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CHESTNUT HILL – The Boston College men’s hockey team snapped a four-game losing streak and won a return engagement to the TD Garden in the process.
Freshman goalie Louka Cloutier made 18 saves to record his fourth shutout as the Eagles ousted defending champion Maine, 5-0, in Friday night’s Hockey East quarterfinal at Conte Forum.
“He looked really confident, and I thought his puck touches were outstanding, which you can see,” said BC coach Greg Brown. “He had a lot of confidence, and he was really dialed in. It wasn’t just the great saves. He made great plays on their dump-ins, and he was able to stop pucks and deliver them to our defense.”
No. 17-ranked BC improved to 20-14-1 and 14-11-0 in Hockey East and advanced to the conference semifinals at TD Garden on Friday, March 20, against an opponent to be determined.
The Garden was the scene of the Eagles’ signature moment of the season back on Feb. 9. BC beat archrival Boston University 6-2 in the Beanpot championship game with six Boston Bruins draft picks on the roster, including first-round picks Dean Letourneau (2024) and James Hagens (2025).
“It is two games to win a championship, and it is pretty similar to the Beanpot in that aspect,” said sophomore center Teddy Stiga of Sudbury. “I think we are all fired up, and we have the confidence as a group in the building. We feel good there, and we played two really good games there, so we are looking to make it three and four.”
Goals were at a premium during the Eagles’ recent skid. BC mustered only five goals in the four games, but the Eagles began undoing that hideous scoring hex early in the first period.
BC went up 1-0 on an alert play by Stiga at 4:49. Freshman defenseman Luka Radivojevic fired a hard shot from the blue line that ricocheted off the end boards into the low slot. Stiga out-hustled two Maine defenders to the puck and beat Black Bears’ goalie Mathis Rousseau top shelf on the glove side for his sixth of the season.
“Rads made a good play,” said Stiga. “He read that the goalie was cheating the rim, and he kind of threw it up against the end wall. I was able to get a break there and put it in.”
BC went up 2-0 on an NHL-quality play by Hagens at 5:28. Senior defenseman Lucas Gustaffson set up Hagens for an open shot from the inner fringe of the left circle. Rousseau made the initial save, but Hagens collected the rebound and ripped it home for his league-best 22nd goal of the season.
“We had a good start in the first period, to get up one and then two against a good team like that is enormous,” said Brown. “The guys did really well, we were getting pucks behind them and getting in on the forecheck and managing the puck really well.”
Cloutier made two of the best saves against Maine’s vaunted power play while Eagles’ defenseman Drew Fortesque was in the cooler for tripping at 7:03 of the second. Cloutier was later the beneficiary of some lucky bounces during Maine’s relentless onslaught at the midway point of the frame. BC outshot Maine, 10-9, in the second.
“I thought they made a good push in the second, and fortunately for us, Cloutier was there with probably three really big saves,” said Brown. “That kept the multi-goal lead, which was huge for us.”
BC went up 3-0 when senior left-wing Oscar Jellvik scored his second goal of the season at 1:34 of the third. Junior right-wing Ryan Conmy forced a turnover in the Maine end and set up Jellvik with an uncontested shot from the low slot. Jellvik was the Bruins’ fifth round pick in 2021.
“Every game he (Jellvik) looks a little bit more comfortable,” said Brown. “He is one of our players with a very high skill level, and to have him in the lineup and see him getting more comfortable is great for the team. “
Maine coach Ben Barr lifted Rousseau for an extra with 4:50 to play in the game. Letourneau made it 4-0 with an empty netter for his 20th of the season. Hagens scored his second into an empty net at 17:54.
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