When asked earlier this season what was it about Gabe Perreault that I liked so much; I said that when the puck was on his stick, he made magic happen. And with that the name the Magician was born. Older Ranger fans will know when I say that Gabe Perreault reminds me of Martin St. Louis as a player.
Perreault is a creator, few have his talent to know exactly where each of his teammates is on the ice at all times. Even fewer can put the puck on a teammates stick in a way that they can fire off a shot on goal with little effort.
The NCAA tournament was not kind to Perreault during the first two games as he was held without a point for both games for only the second time this season. Perreault was not held without a point for three straight games at any point of the season and against the Michigan Wolverines there was not third game without a point,
Perreault with a 1-2-3 performance helped lead his top-seeded Boston College Eagles into the national championship game after a 4-0 shutout of Michigan. One almost felt sorry for Michigan as nothing they could do would solve Boston College at either end of the ice.
Perreault and his “Freshman line” linemates needed all of 1:20 score the only goal that Boston College would need. It was Perreault who got the play started as he sent his linemates on an odd-man rush that Will Smith finished for a 1-0 lead.
That 1-0 lead would stand up as the only goal of the first period and if not for Michigan’s Jake Barczewski in goal the score would have been much worse for Michigan. In the second, Perreault would earn his second point of the game when with both teams with a man in the penalty box, Perreault got the puck to Will Smith at the blueline and Smith would take the puck to the net and score to give Boston College a 2-0 lead at 12:25 of the second.
Less than a minute later at 13:14 and with both teams down a man, Boston College would make it 3-0 on a Cutter Gauthier goal. The period would end with Boston College up 3-0 and all you could hear from the ESPN announcers was how Michigan was going to mount a comeback in the third period.
That is when Gabe Perreault would stick the dagger into any hopes that Michigan had of any comeback. As ESPN’s John Buccigross said when Perreault picked up the puck “He can be magical” and Perreault was as he took the puck to the Michigan goal skating behind it and wrapped the puck into the goal for a 4-0 lead and Michigan was done.
Wrap around goal 3-on-1?
That's not fair, Gabe 😮💨
📺 ESPN2
💻 https://t.co/5s2DsDrbpC pic.twitter.com/fOmI6KwftS— BC Men's Hockey (@BC_MHockey) April 12, 2024
It was Perreault’s 19th goal of the season and his 60th point as Boston College was headed to the championship final against Denver University on Saturday. Boston College won for the 15th straight time and in facing Denver they will be taking on a team that handed Boston College a 4-3 loss way back on October 21st. Boston College has only lost five games this season so it will be one heck of a matchup.
Teammate Drew Fortescue may not have scored but the freshman defenseman was solid defensively as he made several good defensive plays and did a very good job clearing the puck out of the defensive zone. He may not score the goals like Perreault but his contributions on defense are equally important and just a reminder he has been a first pair defenseman all season long.
Bryce McConnell-Barker and his Soo Greyhounds opened their OHL Western Conference playoff series against the Saginaw Spirit with a 4-0 loss. The Greyhounds, who finished seven points behind the Spirit played them even for the first period, but Saginaw scored twice in both the second and third periods to earn a 1-0 series lead and keep the home ice advantage.
Saginaw is also the host of the 2024 Memorial Cup, so they are already guaranteed a spot in the Memorial Cup, but the Greyhounds must find a way solve the Spirit if they have any hope of beating them McConnell-Barker was limited to just three shots with a -2 and he was 8-10 on his faceoffs.
Game two will be Saturday still in Saginaw.
