Frozen Four 2015: Providence Defeats Boston University
The Providence Friars have won the Frozen Four championship for the first time in their history. Thanks to two late third period goals the Friars topped the Boston University Terriers 4-3.
In the third period the Terriers led 3-2 before their goaltender Matt O’Connor caught a shot. He then dropped down and inexplicitly dropped the puck and it went into the net to tie the game for the Friars.
Providence took a 1-0 lead in the first period before Boston University scored two quick goals. In fact, the two goals were four seconds apart for a Frozen Four record. The goals came from Ahti Oskanen and Danny O’Reagan; it was O’Reagan’s 23rd goal of the season and came off of a slick pass from Jack Eichel.
While O’Connor couldn’t hold on for the Terriers, Providence goaltender Jon Gillies played tremendous. He stopped a whopping 49 saves on 52 shots and stopped a Terriers club that put on the pressure in the third period. The Calgary Flames prospect stepped up the entire tournament to lead the Friars to their unlikely title.
Once Boston University pulled their goalie they pressured Providence in their own zone for nearly the entire final minute in the game. Nick Roberto had the best chance when the puck bounced over his stick before hitting Gillies and he held on for the save.
Brandon Tanev scored the game winning goal for the Friars just two minutes after the tying goal from Tom Parisi that came thanks to the gaffe from O’Connor. Tanev scored the goal off of a Kevin Rooney face off win, who had a fantastic final game.
This contest was littered with NHL prospects, including Boston University super star Jack Eichel who is the likely first or second pick in June’s upcoming NHL draft. This was his last game with the Terriers after a historic 66 point season. Meanwhile, Gillies certainly impressed his organization in the Flames and they have to be thrilled about their future goalie.
This was the first NCAA championship in the history of Providence hockey, and their run was unlikely after making the tournament with an at-large bid and missing out at a shot for the Hockey East title. They would have faced these same Terriers in the conference tournament if not for a red hot New Hampshire team they ran into. Nonetheless, Providence is happy with the way their season came to an end, while this loss will haunt Boston University for a long time.