Bowling Green's Nick Eno held his ground through the final forty minutes to earn a key 5-2 road win at Ohio State. The freshman netminder stopped 39 Buckeye shots in all, backstopping his way to a hard-earned ninth win of the season. BGSU coach Scott Paluch would be wise to ride the hand hot tomorrow night as the Falcons go for the road sweep.
In E. Lansing, freshman Corey Tropp had his best night as a collegian, scoring a power-play goal and assisting on a pair of Justin Abdelkader tallies in #5 Michigan State's 5-4 OT loss to unranked Nebraska-Omaha. After UNO opened scoring 5:09 into the game, it was Tim Kennedy to Tropp to Abdelkader to tie it up a minute later. Kennedy would later assist on the second Abdelkader goal as well, with their line combining for eight points and 13 shots on goal.
#9 Boston College welcomed #13 Providence to Chestnut Hill, but had a hard time getting things going in a 3-2 loss to the Friars. LW Nathan Gerbe, once again named the Hockey East Player of the Month earlier in the day, was held without a point despite his game-best seven shots on net. The Hobey favorite finished a -1, after being on the ice for the game winning goal against in the third period. Andrew Orpik (7th, 2006) had an assist as he, Kyle Kucharski, and Matt Lombardi formed a swarming fourth-line attack for the Eagles in the loss.
#4 Denver, who has a history of struggling in Mankato, came out flat after a week off en route to getting bounced by the Mavs, 5-1. Chris Butler (-3) assisted on Rhett Rakhshani's power-play goal early in the second, but that's all the Pios could muster on a night that saw their defensemen get pounded on the forecheck. Coach George Gwozdecky chastised his team's defensive effort, so look for Denver to show equal output in all three zones as the two teams go at it again tomrrow.
Alex Biega pumped thorugh a game-high five shots on goal, but was -1 in Harvard's 4-2 loss to Brown. The Crimson will kick off the Beanpot on Monday against Northeastern.
In the QMJHL, Benjamin Breault had a goal and an assist as Baie-Comeau got pounded by Rouyn-Noranda, 8-4. Breault was busy with the man advantage, as both of his points and most of his seven shots on goal came on the power play. Even strength was a different story, as the Pembroke, Ontario native finished an unsavory -3 as the second-place Huskies doubled-up the first-place Drakkar.
Jean-Simon Allard opened scoring with his 15th of the year en route to being named the game's #2 star as St. John's defeated Halifax, 3-1. Defenseman T.J. Brennan was +1 with a air of minor penalties for the Fog Devils.
Paul Byron did everything but bury one for Gatineau in their 3-1 loss to Rimouski. The Sabres 6th round pick in 2007, Byron finished the night with four blocked shots, and a team leading four hits, and seven shots on goal.
Brad Eidsness was also in action tonight as Okotok's faced-off against Brooks. Those results will be posted shortly. In the meantime, check out a brief interview clip with the Sabres 2007 fifth-round pick on the front page of ajhl.ca.
Waterloo defender Drew MacKenzie did not play in Waterloo's 4-1 loss to Sioux City.
