Boston College star forward Ryan Leonard summed up the unique start of Saturday night’s rivalry showdown with Boston University perfectly.
“Honestly, it’s weird. It’s really weird.”
The weird thing he’s talking about? A protocol violation by Boston University goalie Mikhail Yegorov at the start of warmups that handed BC a rare game-opening power play. The Eagles capitalized on the opportunity, with Leonard firing a shot that produced a juicy rebound for Teddy Stiga to bury just 24 seconds into the game.
That goal would stand as the game-winner for the next 59 and a half minutes, with Leonard adding a late empty-netter to seal a 2-0 victory and a weekend sweep of the Terriers. BC goalie Jacob Fowler made 30 saves in the shutout, and stopped 61 of the 63 shots he faced in the two-game series.
Back to the start, though. “Weird” honestly might be an understatement. Yegorov, who just enrolled at BU for the second semester after starting the season with the Omaha Lancers in the USHL, was making his NCAA debut Saturday night – against the Terriers’ archrivals, the No. 1 team in the country, on the road at Conte Forum.
His welcome? An open door that he stepped through too soon. Yegorov hit the ice for warmups before the referees and linesmen, which, by the rulebook, is a protocol violation and a penalty. Making the situation even more bizarre was that a Conte Forum staff member actually closed the door behind him, leaving Yegorov alone on the ice, with boos raining down from the BC crowd, while the rest of the Terriers remained waiting in the runway.
It looked like a “rookie lap” (or eight) – the hockey tradition of having a player who’s making his debut skate a lap before the rest of the team joins him for warmups. BU head coach Jay Pandolfo had a different explanation of the situation, though, and was clearly still in disbelief about the whole thing after the game.
“The start, kid doesn't know,” Pandolfo said. “First game, college game, someone opens the door, he goes, you get penalized for it. I guess it's in the rulebook. It's just… tough start.
“I have a really hard time with that call, with the fact that the guy, whoever runs the door, opened it,” Pandolfo added. “This kid's excited to play his first hockey game, right, for warmups, and they open the door, and then they close it on him and leave him out there. The guy can't tell him, ‘You can't go,’ and get him back off the ice? Like, listen, I'll take responsibility, because I didn't let the kid know about it. But it's a joke that that's how the game starts. That's not how these games should start. Like, come on. Really? This is how we're going to start a BC-BU game? Here's a power play? Like, again, it's in the rulebook, so it's my fault. I'll take responsibility.”
After the crazy start and that opening goal from Stiga, though, there was still a lot of hockey to play. And the Terriers responded pretty well. They outshot the Eagles 16-9 in the first period, the second night in a row that they jumped out to a pretty decisive shot advantage early in the game. But in what has become a frequent source of frustration for the Terriers and the rest of Hockey East, they were unable to solve Fowler, the Montreal Canadiens’ third-round pick in 2023.
This was Fowler’s NCAA-leading sixth shutout this season. The sophomore now has a .938 save percentage and 1.63 goals-against average on the year, both of which rank third in the country among goalies who have made at least 15 starts, not to mention a 17-3-1 record.
“We try not to take it for granted, but he's so consistent,” BC head coach Greg Brown said of Fowler. “He gives us a chance every night. His demeanor is so calm that it really helps spread confidence throughout the team. If he's under pressure and he is making some spectacular saves, he doesn't get flustered or look to the bench like, ‘Come on guys.’ He just keeps doing his job. His calmness, like I said, it spreads to the team in front of him and allows everybody to not lose their heads when we are under the gun.”
Leonard was the other big difference-maker on the weekend, as he so often is. The sophomore and 2023 Washington Capitals first-round pick had four goals and an assist in the series, including the game-winning goal and a hat trick in Friday’s 6-2 win at Agganis Arena. It is worth noting that three of the four goals were empty-netters, though.
“Someone had to say it, huh?” Leonard quipped when that was mentioned postgame.
On a more serious note, though, the Eagles have now won six games in a row, and are now 5-1 against the archrival Terriers over the last two seasons. Considering that BU was a Frozen Four team last year and entered this weekend ranked eighth in the country, that is no small feat.
“It's fun,” Leonard said of the rivalry. “Obviously, when you're on the right side of things, it makes it a whole lot better, especially against those guys. School pride, and alumni too, especially. You got guys reaching out just knowing how big the weekend is, whether it's to the training staff or even our strength coaches getting texts before the game. Just go out there and play BC hockey. We just tried to make our fan base and our alumni proud, and we sure did that.”
The Eagles next host No. 12 UMass Lowell on Friday before facing Northeastern in the first round of the Beanpot on Monday, Feb. 3. The Terriers will look to bounce back in a home game against No. 18 New Hampshire on Friday before opening the Beanpot against Harvard. Should BC and BU both take care of business in the first round of the Beanpot, they would meet again in the final on Feb. 10.