Goalie Jacob Fowler and the Perreault-Smith-Leonard line powered the No. 2 Boston College Eagles to victory against the No. 1 Boston University Terriers in the Commonwealth Avenue rivals’ first meeting of the season.
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – The Battle of Commonwealth Avenue dates back over 100 years, but for the first time in its history, the two teams that make up the heated rivalry – Boston University and Boston College – entered the matchup as the No. 1- and 2-ranked teams in the country, respectively.
Despite all its history, it was Boston College’s new kids on the block that put their fingerprints all over the game on Friday. The Eagles’ star freshmen line of Gabe Perreault-Will Smith-Ryan Leonard combined for four points in a 4-1 win against the Terriers at Conte Forum.
“They don’t need much space to make a play,” BC coach Greg Brown said of the trio. “It seems like if they just get a little bit of room, they start to read each other and they can throw some confusion on the defense with some overlaps and cutbacks. They know how to find each other so well in space, so they create great chances.”
Leonard had a goal and an assist, and Jacob Fowler made 26 saves for the Eagles (17-4-1, 10-3-1 HE). Perreault scored a goal, and Smith had an assist.
Jack Hughes scored the lone goal for the Terriers (16-5-1, 11-2-1 HE). Mathieu Caron stopped 28 of 30 shots faced. Star freshman Macklin Celebrini put five shots on Fowler, but his six-game point streak was snapped.
“I thought as a whole, we were okay,” BU coach Jay Pandolfo said. “They’re a very good team and they don’t need a lot of chances to score, and you have to manage the puck against them.”
The Eagles led 2-1 with 2:11 remaining when Pandolfo pulled Caron for the extra attacker, but BC nullified the attack and scored two empty-net goals; first from Cutter Gauthier at 18:03 followed by Andre Gasseau at 18:57 for the 4-1 final.
After a scoreless first period, which saw both sides exchange possessions, Leonard struck first for the Eagles at 3:34 of the second period. Terriers forward Jeremy Wilmer sent a weak pass attempt back to Aiden Celebrini, which was picked up by Eagles forward Mike Posma.
Once established in the zone, Eagles defensemen Drew Fortescue and Eamon Powell got the puck down to Leonard, who beat Caron with a wrister from the right side.
Terriers forward Luke Tuch nearly tied it at 11:04, but his shot rang off the post and out, marking one of several instances where the Terriers were inches away from turning the game around.
With BU trying to establish possession in the offensive zone, Perreault and Aram Minnetian worked together to knock the puck loose and send it up ice. It got to Smith, who went across ice to Perreault, and the Hinsdale, Ill. native finished off the 2-on-1 rush from the right circle to make it 2-0 at 17:15 of the second.
The Terriers brought desperation into the third period, but Fowler and the Eagles defensive corps got in front of every puck.
“Our forwards and [defensemen] were both pretty well-structured tonight with all the details,” Fowler said. “Having sticks in lanes and being able to block shots. So any time they do that, they make it pretty easy on me.”
Hughes finally got on the board for the Terriers to cut it to 2-1 at 13:23 of the third, snapping it past Fowler from the left circle on a feed from Dylan Peterson.
That’s as close as the Terriers would get, as the empty-netters from Gauthier and Gasseau put the nails in the coffin with the Eagles taking the first game of the home-and-home set.
The two teams meet again on Saturday, when the Terriers will get their shot at revenge on home ice.
“We’re right there. We hit a few posts. We have to clean up a couple things, come back home,” Pandolfo said. “We know they’re a good team, but we’re a good team, too. We got a pretty resilient group in there, so we’ll be ready tomorrow.”