Tonight your #1 Eagles go in search of their second straight Beanpot title when they face Northeastern at 7:30. The senior class is looking to wrap up their 3rd pot o beans in the last 4 tries, while Northeastern is looking for their first championship since 1988. It should be a very good game with plenty of great storylines, but its also the first of three straight this week against the Huskies. Lets take a look at how the teams match up:
Northeastern is a middle of the pack Hockey East team who has hit their stride of late. Gone is the team that lost three straight to Atlantic Hockey foes earlier this season. Coach Greg Cronin has his guys skating as one now, and its starting to pay off. Defense and goaltending has never been a problem for NU, as they are #2 in Hockey East in goals allowed (behind BC). Chris Rawlings has been stellar in net, and he covers quite a bit of it (6-5 210). BC could have some issues scoring tonight, as they have struggled in their last two outings to get the puck in the net.
Offensively, NU relies on their top line for most of their scoring, lead by seniors Wade MacLeod and Tyler McNeely. They account for 23 of the teams 67 goals (34%) this year. As mentioned earlier, BC leads the league in goals allowed, and will try to make it tough for these guys. John Muse has been an animal in the Beanpot, with a career 6 wins in the tournament, and he has been on fire of late, surrendering only 2 goals in his last 3 starts.
As an added bonus, former BC recruit Cody Ferriero plays for NU. He left BC before the season even started, claiming BC wasn't physical enough for him. Tonight, BC can show him that physical doesn't always translate into titles. There is also no love lost here between the fan bases, as Northeastern kids get up for games against BC, and Eagle fans can all remember the embarassing arse-whupping NU handed BC in 2009 (6-1 final in the first round of the Beanpot). Look for this game to again come down to the wire, with BC icing the win with an empty-netter late to kill NU's chance for a Beanpot breakthrough.
Prediction: BC 4 NU 2
This can serve as a preview for the entire week, as BC and NU face off twice this coming weekend as well, Friday at Conte and Saturday at Matthews Arena. It should be a great week of hockey for the two rivals. We'll have a breakdown later this week as well as another round of tournament projections, where Merrimack is making a push for a #1 seed.....
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