Men's Ice Hockey 3/29/2014 12:00:00 AM

Denver Drops NCAA Regional Semifinal to Boston College 6-2

Box Score

WORCESTER, Mass. – The University of Denver hockey team allowed three goals in the first period and was never able to recover as it dropped a 6-2 decision against No. 1 seed Boston College in the NCAA Northeast Regional Semifinals on Saturday afternoon at the DCU Center in Worcester, Mass.

Denver closes out the season 20-16-6 overall following the loss, while Boston College moves to 27-7-4 and advances to play the winner of UMass-Lowell and Minnesota State in the Northeast Regional Final on Sunday.

This marked the Pioneers 25^th NCAA Tournament appearance and their seventh consecutive.  The last time Denver failed to qualify for NCAA postseason action was back in 2007.       

“We knew in order to have success today, we had to play near perfect hockey and unfortunately Boston College did play perfect hockey,” DU head coach Jim Montgomery said.  “They won faceoffs, they executed on special teams and their top line was phenomenal.  “I am really proud of our group for winning the NCHC championship in our first season in the league and adding to the tradition and legacy of Pioneer hockey.”

Boston College got on the board quickly as the nation’s leading scorer Johnny Gaudreau took a feed from teammate Kevin Hayes, who dug the puck out of the corner and slipped a pass in front of the crease to Gaudreau, who flipped a backhander top shelf to give the Eagles a 1-0 advantage just 25 seconds into the action.

Senior Kevin Hayes increased the Eagles lead to 2-0 with 14:30 left in the first on a wrist shot from the slot after carrying the puck from the corner to the blue line to set up the attempt.

Gaudreau added Boston College’s third goal in the first 10 minutes of the first period with a wraparound shot that beat Denver’s Sam Brittain (Calgary, Alberta) on his glove side to up the margin to 3-0 with 10:26 remaining in the opening period.

Boston College outshot Denver 10-0 over the opening 12:50 and held the Pioneers without a shot until there was less than seven minutes in the first period.

Hayes added his second goal of the game on a one-timer from the slot with 14:31 left in the second period before Gaudreau capped off his first career hat trick with 11:47 left in the second to increase the Boston College lead to 5-0.

Hayes teamed up with Bill Arnold for BC’s third tally of the second, racing up the wing and placing a pass on Arnold’s blade for a one timer to make the score 6-0 with 4:25 remaining in the second.

Denver freshman Trevor Moore (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) broke through for the Pioneers with a put back goal with 52.6 left in the second, his team-leading 14^th of the season, making the score 6-1.

Fellow Pioneer freshman Evan Janssen (Green Bay, Wis.) closed out the game’s scoring with a redirection goal with 13 seconds left in regulation to account for the final margin.

Brittain played the opening two periods and finished with 20 saves before being replaced to open the third by freshman Evan Cowley (Evergreen Colo.), who made seven stops.

Denver was outshot by Boston College 33-20.  The Pioneers finished 0-for-5 on the power play, while the Eagles posted a 0-for-2 clip.

2014 NCAA MEN’S ICE HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIP
NORTHEAST REGIONAL • DCU CENTER • WORCESTER, MASS.
DENVER POST-GAME PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES
MARCH 29, 2014

Head Coach Jim Montgomery, Senior Defensemen David Makowski

Opening Statement:
Montgomery: “We knew in order to have success today we would have had to play perfect hockey. Unfortunately, Boston College played perfect hockey. They won face-offs, they executed on special teams and their top line was phenomenal tonight. They made high-end plays. There’s a reason that those guys will end up playing at a higher level and making a lot of money. But, for our season I’m really proud of our group that’s been able to win a championship and add to the legacy and tradition of Denver hockey. There are seven national championships, several WCHA Championships. It’s great to be able to add the NCHC conference tournament championship in the first season in our league.”

On the first 10 minutes of the game:
Makowski: “It came really quick, and you have to give Boston College a lot of credit. They came out and gave us more than we could handle. But like coach said, I’m very proud of this team and very proud to be a Pioneer and everything we were able to accomplish this year. Winning a championship at the NCHC is no easy feat… I’m very proud of my teammates.”

On Johnny Gaudreau and Boston College’s top line:
Makowski: “We just…had two [defensemen] caught in the corner and then obviously he’s [Gaudreau] pretty elusive, so he got all alone there in the slot and…we have to take credit for it. He’s a heck of a player and we can’t give him those kind of opportunities.”

On the first 10 minutes of the game:
Montgomery: “The first shift was our worst nightmare. We didn’t have our center down low and our wing rotated high without a communication. They did make a high-end play and Johnny [Gaudreau] made no mistake about it. That being said, I thought that we regrouped actually pretty well there after that. I give coach York credit. I thought he was matching up their top line against our top line, and the second goal I put out our third line and he went with his guns and they won the draw and Kevin Hayes looked like Frank Mahovlich on that goal. You have to give them credit. An unbelievable skill that was displayed, and give Jerry York credit. I tried to influence who he put out on the ice and he didn’t bite.”

What the team needs in the future:
Montgomery: “John Gaudreau. I don’t mean him, I mean a clone. With the season, the way it went I’m proud of our student-athletes who overcame a lot. George Gwozdecky is a great coach. They lost their mentor and their lead recruiter Steve Miller. For them to overcome that, regroup, win a championship in a really tough conference… To me, it was the second best conference outside of Hockey East. Our eighth place team, Miami, is a really good team, but they’re not Notre Dame. I think you saw that today, too. For our players to win the NCHC Championship is a tremendous feat. It’s building blocks for next year, but there are not guarantees. We have a lot of work to do..”

On the mood before the game:
Montgomery: “We were really happy with where our players were at mentally… They were light but confident. We believed we could beat [Boston College], but then we saw their first line score some unbelievable goals, and like you said, put us on our heels and we didn’t regroup well enough. Our execution had to be perfect and it wasn’t close.”

On what Boston College did well tonight:
Montgomery: “They put their top line on the ice every third shift, every two and a half shifts. That’s what I thought they did well. That top line, their understanding of time and space. Johnny Gaudreau is the straw that stirs the drink. His ability to find open ice… And that third goal, we scouted him and I know coaching him, that he comes down the strong side he’s going to fake that shot. He’s going to try to get that goalie to go down, he’s going to go for the wrap around on the far post. But until you see that creativity and you see the head fake and the shoulder drop you don’t realize. On film it might be great, but live it’s kind of like the first time I played against Mario Lemieux.”

-EXPERIENCE DENVER ATHLETICS-

  

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