January
24, 2007
Live
Blog:
Boston University at Boston College
By Jeff Howe
INCH blogs from Conte Forum
Game Status: BU won 4-1.
INCH Senior Writer Jeff Howe blogged live
from Boston College on Wednesday night, as the Eagles hosted
their cross-town rivals from Boston University. This game
was rescheduled from Dec. 1, when fog filled the Conte Forum
and forced postponement of the game. Boston University won
4-1.
7:00 Game is five minutes
from starting, and there are no surprises in net. Cory Schneider
starts for the host Eagles while John Curry opposes him
between the Terrier pipes.
7:06 Puck drops in front
of a lively but very bare crowd. BC fans are notorious for
showing up late, but this is pretty lame.
7:13 BC fans were given thundersticks
at some point before this game, which begs a question. Do
Eagles really fly when it's thundering?
7:17 Still no sign of any
fog. Looks like this game will happen in its entirety tonight.
Conte Forum looks like an actual hockey arena and not a
haunted house, although BU may not realize that. BC has
flattened a few Terriers in the first 9 minutes tonight
while controlling this contest so far. No score, though.
7:18 Exactly one minute after
I write how BC is controlling play, Chris Higgins sets up
Peter MacArthur in the slot. MacArthur waved on his first
bid but was true on the second, raising a wrister past Schneider
at 9:55 of the first. BU leads 1-0.
7:25 Brett Motherwell just
got two minutes for tripping, but Chris Higgins may have
gotten away with a dive. There obviously isn't a "no
swearing" policy at the Heights like there is at Agganis.
7:28 Peter MacArthur capitalizes
on the power play. He one-timed a shot from a
tough angle at the right point, and it beat Schneider near-side.
BU takes a 2-0 lead at 13:37.
7:31 John Curry just delivered
a pizza behind the net, but BU's defense bailed him out.
BC missed out on a great opportunity, one that might even
trump the Domino's 5-5-5 deal.
7:38 The first period
ends with BU holding its 2-0 lead. The Terriers
scored on two of their five shots, a shooting percentage
Ben Wallace would envy.
7:40 The Eagles have dropped
two in a row and are playing .500 hockey (5-5-0) since Nov.
22. The team that a lot of people expected to play for the
national crown in St. Louis needs something to jumpstart
the second half of its season, and this would be a perfect
scenario. The Eagles need to come out of the locker room
strong right now in order to avoid a three-game skid, especially
with the series shifting to the other side of Comm Ave.
Friday night.
7:46 On the other side of
the coin, BU has won four in a row and is 6-0-1since Dec.
30. The Terriers have won 11 straight January games and
are 12-0-1 in their last 13. If Dec. 30 rings a bell for
BU fans, that was the date last season when David Van der
Gulik returned and sparked a winning streak that floated
somewhere around 700 straight games.
7:51 My favorite thing to
laugh at is when people fall. Right behind that is when
arena videoboards/jumbotrons flash shots of girls who have
absolutely no desire to be on there. What's better than
that, you ask? When the BC cameraman kept the shot on the
girl for almost one whole minute, even though she was beet
red and practically in tears.
7:53 The second period is
underway.
7:54 With Brian Boyle in
the box for boarding and the Eagles shorthanded, Nathan
Gerbe strips the puck at the BC blue line and races down
the ice all alone. After a quick fake left, Gerbe brings
the puck to his right and squeaks it past Curry. BU
leads 2-1 54 seconds into the second period.
7:58 That was Gerbe's third
shorthanded goal of the year, a team-high. It also places
him into a tie for second in the nation. BC's penalty kill
was a huge reason why it had so much success late last season
-- the Eagles were not short on shorthanded goals.
8:01 Eric Gryba knocked Nathan
Gerbe into the boards in the BU zone, and the two shared
a few words before Gerbe took Gryba's stick and flung it
across the ice. Both are now spending some quality time
together in the penalty box.
8:04 Benn Ferriero was set
up wide open in the low slot, but his shot sailed high over
the cage. A BC fan below the press box put both hands on
his head and screamed, "Oh, God! No!" as though
he were a character in "Hostel." Need more proof
this is the best rivalry in college hockey?
8:16 The announced attendance
is 7,288. The crowd has filled in nicely since the start
of the game. There must have been a really good rerun of
"Will and Grace" on. 3:20 remains in the second
period and BC is about to go on a power play.
8:21 John Curry just made
the save of the week on Nathan Gerbe. Banked just off the
post to John Curry's left, Gerbe received a nice pass through
the slot, but Curry slid to his left and used his left leg
to kick Gerbe's shot aside in one motion. To add insult
to injury -- or perhaps injury to insult in this case --
Gerbe was flattened by Eric Gryba five seconds later.
