Two nationally ranked Hockey East programs brought playoff intensity to a midseason encounter on Friday night at Conte Forum.
Boston College freshman first line center James Hagens had the primary assist on the first goal and scored the second at 11:45 of the third to lead the No. 2 Eagles to a 3-0 victory over No. 6 Providence College before a boisterous crowd of 7,884.
“You saw a good hockey game tonight, two good teams and we knew it was going to be a great challenge and our guys were ready,” said BC coach Greg Brown. “You could feel the intensity before the game and that was great to see from a coach’s point of view.”
The Eagles defeated the Friars, 3-2, in overtime at Providence back on Nov. 19. Two antagonists will resume hostilities for the third time this season and 197th all-time on Saturday night (7) at Schneider Arena. BC upped its record to 15-4-1 and 8-3-1 in Hockey East and leads the series against Providence, 125-55-17.
“It’s second half Hockey East and college hockey is back 100 percent,” said Providence coach Nate Leaman. “With the way the league has played this year and the number of teams in the Top 15 in the country, the fans have a lot to be excited about.
“We are regionally based and it’s exciting how good our league is this year. We have to take advantage of that and be a little bit better and more strategic in our marketing. It’s too good of a product.”
Two Hockey East leaders enhanced their standing in key categories. Second team All-American Ryan Leonard scored his league best sixth game-winning goal while sophomore goalie Jacob Fowler made 25 saves to register his HE leading fifth shutout. Gabe Perreault assisted on both goals for a team high 19 helpers on the season while Boston Bruins draft pick Oskar Jellvik potted and empty netter with 1:06 to play.
The Eagles enjoyed extended stretches of quality zone time in the Friars’ end, effectively violating PC goalie Philip Svedeback’s space with a succession of odd man rushes down the left flank. The pressure on Svedeback, who finished with 38 saves, amped up when Friars’ senior defenseman Guillaume Richard got lugged to the cooler for hooking at 8:37.
The uptick in intensity also resulted in a rash of skirmishes breaking out in both zones, all of which failed to cross the threshold for matching roughing penalties. BC built a 9-3 advantage in shots on goal at the end of the scoreless first period.
“We had some attacks and we did a better job possessing pucks in the offensive zone,” said Brown. “We had some good O-zone time put you hope to get more pucks to the net.”
The second period began with sequences of up-tempo transition rushes from both camps that created quality scoring chances and the subsequent scuffles after the whistle.
BC broke the deadlock on the power play at 7:43 of the second on a tic-tac-toe play that involved Hagens and two first round NHL Draft picks.
Perreault, the Rangers first round pick in 2023, found a seam through the slot and hit Hagens in the right circle. Hagens feigned a shot and slid the puck to Leonard, the Capitals first round pick in 2023, who poked it inside the post for his 14th of the season.
“There was some tempo and they have been working on that,” said Brown. “It felt like our power play is starting to show signs of life and the tempo was much better for us.
“They were organized and they were together and there was cohesion there. James knew what he was going to do with it before he got the puck and that is always a good sign. The puck moves fast when you have opportunities.”
The tally further energized the Eagles and they relentlessly attacked Svedeback in waves for the remainder of the frame. BC outshot Providence 14-10 in the second period that ended with a multi-player dustup in the Eagles’ end.
Fowler brought the house down at 6:24 of the third when he stoned Providence defenseman Alexander Bales on a clean breakaway with a stellar glove save.
“The D was great, they put pressure on him so he knew he wouldn’t have a ton of time,” said Fowler, a third-round pick of the Montreal Canadiens. “I just took away his time and space and forced him to do something.”
