The Hockey East tournament already has been filled with plenty of drama and plenty of extra time. And that was just the opening round.
No. 7 seed Vermont (20-13-4) wrapped up an exciting start to the playoff tourney Sunday, needing more than 16 minutes of overtime to earn a 3-2 win over No. 10 seed Maine (14-22-3) and take the three-game series.
After Maine’s 4-2 victory Saturday forced a decisive Game 3, the Catamounts came out determined to prevent the upset. Vermont’s Brady Shaw scored on the power play midway through the first period, and forward Kevin Irwin added an even-strength goal at the 8:37 mark of the second to extend the lead to 2-0.
Yet the Black Bears kicked into desperation mode in the third period, as Ben Hutton cut the deficit to one goal with a tally just two minutes into the frame. With less than five minutes to play in regulation, Maine’s Devin Shore scored at even strength to keep his team’s season alive.
After nearly 20 minutes of back-and-forth battle in the extra period, Vermont forward Jonathan Turk finally iced it with the game-winning goal to lift his team into the quarterfinals.
With the opening round in the books, the quarterfinal pairings are set, and Vermont will start things off next Friday when it battles No. 3 seed Boston College.
Opening Round Results
Notre Dame 7, Massachusetts 0 (ND wins series 2-1)
Quarterfinal Matchups
No. 1 Boston University vs. No. 11 Merrimack
No. 2 Providence vs. No. 8 New Hampshire
No. 3 Boston College vs. No. 7 Vermont
No. 4 UMass-Lowell vs. No. 5 Notre Dame
Thumbnail photo via Twitter/@bangordailynews
