Notre Dame hockey: BC evens series with Irish

Boston College junior left wing Johnny Gaudreau scored twice and set up two other goals as the Eagles handed Notre Dame a 4-2 loss in game two of the best-of-three Hockey East Quarterfinal series Saturday afternoon at Chestnut Hill, Mass.

The series is now even at one game each with game three set for 4:30 p.m. on Sunday at BC’s Conte Forum. The game will be televised on the New England Sports Network (NESN).

Gaudreau, the leading candidate for the 2014 Hobey Baker Award as college hockey’s top player, is the first player to record four points in a game against Notre Dame since 2011.

Patrick Brown and Kevin Hayes also scored for Boston College. Bryan Rust and Vince Hinostroza scored for the Irish, who see their six-game winning streak and eight-game unbeaten streak (7-0-1) come to an end. The Eagles out-shot Notre Dame by a 37-21 margin as Steven Summerhays led the Irish with 33 saves. Thatcher Demko stopped 19 shots for Boston College.

The loss drops the 11th-ranked Irish to 22-13-2 on the season while the second-ranked Eagles snapped a two-game losing streak and go to 26-6-4 overall.

“Hey, they (Boston College) are a great team. Punch-counter punch,” said Irish head coach Jeff Jackson. “You expect that from a great team. That’s what we saw tonight.”

After dropping the opening game on Friday night by a 7-2 margin to the Irish, Boston College figured to come out fast in game two, but it was Notre Dame that would get on the scoreboard first as Rust picked up his 15th of the year just 39 seconds into the game.

The Eagles would pick up the tempo as they outshot the Irish by a 19-6 margin in the opening period.

Boston College would get its first of the night at 10:28 of the first period, benefiting from a penalty to Brown. An Irish scoring bid was broken up by Bill Arnold, who moved the puck ahead to Gaudreau just as Brown came out of the penalty box to set up a two-on-one on Summerhays. Gaudreau held the puck until he hit the hash marks in the slot, moving it ahead to Brown who beat the Irish goaltender from in close for his 13th of the season.

The lead would go to 2-1 in favor of the Eagles at 17:39 on a five-on-three power play as Gaudreau scored his 31st of the season from the right side of the goal.

“I thought the differences from last night (Friday’s game) were the officiating and obviously BC’s top line played like the top line in college hockey,” said Jackson.

“There was no flow in the first period with all the penalties and that was the difference in the game. That’s where the whole tempo of the game was established. I thought that our power play really hurt us. It gave them momentum when they scored off of it and had a couple of good rushes. But give them their due; a big part of it was who was on the ice killing penalties too. It was those top line guys.”

“We have to play with discipline. I’m not complaining about any of the calls,” added Jackson.

“I just think they should be called the same way both ways in my opinion. I don’t know why we change officials from one game to the next when the officials have a good feel for the series. That’s just my thought process but it’s not my decision.”

1st Period: ND: Bryan Rust 15 (Andy Ryan, Shayne Taker), 00:39; BC: Patrick Brown 13 (Johnny Gaudreau, Bill Arnold), 10:28; BC: Gaudreau 31 (Kevin Hayes, Arnold), PPG, 17:39. Penalties: ND: 4 for 8 minutes; BC: 3 for 6 minutes.

2nd Period: No Scoring. Penalties: ND: 1 for 2 minutes; BC: 0 for 0 minutes.

3rd Period: BC: Hayes 23 (Scott Savage, Gaudreau), 5:38; BC: Gaudreau 32 (Hayes, Adam Gilmour), 7:29; ND: Vince Hinostroza 8 (Kevin Lind, Mario Lucia), PPG, 16:18. Penalties: ND: 1 for 2 minutes; BC: 4 for 8 minutes.

Shots On Goal: Notre Dame 21, Boston College 37.

Goaltender Saves: ND: Steven Summerhays (59:02) 17-11-5 — 33; BC Thatcher Demko (60:00) 5-10-4 — 19

Power Plays: ND: 1 for 6, BC: 1 for 5

Attendance: 4,537