8:24 The second period
comes to a close with BU still holding a 2-1 advantage.
BC came back with a strong second period, but Curry has
been on his game so far. Quick injury note I didn't report
before the game. Tom Morrow (greatest name in Hockey East)
is out with a sprained ankle and is listed day-to-day. His
chances of playing in Friday's contest are slim to none,
however.
8:27 Quick thought while
we have a break in action. Forget that Illinois judge allowing
Tank Johnson to leave the state in order to "work"
during Super Bowl XVI. The only chance the Bears have of
shutting down the Colts' offense on Feb. 4 is if that judge
allows Tank to bring his Rambo play set with him on the
field in Miami.
Thank you. I'll be here all night.
8:38 Still in the second
intermission. So the BC fight song was remade by the Dropkick
Murphys a few years back, and the Murphys (a great local
band and a favorite of mine) did an amazing job with it.
On a prior visit to BC, though, a media member sitting to
my left said, "Oh, Bush League! The band stole the
Dropkick's song! Weak!" True story.
8:49 BU's fourth line reads
McGuirk, McCarthy and McGoff. Other great names with a similar
first syllable: MacGuyver, McGillicutty's and McDonalds.
8:54 BU just took
a 3-1 lead. Brandon Yip collected a pass in the
BC zone but had trouble controlling it. He skated off to
the right point and sent a pass without looking back towards
the slot for Chris Higgins, who beat Schneider's five-hole.
The puck slowly, slowly crossed the crease. They don't all
have to hit the back of the net, though. The goal came at
8:14 of the period. BC has some work to do in the last 11
minutes.
8:59 John Curry just robbed
Nathan Gerbe again, this time on the breakaway. So far:
John Curry 2, Nathan Gerbe 1. Gerbe has been the best player
on the ice tonight for the Eagles.
9:00 Brian Boyle just skated
off the ice clutching his left arm. He is sitting on the
bench right now facing the crowd getting medical attention.
He just stood up and is stretching his arm. It looks like
he'll return.
9:02 Boyle is back on the
ice without missing a full shift. BC fans can exhale now.
6:36 remaining and BU still leads 3-1.
9:04 Eric Gryba has been
keeping the seat in the penalty box nice and warm for himself
tonight. He just went back in for roughing. He is serving
his third minor of the night.
9:07 Kevin Schaeffer gets
huge bonus points for blocking a huge Brock Bradford slapper
while BU was trying to kill a 4-on-3. That just couldn't
have felt good.
9:12 If Nathan Gerbe and
Eric Gryba don't kill each other by the end of the night,
well, I don't know. But Gryba just sent Gerbe back into
the boards, and Gerbe hit him back, getting called for slashing
in the process. Side note: say Gerbe Gryba five times fast.
9:14 Jason Lawrence
just scored to put BU ahead 4-1, with 1:59 remaining in
the third period. Conte Forum is now empty, and
the thunder sticks are getting popped all over the place.
So much for a keepsake.
9:18 The game ends
with BU winning 4-1. The game was much closer than
that, though. The first two periods were great. It went
back and forth throughout. The third period was a bit slower,
and BU's two goals took the air out of the arena. I'll be
back to post a couple things after the press conference.
10:00 Finally, some quick
stats. John Curry made 32 saves, most of them highlight-reel
worthy. Cory Schneider stopped 18 shots, but would probably
like a couple of those goals back. BU killed all six penalties
and scored on two of seven power plays.
Pete MacArthur scored two goals tonight. Chris
Higgins had a goal and an assist. Brandon Yip had two assists.
Those were the multiple-point scorers.
Jack Parker on Curry tonight: "John Curry
played great again. That's like Groundhog Day with him."
Jerry York on his team's three-game slide:
"We've got to get this ship turned around. It's going
in the wrong direction with three straight losses. We're
not pleased with the results."
York on changes for Friday: "The No.
1 objective is to finish better, be more poised with the
puck and be more creative with the puck."
Curry on Kevin Schaeffer's blocked shot in
the third period with BC on a 4-on-3: "I thought we
might have lost him. I looked back because I thought it
was going to hit the glass, but then I turned around and
was like, 'That hit him in the face.'"
MacArthur on scoring the game-winner tonight
after scoring an "own goal" in BC's 1-0 win in
December: "Now I have two game-winners in the series."
10:07 That's all for tonight.
It was another pretty exciting matchup between the two Comm.
Ave. schools. The teams meet again on Friday night for the
final regularly scheduled matchup between BU and BC.
