When Boston College swept Boston University in a home-and-home series just over a week ago, perhaps the most impressive stat from the series was the point total next to Macklin Celebrini’s name: One.
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The Eagles had kept the likely No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft at bay pretty much all weekend, only allowing him onto the scoresheet in the waning minutes of Saturday’s finale.
In Monday night’s Beanpot opener, in front of a sellout TD Garden crowd of 18,258, it took Celebrini just over six minutes to exceed his point total from last weekend. The 17-year-old freshman scored two early goals to put No. 1 BC in a hole and lead No. 3 BU to a 4-3 win.
The Terriers will now face Northeastern in next Monday’s Beanpot final, while the Eagles will take on Harvard in the third-place game.
Celebrini’s first goal came four minutes into the game when he led a BU rush into the BC zone. It didn’t look like anything particularly dangerous was developing, but Celebrini’s shot is always a weapon. He used the defenseman in front of him as a little bit of a screen and snapped a shot blocker-side past Jacob Fowler, the Canadiens draft pick who was lights-out last weekend and has been lights-out pretty much all season.
If that goal showcased the quickness and deception in Celebrini’s release, the second goal two minutes later showcased the sheer power of his one-timer. Set up in his usual spot in the right circle on BU’s power play, Celebrini stepped into a feed from Lane Hutson and blasted a shot top shelf.
“You're not gonna keep him off for too long,” BC coach Greg Brown said of Celebrini. “You have to limit his chances, keep him to the outside. He was able to find some space and create a lot of plays tonight. So, when there's great players like that, especially if you're the visiting team, you're not really getting the matchup, everyone has to be aware when a guy like that is on the ice.”
Celebrini, who is now tied for the NCAA lead with 21 goals this season, had chances like that last weekend, too, but he didn’t bury them. The Terriers had better chances off the rush than the one Celebrini scored on, but couldn’t finish. Last weekend, it was the Eagles who were more opportunistic, and who got that one extra save when they needed it. In those two games, they were the ones who got a 2-0 lead both nights.
The script flipped Monday night. That became even clearer in the second period. Just like BU did eventually make things interesting in both games last weekend, the Eagles finally got on the board and cut the Terriers’ lead to 2-1 with a power-play goal early in the second, with Will Smith setting up fellow freshman Gabe Perreault right in front.
Last Saturday at Agganis Arena, it was the Terriers who dominated much of the second period, only to repeatedly get denied by Fowler and eventually give up a goal against the run of play. Guess what happened Monday?
The Eagles dominated much of the second period, but this time it was Mathieu Caron standing tall in the BU net, and Luke Tuch eventually scoring against the run of play, taking advantage of a sloppy defensive-zone turnover to give the Terriers a 3-1 lead.
Tuch set up Ryan Greene to make it 4-1 BU 4:47 into the third, before the Eagles launched a valiant comeback bid. Connor Joyce set up Gentry Shamburger to pull BC back within two with 11:53 remaining, and then Ryan Leonard set up Perreault for his second of the game with 8:36 to go to make it a 4-3 game.
The Eagles couldn’t quite complete the comeback, though, with Caron and the Terriers holding on for the win.
“It's a good response from our team,” BU coach Jay Pandolfo said. “Getting swept by BC two weeks ago was tough, and then to respond the way we did. I thought we played very well in the first period, really well. … You know they're gonna push. They have some talented players over there. We knew they were gonna push, and I thought at the end of the day, we did a good job and didn't let them tie it. So, we end up getting the win and credit to our guys for sticking with it the whole way through.”
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In the first game Monday, Northeastern beat Harvard 3-2 in overtime. They tied the game with 9:17 left in the third on a goal from Justin Hryckowian and won it just 33 seconds into the 3-on-3 overtime when Gunnarwolfe Fontaine finished off a pretty give-and-go with Hryckowian.
The Huskies will enter next Monday’s final as the underdog, but they should not be overlooked. They just beat BU in overtime this past Tuesday, they also took BU to overtime last month, they’re riding a five-game winning streak, and they’ve won four of the last five Beanpots.