BOSTON — With the depth Boston College has displayed all season in its rise to No. 1 in Division I hockey, several of its players have done some heavy lifting one night or another this season.

Saturday’s Johnny on the Spot was freshman Johnny Gaudreau.

He scored the Eagles’ first two goals and assisted on their third for his 18th and 19th goals of the season and his 37th, 38th and 39th points, helping BC to a 4-1 victory over Maine and its third consecutive Hockey East crown. For his efforts, Gaudreau earned tournament MVP honors.

“I’m excited to win the MVP, but it’s more important about winning the big trophy with the team,” Gaudreau said. “We’ve had a lot of success from every player on this team. We’re so close in the locker room, that’s really helped us along the way.”

While Gaudreau remains humble, his teammates remain impressed.

“His own teammates marvel at the stuff he can do in practice,” BC captain Tommy Cross said. “The kind of guy he is, the biggest thing is he’s a team-first guy.”

Gaurdeau, listed on the third line on the Eagles’ depth chart, was one of six BC skaters with at least 13 goals this season. His first and second goals both came in the first period as Boston College put Maine into a hole out of which it could not climb.

“The first one was a nice shot from Patch Alber. I just got what really was an empty-netter,” Gaudreau said. “The second was another shot from the point from Paul Carey and I had another empty-net tap-in.”

“We got out of the gate a little tentative,” Maine coach Tim Whitehead said. “To fall behind to a strong team like BC, it’s a tough climb, but the guys didn’t quit at all.”

The Black Bears, skating Saturday without top scorer Spencer Abbott, finish second to BC in the Hockey East final for the second time in three seasons. While the Eagles are automatically in the NCAA tournament field of 16 with their Hockey East playoff victory, Maine has also earned an at-large bid. The field will officially be announced Sunday.

“That’s a big hockey game we just played in,” Maine captain Brian Flynn said. “Going into next weekend, playing in a regional for the first time since I’ve been here, there’s going to be some of the same pressure. Like coach said, we came out of the gate a little tentative, didn’t have the first period we wanted, so hopefully we can learn from that.”

BC also avenged a pair of losses to Maine earlier in the season, when the Black Bears swept the Eagles in a pair at Alfond Arena in Orono. That was the last time BC lost. The Eagles have now won 15 in a row.

“I’m very excited,” BC coach Jerry York said. “The Lamoriello Cup is something we point toward, and to be successful here at the Garden, it’s a major, major goal for us.”

With Abbott’s absence looming large, Matt Mangene played the bulk of the minutes alongside captain Brian Flynn and Joey Diamond, while Whitehead juggled the rest of his lineup, as well.

“I think this was a good experience for our team,” Whitehead said. “If (Abbott) is not back, we need to learn to play without him. We were able to respond in the third period (Friday) night, and for the most part tonight, I thought the guys competed hard. We hope he’s back, but at the same time, this gave us a good idea of what we have to do if he’s not.”

It was a defensive turnover on which Gaudreau first struck, picking Maine defender Nick Pryor’s pocket in the low slot and roofing a shot past Sullivan for a 1-0 BC lead at 5:24 of the first frame.

Like they did on their first power-play chance against Providence in the semifinal round on Friday, the Eagles wasted little time converting on their first chance against the Black Bears. Nine seconds after Diamond took a seat in the box for Maine, Gaudreau netted his second of the period, at 7:31, to push the BC advantage to 2-0.

Maine had its chances to cut into that lead later in the frame, but Parker Milner made a dandy save on Flynn down low on the Black Bears’ second power-play opportunity of the first period.

The Black Bears came to life in the second, skating with the Eagles and matching them shot for shot.

Flynn put Maine on the board with his 18th of the season at 7:27 on a slick feed from Diamond, roofing the puck blocker side over Milner.

“I tried to come in as the late guy, and he found me in the slot,” Flynn said.

Maine outshot the Eagles for most of the rest of the second period, and continued to get chances, but Milner and the BC defense were up to the task.

“There were a couple of really good surges by Maine, where Parker made some really good, incredible saves to keep it where it was,” York said. “They were really starting to come a little bit. Every time they had that surge, when it looked like they had a sure-fire goal, he’d make a save.”

And then BC struck again. This time, with the puck chipped behind the Maine cage, Gaudreau slid the puck to the slot, where late-arriving Pat Mullane slammed it past Sullivan to reestablish the Eagles’ two-goal advantage.

Maine again had chances in the third, but each time, Milner was equal to the task. After the Eagles outshot the Black Bears 20-11 in the first period, Maine outshot BC 31-23. The teams combined for the most shots on goal in a regulation-time Hockey East final (85).

Barry Almeida sealed the Eagles’ victory with an empty-netter with 1:01 to play.

Copy the Story Link