Denver (4-2) traveled to Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts Saturday night to face Boston College. Just like the night before, DU faded down the stretch, falling 5-1.
Freshman Matt Davis started in goal for DU. After a scoreless first period, BC’s Avalanche draftee Drew Hellison batted a tumbling puck over Davis into the goal, 1-0 Eagles, at 4:03 of the second period. Later in the period, following a Denver flurry in front of the BC goal, BC broke out of their defensive end and forward Trevor Kuntar scored in traffic, giving the Eagles a 2-0 lead.
The third period was tough for the Pioneers for the second night in a row. The Pioneers were outscored 3-1. A Brett Stapley goal early in the period pulled Denver within one goal, 2-1, but BC countered with a power-play goal (3-1, Jack McBain), an empty netter with 2:18 remaining (4-1, Warren Marshall), and an even-strength tally (5-1, Nikita Nesterenko) with 1:32 remaining.
We will be providing an autopsy of DU’s two-game east coast swing tomorrow.
Photo: Courtesy of Boston College Athletics
“It’s Deja Vu all over again”. Third period collapse. 2 goals scored in a couple of minutes. It’s really starting to get ugly. 4 wins against weak opponents. Where is the coaching/leadership? ND next week. Not looking good.
You know, Arizona St is considered a tourney-level team by hockey writers. Just saying.
Terrible officiating east coast bias
One of the refs on the weekend was Gino Binda, who was a NCHC official for years…he is still listed on the NCHC roster of on-ice officials.
So much for the good vibes after the 4-0 start…….
What a disappointing weekend. What the hell happened?? 0-2 against Hockey East opponents, 11 GAs, 4 PP goals surrendered in 7 chances, subpar goaltending (82% save percentage this weekend, if my math is correct), and more questions than answers at this point in the season. I don’t want to overreact after only 6 games played, but this weekend was a big setback. And it doesn’t get any easier with NCHC play starting in two weeks with a trip to Grand Forks.
This weekend was a very painful one for Pioneer players, coaches and fans. DU entered the weekend as a top 10 team, and will now likely fall out of the top 10 and rightly so.
I think it’s not just the losing that hurts – it’s the way DU lost, letting their opponents own the Pioneers in the final period on both nights. It is obvious that this appears to a mentality issue and it must be fixed, or this rest of season will be a struggle…