Devils Downed in Reverse Retro Debut

 

The New Jersey Devils made their debut in green on Tuesday night. Unfortunately, it didn't help them to a victory.

Oliver Wahlstrom (Boston College) and Anders Lee (Notre Dame) scored for the New York Islanders in their 2-1 win over the host Devils at the Prudential Center in Newark, the first game in which fans were allowed at a Devils home game since late last season. About 1,800 spectators were allowed, due to COVID-19 regulations.

New Jersey, which wore red, white and green from 1982 to 1991 before switching to red, white and black, debuted its Reverse Retro uniform in the contest. It marked the first time that the club had worn green helmets, gloves, jerseys and socks in its history, along with red pants.

Wahlstrom's goal 70 seconds into the third period, a wrist shot from above the right circle, broke a scoreless tie and gave New York a lead it would not relinquish. The goal was his third in his last four games, and also gave the Quincy, Mass. native six points over his last five appearances.

Lee followed up his own rebound in front of the New Jersey net with just over 12 minutes remaining in regulation for the game-winner. It was also his team-leading 10th goal of the 2020-21 campaign, giving him double-digit goals in seven straight NHL seasons.

Miles Wood (Boston College) scored from the doorstep with less than 15 seconds left in the third period to put New Jersey on the scoreboard, his team-best seventh goal of the season, but it wasn't enough for the home team. Aaron Dell (North Dakota) made 18 stops for the Devils in his second start for New Jersey, after being being claimed off waivers from the Toronto Maple Leafs last month.

New Jersey, which has lost six of its last seven outings, entertains the rival New York Rangers tonight, while the Islanders host the Buffalo Sabres.

Hockey East Skaters Shine on NHL Sunday

Sunday marked a stellar day for former Hockey East skaters in National Hockey League play, particularly those from the two major Boston-area schools.

Kevin Hayes (Boston College) scored the winning goal in overtime for the Philadelphia Flyers, who also got three goals from Joel Farabee (Boston University) in a 4-3 win over the New York Islanders. It was Hayes' fourth career OT goal in NHL play, and Farabee's first career NHL hat trick.

Miles Wood (Boston College) scored two goals and added an assist in the New Jersey Devils' 5-3 victory at Buffalo. His first goal tied the game at three late in the second period, while his second goal was an insurance marker into an empty net late in the third period with New Jersey leading by a goal at the time.

Jordan Greenway (Boston University) set up the game-winning goal 18 seconds into OT as the Minnesota Wild outlasted the visiting Colorado Avalanche, 4-3. Cale Makar (Massachusetts) scored his first goal of the 2020-21 season for Colorado in the loss.

Last night, Johnny Gaudreau (Boston College) notched the game-winner as the Calgary Flames won, 2-0, at Montreal to snap a three-game winless skid. Like Makar, Gaudreau is a former Hobey Baker Memorial Award winner as the best player in NCAA Division I men's ice hockey.

Earlier this week, on Jan. 28, goaltender Jake Oettinger (Boston University) picked up his first NHL win for the Dallas Stars, making 20 stops in a 7-3 triumph at Detroit. Oliver Wahlstrom (Boston College) tallied his first career NHL goal for the Islanders that same evening in a 6-3 loss at Washington.

U.S. Falls to Finland in WJC Gold Medal Game

Sasha Chmelevski and Josh Norris scored goals (Michigan), and Cayden Primeau made 28 saves in all, but the U.S. National Junior Team came up short Saturday night in the 2019 IIHF World
Junior Championship gold medal game in Vancouver. A late third-period goal gave Finland a 3-2 victory and its first WJC gold since 2016.

After Finland took a 2-0 lead early in the third period, Chmelevski and Norris scored to tie the game before the Finns took the lead for good with 1:26 remaining in regulation on Kaapo Kakko's goal off a goalmouth scramble. A first-period goal by USA's Oliver Wahlstrom (Boston College) was disallowed, due to interference with Finnish goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.

It was the first WJC silver medal since 1997 for the U.S., which was seeking its third gold medal in four years. Finland now has five WJC gold medals overall, while the U.S. remains at four. Ryan Poehling (St. Cloud State) of Team USA was named Most Valuable Player of this year's tournament, after finishing third among all scorers with five goals and eight assist for 13 points.

U.S. Tops Russia, Advances to WJC Gold Medal Game

The United States will medal for the fourth consecutive year at the World Junior Championships. The only question now is if that medal will be silver or gold.

Team USA advanced to the championship game of the 2019 tournament in Vancouver with a 2-1 semifinal win over Russia on Friday. Oliver Wahlstrom (Boston College) and Sasha Chmelevski scored goals for the Americans, and Cayden Primeau (Northeastern) made 34 saves for the U.S., which will be seeking its second World Juniors gold in three years, and fifth WJC gold medal all-time.

The U.S. will face Finland, a 6-1 semifinal winner over Switzerland, on Saturday (8 p.m. ET, NHL Network) for the title. The Americans defeated the Finns, 2-1, on Dec. 26 in round-robin play to open this year's tournament.

BC Falls to Bentley, 4-2

Boston College men's hockey's non-conference woes continue.

The Eagles fell behind Bentley University, 3-0, on Friday at Conte Forum in the first-ever meeting between the two Bay State schools, en route to a 4-2 loss to the visiting Falcons. Bentley scored two goals in the second period, and added two more in the third, including an empty-net goal with 67 seconds remaining in regulation after BC (3-6-1 overall) had closed to within 3-2.

