ANN ARBOR, Mich. - First-year defenseman Ian McCoshen scored his first collegiate goal in No. 4 Boston College's season opener, but the Eagles were overpowered by No. 11/10 Michigan's power play unit in a 3-1 loss on Friday night at Yost Ice Arena.
Junior forward Johnny Gaudreau inched to within four points of the 100-career mark (42-54-96) with the set-up play on McCoshen's tally while third-year defenseman Danny Linell collected his first point of the year on the secondary assist.
The Wolverines capitalized on their first power play opportunity of the evening and the Eagles could not draw even the rest of the way. U of M's Luke Moffatt collected a pair of power play strikes while Andrew Copp finished off his three-point night with Michigan's second goal at 10:05 of the second period.
Michigan took advantage of the game's first power play opportunity at 7:25 of the first period. Junior Quinn Smith was cited for hooking behind U of M's net at 6:24 and Moffatt countered 59 seconds later on a dish from JT Compher. Copp rimmed the puck behind the net to Compher where he hooked up with a flanking Moffatt for the one-timer slap shot and the 1-0 lead.
Boston College stormed out and played a more physical brand to start the second period, but a couple neutral zone turnovers yielded a pair of odd-man rushes for the Wolverines and Michigan cashed in at 5:03.
Michigan gained a draw to BIllett's right side and Michael Downing won the faceoff to Derek DeBlois in the slot. DeBlois' initial shot caromed off the backboards where Copp was able to redirect it from the near post to put Michigan ahead, 2-0.
First-year forward Ryan Fitzpatrick nearly tied the game up at the 12:00-minute mark of the second stanza on a nifty backhand play. The North Reading, Mass., native had Michigan goaltender Steve Racine off his bearings, but the puck clanged just off the right pipe on the attempt.
BC's offense dominated the remainder of the second period after Copp's second-period goal.
Linell triggered the scoring play deep in BC territory with a great breakout pass to Gaudreau in the neutral zone. Gaudreau raced the puck down the right side of the sheet, bated his defenseman and dispensed a crisp pass to McCoshen on top of the left circle. McCoshen hammered home the one-timer in stride through traffic to cut Michigan's lead in half, 2-1, at 10:05 of the second period.
Boston College's momentum was curbed a bit after senior Bill Arnold was cited for roughing at 18:35 of the second frame.
The Eagles penalty-killing unit kept U of M off the board to close out the second, but Moffatt managed to beat Boston College goaltender Brian Billett with one second in the power play at 19:26 of the third frame.
Copp won the draw in front of Billett and deferred to Compher along the near boards. Compher maneuvered around the top and popped the puck between the circles where Moffatt struck on the one-timer for the final tally of the evening.
The Eagles crafted their chances all night long, but Racine stopped a few crucial 2-on-1 BC opportunities. Senior Kevin Hayes was denied on the goal mouth thanks to strong positioning by Racine that could have counted as the equalizer in the second period.
The Wolverines outshot Boston College, 32-21.
Boston College returns home to host its home opener against Rensselaer on Sunday, Oct. 13, at 3 p.m. The Eagles are 5-1-1 in their last seven home opening games at Conte Forum.
Game Notes
- Michigan leads the overall series, 12-6-0.
- Michigan is 5-0-0 against BC at home.
- Boston College is 2-0-0 against Michigan at home.
- Ian McCoshen scored his first collegiate goal in his Boston College debut.
- Johnny Gaudreau is now four points (42-54-96) away from the 100-point career mark after assisting on McCoshen's first-collegiate goal.