| INCH’s THREE STARS |
3. Parker Milner, Boston College: Coach Jerry York said Milner made “timely saves” when Minnesota had a chance to generate some momentum, allowing the Eagles to take over late in the second period. He made 30 saves; the Eagles were outshot by a 31-25 margin.
2. , Brian Dumoulin, Boston College: The standout defenseman earned special mention from his coach for persevering in loose-puck battles in front and making strong plays to limit Gopher scoring chances.
1. Paul Carey, Boston College: Two goals for the senior forward and they epitomized BC’s night — opportunistic and lethal. His goal in the final minute of the second period made it 4-0, and when Minnesota scored early in the third, Carey answered 22 seconds later. Game over.
| STICK SALUTE |
A shutout streak of more than 160 minutes is impressive. For a goalie to put together said streak in the NCAA Tournament is amazing, but that’s exactly what Boston College’s Parker Milner did. After blanking both Air Force and Minnesota Duluth in the NCAA Northeast Regional in Worcester two weeks ago, the junior from Pittsburgh kept Minnesota off the scoreboard for two periods before Minnesota’s Jake Hansen scored 86 seconds into the third period of Thursday’s semifinal. The final tally: 161:26 without a goal in NCAA Tournament play. Add in the scoreless time he accrued in the Eagles’ Hockey East title game win against Maine, and that number grows to 193:49.
| BENCH MINOR |
Paging Nick Bjugstad … paging Zach Budish … paging Kyle Rau. The Gophers’ top line was invisible in the loss to Boston College, combining for a plus-minus rating of minus-8 and four shots on goal. That’s two fewer than Boston College third-line wing Paul Carey. Certainly they’re not alone in their inconspicuousness for the Gophers, but your best players to be difference makers in big games. That obviously wasn’t the case Thursday night in Tampa.
| SAY WHAT? |
“It just got out of control.”
Minnesota senior forward and assistant captain Jake Hansen needed only six words to effectively sum up what went wrong for the Golden Gophers in the loss to Boston College. Sometimes the simplest summation is also the most appropriate.
| TWEET OF THE GAME |
Patterson didn’t get a lot of help from his Minnesota teammates against of Boston College Thursday. Even the official Twitter account for the Golden Gophers left him out to dry.
