With a four-year starter in goal, excessive speed at forward and experience and size on the back end, defending NCAA champion Boston College put together its latest whipping Friday night at Magness Arena.
In the University of Denver’s home opener, the top-ranked Eagles rocked the No. 6 Pioneers 6-2 before a sellout crowd of 6,036.
BC (2-0) jumped ahead 5-0 behind an awesome transition game and superlative marksmanship. Each member of the Eagles’ top line — center Brian Gibbons, left wing Joe Whitney and right wing Cam Atkinson — scored a goal, and the latter two each added two assists for three-point nights.
Dating to last season, BC has outscored its last four opponents 20-3. The Eagles crushed Miami (Ohio) and Wisconsin 7-1 and 5-0 at the Frozen Four in April and began defense of their national title with a 2-0 win over Northeastern last weekend.
DU, which got both its goals from junior wing Luke Salazar, drops to 1-1-1 heading into tonight’s two-game series finale against BC.
The Pioneers will go with freshman goalie Sam Brittain, who hopes to have more support in front of him than sophomore Adam Murray had Friday.
“Adam Murray let in six goals (but) he made this game a lot more respectable,” DU coach George Gwozdecky said. “That’s a good team to have to play even-up, but when you start giving them multiple (odd-man) chances, they’re going to take advantage of it. From our seniors down, we know we can play better, and the bottom line is, we’ll come back to work a lot harder and smarter (tonight).”
BC led 1-0 after a close first period before scoring four times in the first 13 minutes of the second. Junior wing Jimmy Hayes and brother Kevin Hayes, a freshman center, capitalized on poor DU defensive coverages in producing the Eagles’ fourth and fifth goals.
Both tallies occurred after a DU defenseman was caught behind the puck, and BC skated through the neutral with a 3-on-1 advantage. Jimmy Haynes snuck a wrist shot between Murray’s legs, and Kevin Haynes clanged a wrist shot off a goalpost and in.
DU finally got a goal at 15:35, when Salazar one-timed a nice Jesse Martin feed past goalie John Muse. Salazar scored again early in the third, but Gibbons made it 6-2 with a short-handed breakaway goal soon thereafter.
BC’s electrifying top line produced the game’s first two goals. Whitney cashed in from atop the crease off Atkinson’s saucer pass late in the first period, and Atkinson made it 2-0 by tapping in Whitney’s behind-the-net feed early in the second.
DU played without freshman center Nick Shore, who has a fractured right wrist, and junior wing Dustin Jackson (mononucleosis) and sophomore defenseman William Wrenn (hamstring).
None of those players are expected back tonight.
“We can beat them,” DU captain Kyle Ostrow said of tonight’s rematch. “We just need to play our game. We just have to forget about it but learn from it, and not give them turnovers and leave our goalie out to dry.”
Mike Chambers: 303-954-1357 or mchambers@denverpost.com
