CHESTNUT HILL – Boston College is entrenched at the pinnacle of college hockey on the eve of “Trophy Season.”
The No. 1 Eagles completed a series sweep of No. 8 Boston University in the 297th rendition of the Battle of Commonwealth Ave. with a 2-0 victory before a raucous crowd of 7,884 on Saturday night at Conte Forum.
BC won the series opener 6-2 in an equally electrified atmosphere on Friday night at Agganis Arena. The final score was skewed by a pair of empty-net goals by Ryan Leonard in the final minute.
The Eagles improved to 18-4-1 overall and 11-3-1 for first place in Hockey East Saturday. BC will host No. 12 UMass/Lowell on Jan. 31 before facing off against the defending champion Northeastern Huskies in the nightcap of the 72nd Beanpot Tournament semifinals on Feb. 3 at the TD Garden.
BU fell to 13-9-1 and 9-6-1 in the league. The Terriers will host New Hampshire on Jan. 31 before facing Harvard in the Beanpot opener.
“The second half of the year and it’s a man’s game out there,” said Leonard, the Washington Capitals 2023 first-round pick who leads Hockey East with 19 goals.
“It’s crunch time and it begins this Friday against UMass Lowell and the Beanpot. Last year it didn’t go our way but that’s not in our heads. We are worried about UMass Lowell and obviously we want to get to the right game two Mondays from now. “
BC goalie Jacob Fowler, a 2023 Montreal Canadiens second-round pick, was the story of the game. Fowler made 30 saves to notch his 17th victory and nation’s-best sixth shutout. Fowler had 31 saves in the series opener at BU and is a lead candidate for the Mike Richter Award given annually to the nation’s best goaltender.
“We try not to take it for granted but he’s so consistent and he gives us a chance every night,” said BC coach Greg Brown. “His demeanor is so calm that it really helps spread confidence throughout the team.”
Fowler’s counterpart, freshman goalie Mikhail Yegorov, had an equally compelling storyline. Yegorov made 23 saves in his Terriers debut between the pipes. Yegorov, a 2024 New Jersey Devils second-round draft pick from St. Petersburg, Russia, joined the club on Tuesday after two seasons with the Omaha Lancers of the USHL.
“He’s here and I liked the way he’s looked in practice,” said BU coach Jay Pandolfo. “We were giving him an opportunity and he was great. I was just thinking about today and getting him in there in this environment. He’s a confident kid and he was excited about it.”
Yegorov was indirectly responsible for the game-winning goal. BC opened the game on the power play when BU was assessed a bench penalty for a protocol violation by Yegorov, who skated onto the ice too early.
“I have a really hard time with that call,” said Pandolfo. “Whoever runs the door opens it and this kid is excited to play his first (college) hockey game.
“For warm-ups they open the door and then they close the door and leave him out there. I’ll take responsibility because I didn’t let the kid know about it, but it is a joke. Really, that’s how the game starts? This is how we are going to start a BC-BU hockey game? I get it. It’s in the rule book and I’ll take the responsibility.”
The Eagles took advantage of the rookie goalie’s miscue on their opening rush up the ice. Defenseman Lukas Gustafsson began the transition from the BC end boards and connected with Leonard in the neutral zone. Leonard weaved around the blue line traffic and fired a hard wrist shot from the right circle that deflected off Yegorov.
Freshman right wing Teddy Stiga retrieved the rebound and fired the puck into the exposed half of the BU net 14 seconds into the game for his ninth of the season. BU peppered Fowler with 16 shots over the subsequent 19 minutes but could not score the equalizer.
“He (Stiga) is an old-school hockey player and he can do everything,” said Brown. “He sees the game very well, he can play at pace and he can really play with excellent players.”
Both teams squandered two-on-none breaks 11 seconds apart past the midway point of the second period. The BC tandem Gabe Perrault and Stiga made one pass too many and failed to get a shot off at 11:28. The scary BU combo of Cole Eiserman and Quinn Hutson flubbed their opportunity at 11:17. BU exited the second up 24-19 in shots on goal.
Yegorov stoned center Mike Posma’s uncontested short-handed bid in the crease 57 seconds into the third period. Leonard made it 2-0 with an open net goal at 18:57, his third in the two games against BU.
