Photo by: Joe Sullivan
BC Delivers Knockout By Sticking To Game Plan
March 29, 2024 | Men's Hockey, #ForBoston Files
The Eagles adjusted to Michigan Tech with a master class in chess match domination.
Boston College head coach Greg Brown never panicked during the first two periods of his Eagles' 6-1 win over Michigan Tech despite the underdog Huskies' measure of success within their system. There was a 2-1 lead into the locker room, but losing Gabe Perreault to a game misconduct forced BC to kill off a five-minute major. The 200-foot, fast-paced style consistently found itself bogged down in the neutral zone by Tech's 1-2-2 trap, and the slower pace particularly lodged advantages for the underdog CCHA champion during a second period where defensive shifts and outlet passes fought the long change's extended shifts.
Brown wasn't sweating any of it. Michigan Tech head coach Joe Shawhan possessed a valiant strategy, but the Huskies failed to capitalize on their power shots in the first two periods. They trailed by a goal into the locker room, and they very much felt like a boxer trained to win decisions based on out-pointing the first half of a fight. They were supposed to have the lead and hang on, and the ominous third period meant they had to exit their comfort zone.
The failure to earn the lead in those first 40 minutes enabled BC to give Tech the proverbial horns in the third period, and Brown's master class in chess match coaching now gives the Eagles a decided advantage for Providence's Regional Final on Easter Sunday.
"It was a battle right through the second period," said Brown in his postgame remarks. "It was kind of a 50-50 game, [and] neither team really gained too much momentum. Unfortunately we lost Gabe, but I thought from Gabe's penalty on, our level rose. We started to play a little faster, a little sharper [and] connected on more passes, and then our third period was our best period. We were able to finish chances, and these guys came away with the win. I felt it was much closer than the score in the end, but it was a good game."
Michigan Tech's strategy from outset relied on the team's ability to prevent BC from using its 200-foot game. The Huskies operated from a slow, physical pace reliant on the puck settling into the offensive zone, and playing inward from the neutral zone to the offensive blue line afforded them enough space to settle into their defensive posture against the high-flying speed. The first goal came before the team had an ability to judge the Eagles' speed for itself, but the capitalization that led to Cutter Gauthier's goal offered insight into how BC needed to approach the wider formations.
Gauthier and his linemates started that goal from behind their own blue line after Michigan Tech counterattacked the Eagles' first chance, and getting north-south or up-and-down through the ice caused a considerable amount of issues for a defense that hadn't adjusted to the No. 1 seed's overall team speed. Eamon Powell's outlet pass along the boards got behind the skaters that had checked up to pinch on Oskar Jellvik, and Gauthier's break-in behind the defensive line left goalie Blake Pietila to defend a 2-on-1 that developed from a potential Michigan Tech scrum along the wall.
"I saw that [Jellvik] had a boatload of speed," Gauthier said. "I saw there was a guy in front of me, [and] I just tried to get the correct body position on him and use my speed to open up a lane. With [Jellvik] having eyes on the back of his head, I was calling for the puck, he made a great spin pass there, and I was able to just get the puck on the ice and make it quick so the goalie wasn't ready for it. Thankfully, it went in."
Catching Michigan Tech off-guard in the first minute offered a forewarning to the rest of the game, and the Eagles eventually drew the Huskies' physical style into a spider web trap by forcing them to attack the full length. Chances came in bunches for both teams, but the physicality reached a zenith after Ryan Leonard broke a 1-1 tie that permeated through the end of the first period.
He'd been wiped out both before and after scoring BC's second goal, and the aftermath led the Eagles to attempt their own body checks along the wall before Perreault's game misconduct sent him to the locker room with an additional five minute power play on the board. From that moment, the Eagles realized that trending the game towards an untenable style would hurt more than help, and after killing the entire major without a goal, BC found itself reconnected to the style that helped create both goal opportunities.
"I think our desperation level rose a little bit," Brown said. "I think they knew that it was a tight game, and [with] a five-minute penalty, you can't let the game get away from you. So the guys who went out there to kill the penalty did a tremendous job, and after that, when we had success and killed it off, it felt like everybody got a little taller and played with a little more energy, a little more everything. From that point on, our game rose, and we carried it through the third."
Michigan Tech's strategy hadn't backfired, but the Huskies were essentially a boxer reliant on out-pointing the Eagles through the early rounds. They knew they couldn't get into a matchup on BC's terms, so they sought to create chaos by disrupting the more agile Eagles with their slower system. It worked to a degree, but the feeling-out period from the first period bled into the greater understanding and adjustment in the second period.
The Huskies weren't built to play the fast game in the third period, but BC's 2-1 lead forced them to come out of their game just enough for the Eagles to blast two goals over a 90-second span past Pietila. The frustration from watching a one-goal game balloon into a 4-1 deficit then spilled into a series of calls from an undisciplined moment, and the subsequent scrum resulted in Tyrone Bronte's game misconduct with an additional misconduct assessed to Peitila's brother Chase. The subsequent five-minute advantage then packed on two more goals for the Eagles, to which the 6-1 advantage essentially delivered the knockout blow to a team that didn't realize it had walked directly into the eagle's nest.
"When they went up 3-1, I think that some of our guys lost themselves a little bit," said Michigan Tech head coach Joe Shawhan. "It doesn't take them very much to keep skating. I thought through two periods, we fought in a good way. I think when we lost our focus a little bit, they were able to get some good looks on our net, and it doesn't take them very much. They're a highly skilled team."
"We know that the NCAA Tournament is no joke," Leonard said, "and the opponent on the other side is always going to try to take you down and break you down in any way possible. But we know once we stick to our game plan and play the way that we're supposed to, we know there's not a team that can stop us."
