Tuch Turns Out The Lights On BU

In  a game that had pretty much everything to offer and then some, BU came up on the short end of the stick in the only Beanpot game to ever finish in a 1-0 score. 

BC's Alex Tuch wristed home the game's only goal less than two minutes into overtime. The goal came after an entire 60 minutes of scoreless hockey that saw both teams get more than enough chances. 

BC controlled the pace out of the gate and at one point, was out shooting BU 12-2. Out of all of that, BU probably had the best scoring chance. Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson slipped a pass through a tight window to set Danny O'Regan on the near side. What looked like a sure fire goal, was denied by Thatcher Demko. 

Then in the middle of the frame, with 8:53 left in the period and the puck down in the BU defensive zone, all of a sudden the lights went out. It took 28 minutes to finally get the stadium lights back on. The rink never lost powder, but for whatever reason the lights went off. 

The break helped stem the tide for BU. The Eagles were dominating the game prior to the blackout and not long after the game resumed, BU was on a 34 second five on three power play. It generated a few shots, but BU still could not solve Demko. 

Sean Maguire made a remarkable 23 saves in the first period. He stopped a total of 41 BC shots and not only won the award for the top goaltender in the tournament, but also MVP. 

“I wanted to win this really bad this year,” said Maguire. “It’s my last chance. I gave it my best effort and gave it my all. It was my best.”

BU had their chances. Matt Lane was stuffed by Demko right in the slot with a huge glove save with less than four minutes to play in the third period.    

Jordan Greenway, who may now be the most hated BU player by anyone affiliated with BC, just missed giving the Terriers the title in the opening minute of overtime. He sent a wrister just a bit wide to the glove side of Demko that looked to have the goalie beat. Greenway was the center of several srcums tonight. Back in the second frame, he went hard to the net and took out Demko, leading to a a big scrap in the near corner. Greenway picked up a ten minute misconduct. Later in the the third, he and a BC player went crashing into Demko again. This came after Greenway was in a partial breakaway. 

Just prior to that, Matt Grzelcyk made a great hustle play to catch Ryan Fitzgerald and prevent him from getting good wood on breakaway shot. He then turned the puck up to Greenway for his own breakaway bid. 

Most of this game was just a nervous blur, right up until the end. At some points it was like open heart surgery. Back and forth. Up and down action. Outside from BU winning, there was nothing more you could have asked for from this game. Just an overall unbelievable hockey game between two very closely matched teams. 

BU looks to rebound this weekend with a home in home series with Lowell.