You’ve got to hand it to James Hagens and Dean Letourneau.
BU gave them a chance on Friday night. And the pair of Bruins’ first-round picks were ruthless.
It was the kind of 2-on-1 execution that had a reporter asking Boston College coach Greg Brown if he felt his two sophomores looked like NHLers as they buried the hosts, with the surging Letourneau waiting just long enough to dump the puck to Hagens, who was perfectly set up in the slot to blast a one-timer past a hapless Mikhail Yegorov. Hagens, the eighth pick of last June’s NHL Draft, wheeled away in celebration right in front of BU’s student section after recording his first point (in four games) in the Battle of Comm. Ave. He barked at Letourneau, the 25th selection in 2024, as the 6-foot-7 behemoth caught up to him.
“For years, you work to be able to execute in those situations,” Brown said. “You don’t get a ton of 2-on-1s in a college hockey game.”
You don’t. But as the coach on the other side has learned the hard way this season, creating chances at all can be quite a struggle. Thus the necessity of taking them, which was ultimately the difference at Agganis Arena in BC’s 4-1 win, a defeat that put BU’s season fully on the brink. Later in that second, Letourneau got another Grade A at the net front and left no doubt again to put the Eagles up 3-0.
No. 14 BC finished with only 21 shots on goal, very few of them legitimately dangerous looks. Brown’s team still scored four goals (one was an empty-netter).
BU peppered 34 shots on Louka Cloutier and missed the net on a bevy of additional opportunities in what was, easily, the most productive offensive performance — as far as chance creation is concerned — of the spring semester. The Terriers scored once, and it was on a shot Cloutier absolutely should’ve saved. They have just 15 goals over their last seven games, only nine of them at even strength.
And it’s far from a talent issue, of course. Sacha Boisvert (three goals this season) had three huge chances — one of them during the power play with Cloutier vacating the goal — and fully missed the net on two of them. He was picked six slots before Letourneau in 2024. Fellow BU sophomore Cole Eiserman (who hasn’t scored from open play since early December) took five shots and hit the net once. He went five picks before Letourneau. Star defenseman Cole Hutson was blanked on 11 shots, several of them serious chances, and he, like Hagens and Letourneau, is a Hobey Baker nominee.
Pandolfo wasn’t asked about either of the BC sophomore’s goals, but forayed into an envious ramble about the Eagles’ tallies anyway after an inquiry about his dormant offense. As he kept speaking, he got more and more frustrated.
“They finish their chance. They make the play and score,” he said, taking an especially hard edge.
Pandolfo, who willingly built the country’s youngest team by a mile in order to roster 19 NHL Draft picks, probably can’t believe he’s now got a roster that can’t score. Yet as the fourth-year coach alluded to: “the whole forward group is snake-bit.” But while finishing chances was largely the problem Friday, on the scale of what BU’s been dealing with the last two months, that’s actually a pretty good problem to have. The Terriers weren’t creating chances at all heading into this standalone rivalry tilt.
BU generated more offensive-zone possession than its opponent in four of the prior six games, but it was stunningly futile with it. Pandolfo cited a lack of second and third chances — meaning his team wasn’t getting enough pucks to the net and wasn’t jumping on enough rebounds when it did — but also said BU’s internal analytics showed far too many shots were getting blocked or missing the net. And in general, the Terriers just hadn’t transitioned through zones well, especially for a team this fast, which limited clean zone entries and chances off the rush.
Pandolfo did acknowledge BU’s offense was better on Friday. The Terriers were flying in the first period and made multiple dangerous net-front looks with centering passes. They won battles down low to sustain possession in the zone, which they no doubt had more of than the Eagles. BU hounded Cloutier’s crease all night, and the Terriers transitioned with pace and rhythm (a fair share of pretty combinations mixed in).
“We were skating really good. I loved our energy,” assistant coach Kim Brandvold told the Agganis rinkside reporter at the first intermission.”
Still, many of the same problems were costly — the Terriers got away from their game in the second period, like they have so often this season, and Hagens and Letourneau quickly made them pay. As far as the blocked and missed shots, BC’s 16 blocks were the third-most against BU so far in the spring semester, and only half of the Terriers’ total shot attempts (68) were on target.
Those aren’t horrifying numbers, but they didn’t leave Pandolfo thrilled, especially given this was BU’s best offensive showing of the last month.
“We generated decent. I don’t know if it was great,” he said.
And even if it was great:
“We’re just not finding a way to capitalize,” Pandolfo added.
After practice on Thursday, junior captain Gavin McCarthy insisted the goals would start coming, citing the plethora of high-end offensive talent on Pandolfo’s fourth BU team. The first three all finished in the nation’s top 5 in goals per game. Right now, BU’s 2.8 goals a night is tied for 33rd.
But McCarthy didn’t seem worried. “We have how many draft picks?” the defenseman said. “Guys can score.”
They can, but 26 games into a 34-game regular season, they still aren’t.