Winning on Friday ensured BC's journey to Providence would last until the final day of the NCAA's regional round, and the No. 1 seed now awaits a shot on Sunday to advance to the Frozen Four. Sunday's face-off is scheduled for 4 p.m. from the Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence, R.I. and can be seen on ESPN2 with streaming coverage available through the network's family of Internet and mobile device apps.
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Brown wasn't sweating any of it. Michigan Tech head coach Joe Shawhan possessed a valiant strategy, but the Huskies failed to capitalize on their power shots in the first two periods. They trailed by a goal into the locker room, and they very much felt like a boxer trained to win decisions based on out-pointing the first half of a fight. They were supposed to have the lead and hang on, and the ominous third period meant they had to exit their comfort zone.
The failure to earn the lead in those first 40 minutes enabled BC to give Tech the proverbial horns in the third period, and Brown's master class in chess match coaching now gives the Eagles a decided advantage for Providence's Regional Final on Easter Sunday.
"It was a battle right through the second period," said Brown in his postgame remarks. "It was kind of a 50-50 game, [and] neither team really gained too much momentum. Unfortunately we lost Gabe, but I thought from Gabe's penalty on, our level rose. We started to play a little faster, a little sharper [and] connected on more passes, and then our third period was our best period. We were able to finish chances, and these guys came away with the win. I felt it was much closer than the score in the end, but it was a good game."
Michigan Tech's strategy from outset relied on the team's ability to prevent BC from using its 200-foot game. The Huskies operated from a slow, physical pace reliant on the puck settling into the offensive zone, and playing inward from the neutral zone to the offensive blue line afforded them enough space to settle into their defensive posture against the high-flying speed. The first goal came before the team had an ability to judge the Eagles' speed for itself, but the capitalization that led to Cutter Gauthier's goal offered insight into how BC needed to approach the wider formations.
Gauthier and his linemates started that goal from behind their own blue line after Michigan Tech counterattacked the Eagles' first chance, and getting north-south or up-and-down through the ice caused a considerable amount of issues for a defense that hadn't adjusted to the No. 1 seed's overall team speed. Eamon Powell's outlet pass along the boards got behind the skaters that had checked up to pinch on Oskar Jellvik, and Gauthier's break-in behind the defensive line left goalie Blake Pietila to defend a 2-on-1 that developed from a potential Michigan Tech scrum along the wall.
"I saw that [Jellvik] had a boatload of speed," Gauthier said. "I saw there was a guy in front of me, [and] I just tried to get the correct body position on him and use my speed to open up a lane. With [Jellvik] having eyes on the back of his head, I was calling for the puck, he made a great spin pass there, and I was able to just get the puck on the ice and make it quick so the goalie wasn't ready for it. Thankfully, it went in."
Catching Michigan Tech off-guard in the first minute offered a forewarning to the rest of the game, and the Eagles eventually drew the Huskies' physical style into a spider web trap by forcing them to attack the full length. Chances came in bunches for both teams, but the physicality reached a zenith after Ryan Leonard broke a 1-1 tie that permeated through the end of the first period.
He'd been wiped out both before and after scoring BC's second goal, and the aftermath led the Eagles to attempt their own body checks along the wall before Perreault's game misconduct sent him to the locker room with an additional five minute power play on the board. From that moment, the Eagles realized that trending the game towards an untenable style would hurt more than help, and after killing the entire major without a goal, BC found itself reconnected to the style that helped create both goal opportunities.
"I think our desperation level rose a little bit," Brown said. "I think they knew that it was a tight game, and [with] a five-minute penalty, you can't let the game get away from you. So the guys who went out there to kill the penalty did a tremendous job, and after that, when we had success and killed it off, it felt like everybody got a little taller and played with a little more energy, a little more everything. From that point on, our game rose, and we carried it through the third."
Michigan Tech's strategy hadn't backfired, but the Huskies were essentially a boxer reliant on out-pointing the Eagles through the early rounds. They knew they couldn't get into a matchup on BC's terms, so they sought to create chaos by disrupting the more agile Eagles with their slower system. It worked to a degree, but the feeling-out period from the first period bled into the greater understanding and adjustment in the second period.
The Huskies weren't built to play the fast game in the third period, but BC's 2-1 lead forced them to come out of their game just enough for the Eagles to blast two goals over a 90-second span past Pietila. The frustration from watching a one-goal game balloon into a 4-1 deficit then spilled into a series of calls from an undisciplined moment, and the subsequent scrum resulted in Tyrone Bronte's game misconduct with an additional misconduct assessed to Peitila's brother Chase. The subsequent five-minute advantage then packed on two more goals for the Eagles, to which the 6-1 advantage essentially delivered the knockout blow to a team that didn't realize it had walked directly into the eagle's nest.
"When they went up 3-1, I think that some of our guys lost themselves a little bit," said Michigan Tech head coach Joe Shawhan. "It doesn't take them very much to keep skating. I thought through two periods, we fought in a good way. I think when we lost our focus a little bit, they were able to get some good looks on our net, and it doesn't take them very much. They're a highly skilled team."
"We know that the NCAA Tournament is no joke," Leonard said, "and the opponent on the other side is always going to try to take you down and break you down in any way possible. But we know once we stick to our game plan and play the way that we're supposed to, we know there's not a team that can stop us."
Winning on Friday ensured BC's journey to Providence would last until the final day of the NCAA's regional round, and the No. 1 seed now awaits a shot on Sunday to advance to the Frozen Four. Sunday's face-off is scheduled for 4 p.m. from the Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence, R.I. and can be seen on ESPN2 with streaming coverage available through the network's family of Internet and mobile device apps.
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