northeastern.
After two abysmal periods by all parties involved, Boston College at least righted the ship in the third. Kolanos scored his second of the game and sixth of the season, freezing Johnson with a head fake inside the left faceoff circle and beating him low.
Allen added the fifth BC power-play goal at 14:34. Gionta closed out the scoring with a shorthanded tip in front at 16:18.
Boston College (5-1-0, 1-0-0 HEA) faces Northeastern and UMass-Lowell next weekend. UMass-Amherst (1-3-1, 1-1-0) travels to Lowell on Friday and hosts New Hampshire on Saturday.