Tanner Jago and Will Garin staked Bentley to a two-goal advantage in the middle stanza, both with power-play goals, before Matt Lombardozzi scored early in the third period. David Cotton tallied the first Eagles' goal on a power play, his team-leading 10th goal overall of the campaign, with 11 minutes left in the third. Oliver Wahlstrom, the subject of much scrutiny the previous 24 hours as to whether or not he would stay at the Heights, then pulled BC within a goal with 1:31 left before Jake Kauppila hit the empty net for the Falcons, who got 23 saves from Aidan Pelino.

Bentley (4-7-1), a member of Atlantic Hockey, now has nine wins over the last 11 years against Hockey East opponents, and will play at Holy Cross on Saturday. BC, which got 17 saves from Joseph Woll on Friday, has not won a non-conference NCAA contest since defeating Arizona State at Conte Forum in Nov. 2016. The Eagles will return to Hockey East action next weekend with a home-and-home series against Green Line rival Boston University.

Hutsko Headlines 2018 Boston College Draftees

Logan Hutsko (Boston College) was the lone current member of the BC men's hockey team to be drafted on Saturday at the 2018 NHL Draft in Dallas. The Florida native was chosen in the third round, 89th overall, by the Florida Panthers.

A former member of the U.S. National Team Development Program, Hutsko overcame both a neck fracture and a cracked kneecap prior to college to tally 12 goals and 19 assists for 31 points as a freshman for the Eagles in 2017-18. He also helped BC to last season's Hockey East regular season title.

Incoming BC freshman Jack McBain, son of retired NHL player Andrew McBain, was the first choice of the third round, and went 63rd overall to the Minnesota Wild. The 6-foot-3 center recorded 21-37—58 points in 48 regular-season appearances last year with his hometown Toronto Junior Canadiens in the Ontario Junior Hockey League. On the first day of the draft on Friday, incoming BC forward Oliver Wahlstrom was selected 11th overall by the New York Islanders.

Two former Eagle defensemen were involved in trades over the weekend. On Saturday, Noah Hanifin was traded from the Carolina Hurricanes to the Calgary Flames, in a deal that also involved former Calgary draft choice Adam Fox (Harvard) going to Carolina. Hanifin played just one year at BC, and helped the Eagles to the 2015 NCAA Tournament by notching five goals and 23 points in 37 outings. He has collected 18-65—83 points in three complete NHL seasons, all with the Hurricanes.

On Friday, two-time Stanley Cup champion Brooks Orpik was dealt from the Washington Capitals, whom he helped to their first-ever Cup earlier this month, to the Colorado Avalanche. A member of BC's 2001 NCAA championship team, Orpik notched 41 points and 324 penalty minutes in three seasons at the Heights, and has registered 185 points and 940 PIM in 14 full NHL campaigns.

Four NCAA Skaters Among First 14 Taken in NHL First Round

Current and incoming NCAA players were among the four Americans taken in the top 14 selections in Friday's first round of the 2018 NHL Draft in Dallas.

Freshman forward Brady Tkachuk (Boston University) went fourth overall to the Ottawa Senators. The son of former BU and NHL forward Keith Tkachuk, the younger Tkachuk tallied eight goals and 31 points in 40 games this past season with the Terriers, and also helped them to their first Hockey East title since 2015. He also aided the U.S. in winning a bronze medal at the 2018 IIHF World Junior Championship in Buffalo.

Three picks after Tkachuk, the Vancouver Canucks tabbed defenseman Quinn Hughes (Michigan), who also played for the U.S. in Buffalo, and then helped the Wolverines to the 2018 NCAA Frozen Four in Minnesota after recording 5-24--29 points in 37 contests in his freshman NCAA campaign.

Right wing Oliver Wahlstrom, who is expected to join Boston College this fall after previously committing to Harvard, went at No. 11 overall to the New York Islanders after notching 40-43--83 points in 54 appearances with the U.S. National team Development Program's Under-18 squad. At No. 15, Boston University recruit Joel Farabee was taken by the Philadelphia Flyers, after collecting 27-37--64 points in 54 outings with the USA U-18 team.

Tkachuk and Hughes, like Wahlstrom and Farabee, were also products of the NTDP.

Other players with existing or upcoming NCAA ties who were taken in the first round on Friday included (Selection, NHL Team, Name, Position, Nationality, Team/League, NCAA school):

No. 19, Philadelphia, Jay O' Brien, C, USA, Thayer Academy/USHS (Providence)

No. 22, New York Rangers, K'andre Miller, D, USA, USA-18/NTDP (Wisconsin)

No. 26, Ottawa, Jacob Bernard-Docker, D, Canada, Okotoks/AJHL (North Dakota)

All 2018 NHL Draft selections can be found here.

U.S. Finishes Second at 2018 World Under-18s

The United States took the silver medal at the recently-completed 2018 IIHF World Under-18 Hockey Championship in Russia.

The defending champion Americans fell to Finland, 3-2, on Sunday in the gold medal game in Chelyabinsk. Patrick Giles, who is committed to Boston College, and Trevor Janicke (Notre Dame) scored for the U.S., while Spencer Knight (Boston College) made 25 saves.

Jack Hughes of the U.S. was named both the tournament's top forward and its Most Valuable Player, and was also named to the All-Tournament Team. Hughes led all tournament scorers with seven assists and 12 points over seven games.

Team USA defenseman Cameron York (Boston College), and forward Oliver Wahlstrom (Harvard), were also named to the All-Tournament Team. York tied for second overall with six assists, while Wahlstrom finished second among all scorers with seven goals.