BOSTON — It wasn’t just the goaltenders who were lights-out Monday night at TD Garden.
The 2016 Beanpot championship game will be remembered for the displays put on by Boston College goalie Thatcher Demko and his Boston University counterpart, Sean Maguire, but also for a strange incident that took place during the first period of BC’s eventual 1-0 overtime win.
With just over six minutes gone in the opening frame, a number of lights positioned high above the Garden ice went out, plunging the arena into a level of darkness typically reserved for pregame ceremonies. Though some lights flipped back on within minutes, others remained dark for close to half an hour, forcing officials to halt the game for 29 minutes as arena workers scrambled to remedy the situation.
The teams lingered on the ice during the early stages of delay, then waited out the remainder of it in their respective dressing rooms.
“It was like an intermission,” BU coach David Quinn said. “So, I think we all kind of reverted back to that — what we would normally do. … Guys stayed active and just did what they normally would do between periods.”
BC coach Jerry York said officials asked him and Quinn whether they would prefer to continue with the first period following the delay or bring the Zamboni out and play what amounted to a 29 minute second period with fresh ice. They chose option No. 1.
“Neither David nor I thought that would be a good idea,” York said. “… That’s a long period. Twenty-nine minutes, the ice, the second game of the night — it would have been like playing in your backyard, I think.”
A winter storm traveled through Boston on Monday and intensified near the beginning of the game, prompting speculation that weather conditions might have played a role in the outage. Tournament organizers offered the following statement after the game:
“A power surge affected the area TV lighting. We have not determined if the cause was internal or external.”
Some notes from Monday afternoon’s Beanpot consolation game, which Northeastern won in a 5-1 rout over Harvard:
— Northeastern senior Kevin Roy joined an exclusive club during his team’s blowout win, finishing with one assist to move into the top 25 on the all-time Beanpot scoring list. Roy, who earned tournament MVP honors as a freshman in 2013, ends his Beanpot career with seven goals and five assists in eight games.
— Mike McMurtry scored the Huskies’ first goal of the game and assisted on their second to continue his point-gathering tear. After managing just one point (an assist) over his first 14 games this season, he’s racked up 21 (five goals, 16 assists) over his last 14.
Thumbnail photo via Twitter/@BCHockeyNews
