BC scores two shorthanded goals, beats Merrimack 6-4
NORTH ANDOVER — In the end, Boston College showed why it was the No. 1 team in the country.
Merrimack quieted the Eagles in a scoreless first period and jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second period. But once BC was able to get its foot on the gas, the Eagles never again touched the brake.
BC scored six goals in the final 24:06 of the game to beat Merrimack 6-4 in the regular-season finale at Lawler Arena.
BC is the No. 1 team nationally in the Pairwise and the No. 1 team in Hockey East to end the regular season. T
Trailing 2-0, the Eagles (28-5-1) scored two shorthanded goals 1:06 apart on the same Merrimack power play to tie the game at the second intermission.
"We played too slow on the power play," said Merrimack coach Scott Borek. "They outworked us a few times and broke away for a couple of grade-A scoring chances that ended up in the net."
Merrimack had a brief lead when Liam Dennison scored early into the third period, but the Eagles came back with four unanswered goals in 14:41.
BC didn't have a power-play goal in the game, but had two shorthanded goals and utilized more open ice when two penalties led to the game being played 4-on-4.
"[To beat BC] you have to play five-on-five and we shot ourselves in the foot on our own power play and with some penalties in the third period," Borek said. "Then we're killing and that drains guys. Killing is hard, but killing against BC is extremely hard."
Merrimack and BC played a quiet first period with only a few scoring chances at either end of the ice.
"That's how we had to start the game," said Borek. "You understand that you're playing the No. 1 team in the country and you just have to keep the puck in front of you at all times. We did a really good job with that for two periods. Then they got some power plays and some four-on-four and even on our own power play, they took advantage of open ice. They're going to attack."
Merrimack finished No. 10 in Hockey East and will face No. 7 Northeastern in the first round of the Hockey East playoffs on Wednesday.
Merrimack honors seniors, grad students
Before the game, Merrimack honored seniors Alex Jefferies, Christian Felton, and Zachary Borgiel. The Warriors also acknowledged the graduate students, who took part in Senior Night last year but were also playing their final game inside Lawler Arena.
The grad students included Ben Brar, Mac Welsher, Filip Forsmark, and Liam Dennison.
"It's emotional," Borek said. "Those guys have meant so much to this program. I said it to them in the locker room. When they decided to come here, we weren't a very good hockey club. We weren't even close to chasing a championship or anything like that. They came here and it changed the direction of the program. They gave us everything they had. Every single one of them. They gave us everything they had."
###