CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — Many times throughout this season’s Hockey East race, Boston College head coach Jerry York has noted the miniscule difference between a win and a loss.
His UMass Lowell counterpart Norm Bazin thought Friday night’s third and final meeting of the season series “had a real playoff feel to it.”
It did feel like an early taste of March hockey, and the line between a win and a loss was a fine one at Conte Forum where freshman Logan Hutsko scored two goals ― including the game-winning goal with 6.8 seconds left in overtime ― to lift the Eagles to a 3-2 win that, coupled with Northeastern’s loss to Connecticut, extended their first-place lead in the league to a full game.
“I think tonight the win could have been because Joseph Woll made some unbelievable saves, or the real heads-up play by David Cotton to get that loose puck and throw it to Hutsko,” said York, whose club curbed a two-game losing streak with its 14th victory this season. “Over the course of the game, the momentum swung back and forth. …
“There are seven teams in the ‘pennant race’ seven points apart, so this was the first step for us. I feel very good about our club.”
It was, indeed, an all-around win for the Eagles. In the net, Woll made 31 saves, including 12 in the second period and eight in a shutout third.
The winning goal came the waning ticks of overtime. Lowell senior John Edwardh misplayed a puck in the left corner, the sophomore Cotton grabbed a loose puck and dished it to Hutsko, who slotted his seventh goal of the season over the glove side of junior goaltender Christoffer Hernberg.
“I thought we made a mental mistake with a few seconds to go,” Lowell head coach Norm Bazin said after his team’s third loss in five games. “That’s all it takes against good teams.”
Neither team found the back of the net in the first period, but it wasn’t for a lack of effort. Woll and Hernberg made 22 combined saves to keep the game scoreless.
The River Hawks tested Woll with multiple breaks in the first two periods, including a late stop on sophomore Nick Marin in the late stages of the first period. Ryan Lohin generated a team-high six shots for Lowell, but was unable to crack the scoresheet as Woll stopped his early break in the second and then a rebound try at the top of the crease minutes later.
After Nick Master was called for a major boarding penalty 5:08 into the middle frame, the Eagles took advantage and scored the game’s first goal at the 8:20 mark. Freshman Aapeli Rasanen was credited with his fourth goal of the season, deflecting Connor Moore’s shot from the right point past Hernberg.
“I liked our compete,” Bazin said. “We had to kill the five-minute power play, and they did score one, but our response was very good. We gained momentum by the end of that PK. And, the second (period) was excellent.”
Respond, they did. The River Hawks jumped ahead through 40 minutes after scoring two quick goals in less than a two-minute span late in the period. Woll saved the first 22 shots he faced until Ryan Dmowski leveled the score for Lowell. Dmowski scored the eighth goal of his junior season at 17:04, beating Woll with a high shot after taking a feed from Marin in the right circle.
At 18:48, freshman Charlie Levesque fed the puck across the crease to senior defenseman Tommy Panico an easy go-ahead goal into an open side of the net on a power play.
BC was quick to respond, too, tying the game just 1:38 into the third. Cotton forced a turnover in the corner and fed the puck to a lonely Hutsko for a tap-in at the left crease.
Hutsko also scored the winner, ensuring his second multi-point game as an Eagle and first since a three-point night Nov. 10 against Vermont.
“They had a fraction (of strong play) late in the second, and we had a chance to regroup,” York said. “I’m glad there was a Zamboni time. We got back out and stressed what we had to do, but the third period, again, was up for grabs. It’s a win for us, but we understand how hard Lowell played. It’s a really, really good home victory for us.”