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No. 3 BU holds off No. 1 BC, sets up showdown with Northeastern in Beanpot championship
"It's pretty special — it was exactly what I thought it would be like.”
Over 3,000 miles currently separates Macklin Celebrini from his hometown of North Vancouver, British Columbia.
But it doesn’t take a New England upbringing for Celebrini to realize that the first two Mondays in February mean something more for the hockey faithful in Boston.
“It’s pretty special stepping out there for the first time,” Celebrini said of his first foray into the Beanpot tournament. “You see the students section and all the people there and you definitely know what it means for our school and our program. It’s pretty special — it was exactly what I thought it would be like.”
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This time next year, the gifted Boston University product might be back on the TD Garden ice, albeit draped in an NHL sweater.
But on Monday night, the No. 3 Terriers’ top triggerman wasn’t fixated on the NHL or his draft standing.
For Celebrini, an anticipated rematch with No. 1 Boston College in the 71st Men’s Beanpot tournament represented the highest stage he’s been on during his brief collegiate career.
And the projected No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft didn’t disappoint.
Behind a two-goal salvo from Celebrini, the Terriers came out swinging and kept themselves off the mat in a heavyweight bout against the Eagles — punching their ticket to the Beanpot title game by way of a 4-3 victory over their arch-rival.
With Monday’s victory over the Eagles, the Terriers put themselves on a collision course with Northeastern — who advanced to the championship round of the storied tournament hours earlier via a 3-2 overtime win over Harvard.
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BU (18-7-1) and Northeastern (12-12-2) will battle for the Beanpot on Monday, Feb. 12, at TD Garden. Puck drop for the championship game is set for 7:30 p.m. The Eagles (19-5-1) and Crimson (4-14-3) will play in the consolation game at 4:30 p.m. on that day.
After getting swept by the Eagles in a hyped home-and-home series late last month, the Terriers exacted revenge against their cross-town nemesis on Monday — with a spirited surge from BC too little, too late in the final period of play.
“Certainly didn’t have the start that we wanted tonight,” Boston College head coach Greg Brown noted. “BU was clearly the better team in the first period. [I] thought they were playing with more tempo than we were, forced us into a lot of turnovers. … I think all three games were really close. So you could argue that each of the three games could have gone either way.”
All it takes is a quick glimpse at Celebrini’s stat sheet to validate his lofty draft standing — with the sharpshooting centerman putting up video-game numbers (21 goals, 39 points in 24 games) at just 17 years old.
And on Monday, the freshman set the tone early against the Eagles. In the span of 2:10, Celebrini bested BC star freshman netminder Jacob Fowler by way of a sharp wrist shot from the slot and a one-time howitzer on the power play.
“I think a lot of them thrive in these situations,” BU head coach Jay Pandolfo said of Celebrini and the Terriers’ young talent. “Some of them perform better under pressure. I think they look for those opportunities to make a difference on a big stage. And you saw that tonight with Macklin. … He wants to play in these big games, and I think he’s prepared for it.”
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BC freshman forward Gabe Perreault got the Eagles on the board with a power-play strike at 6:06 in the second, with the primary helper coming off the stick of Lexington native and 2023 first-round pick (No. 4 overall, San Jose Sharks) Will Smith.
Perreault’s spark was short-lived. A pair of Terriers found twine in senior winger Luke Tuch and sophomore center Ryan Greene, giving BU a 4-1 lead midway through the third period.
Granted, few rosters are better equipped to eliminate a three-goal deficit in record time than the Eagles.
And just 3:17 after BC senior Gentry Shamburger cut the deficit to two, Perreault knocked home a crisp feed from fellow freshman and Amherst native Ryan Leonard — making it a 4-3 game and putting the Terriers on the ropes.
Perrault’s second goal of the night set the stage for a frantic final stretch of action on Causeway Street.
But as two seas of gold and scarlet fanbases traded verbal barbs across the Garden, BC was unable to land the knockout punch — with BU goalie Mathieu Caron (34 saves) standing tall en route to the win.
“I mean, BU-BC, it goes back a hundred years,” Tuch, whose brother, Alex, played for the Eagles from 2014-16, noted. “It’s really hard to describe until you’re on the ice and you just hear the student sections going at it with each other.
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“It’s really competitive. And I think there’s a lot of respect between the two teams. But any time you’re matching up against those guys, there’s just that extra edge that you got to give.”
While Caron and the Terriers managed to clamp down in the third period, a tenacious, young Harvard squad was unable to follow the same script in Monday’s earlier matchup against the Huskies.
The Crimson’s first lead of the evening came at 4:21 in the third period, with first-year defenseman Matthew Morden beating Northeastern netminder Cameron Whitehead (21 saves) with a blast from the blue line to give Harvard a 2-1 edge.
But the Huskies surged back to force overtime, with captain Justin Hryckowian flipping a skittering puck past Harvard goalie Derek Mullahy to knot the contest up at 2-2.
Huskies senior forward Gunnarwolfe Fontaine provided the heroics during the extra frame, lighting the lamp just 33 seconds into OT to lift Northeastern to its sixth straight Beanpot championship appearance.
“I think we’ve improved. Sometimes you can’t fully see it with just the results,” Harvard head coach Ted Donato said of his team, which features 13 first-years and sophomores. “We’ve got a young team, but they’ve persevered and we’re starting to develop an identity. Hopefully we’ll be a tough out at the end of the season.”
It’s been an uneven season so far for the Huskies, but they appear to be finding their footing at the right time. Northeastern has now won five games in a row, including a 4-3 overtime win against the Terriers on Jan. 30 at Matthews Arena.
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They’ll look to make it six straight next Monday against the Terriers — with a coveted trophy and city-wide bragging rights up for grabs.
“We have a hard time with Northeastern since I’ve been here and they play us very tough,” Pandolfo noted. “It seems like they’re always at their best playing against us. So we certainly have to be ready.”
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