It seemed only fitting that following the tumultuous week the No. 4 Boston College Eagles experienced, the end of the week resulted in the exorcism of ghosts of departed players past.
Following the departure of Jeremy Bracco, and all the hullabaloo surrounding the announcement, the Eagles out-slugged the No. 5 Denver Pioneers, 4-3, in an instant classic.
The difference in this game? A last-minute goal from Matthew Gaudreau, who was called up from the fourth line in response to Bracco’s departure.
“This is our best game, against the best opponent,” BC coach Jerry York said.
Following the announcement of Bracco’s departure, BC captain Teddy Doherty called a captain’s meeting with the team. The message from Doherty was clear.
“If you don’t want to be here, you don’t want to be here.”
After the meeting, Doherty said that the team had its two best practices of the year on Wednesday and Thursday.
Yet, despite the solid practices, the Eagles fell behind early in the game. Thatcher Demko, riding a three-game shutout streak, made his first mistake in two weeks, putting himself out of position following Trevor Moore. Moore fed the puck to Danton Heinen, who buried it to give the Pioneers the early 1-0 lead. It was the beginning of a difficult night for the junior, who let in three goals on 21 shots, accounting for an uncharacteristic .857 save percentage on the night.
“I think there are a lot of positives [from the game], scoring three goals on a great goalie that had a 196-minute shutout streak,” DU coach Jim Montgomery said.
The Eagles answered in the waning moments of the first period.
Much had been made of the entering freshman trio of Bracco, Miles Wood, and Colin White, which had been expected to catch fire and create an offensive juggernaut.
Wood showed that the dream of the juggernaut was still very much alive. Coming into the defensive zone, Wood deked Nolan Zajac and breezed past the senior. Wood fired a shot past Evan Cowley before Zajac, who had looked everywhere including the ceiling of Conte Forum, had been able to process what had happened.
The tone of the second period was set early with Emil Romig getting sent off for interference just 1:44 into the period. It would be one of eight penalties called in the period. The two teams picked up a goal each on the power play, and entered the locker room as they had left: deadlocked.
The Eagles had a breakthrough in the third, as the Pioneers struggled to contain the Eagles’ speed. The struggle manifested on multiple breakaway opportunities, with Wood feeding Austin Cangelosi on a one-time goal, giving the Eagles the 3-2 lead.
All seemed right in Chestnut Hill. Yet, as any heavyweight does in a epic slugfest, the Pioneers would not go down without one more punch. Will Butcher, during a power play caused by Ian McCoshen’s interference penalty, rifled a shot past Demko, tying the game and setting the stage for what appeared to be certain overtime.
Jerry York had been mixing the lines following the departure of Bracco. He mentioned that Fitzgerald said that he could “play the off side,” on his line, creating a spot the left-handed shooting Gaudreau could take. As fate would have it, the line of Gaudreau, Fitzgerald, and White found its way onto the ice in the waning minutes of the game. A net-mouth scramble ensued in front of Cowley. Somehow, the puck found its way to Gaudreau’s stick, and he buried the puck and sent Conte Forum into delirium. It was the knockout punch the Eagles needed to complete the exorcism.
It seemed that everyone involved got something from the game. The Eagles got the exorcism that the week had demanded. As for Denver, Montgomery had an overall positive opinion of his team’s play following the game, noting its success with Demko and its ability to battle late in the game.
As for Bracco, the Eagles appeared to have moved on.
“We’ve already moved on from it,” Doherty said.
