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Thoughts from an uneducated hockey mind: How the Gophers can beat BC in the Frozen Four Semi's

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Well hello there everyone! It's your old pal JDMill here, ready to drop some (lack of) knowledge on you regarding hockey, and specifically about the Gophers upcoming Frozen Four appearance.

Next Thursday, April 5th, the Gophers will take on the Boston College Eagles in the late game (or what I like to call "The Main Event") of the semifinals. "Puck Drop" is scheduled for 7pm CT, or after the Union College/Ferris State game. BC won the Hockey East conference and then blanked both Air Force (2-0) and Duluth (4-0) to earn their Frozen Four trip.

So what should you know about BC? Plenty.

First, what is most impressive is that Boston College has won their last 17 games in a row. SEVENTEEN! Yikes. BC has not lost a game since January 21st.

On their way to a 31-10-1 record, Boston College gave up just over 2 goals/game (2.07), and less than 27 shots/game. Offensively, BC scores 3.5 goals/game.

But here's something that I found interesting: Boston College gave up more than 2 goals just three times in their 31 wins, and all three of those times they gave up just 3 goals. In other words, in every game where BC gave up more than 3 goals (8 times), they lost.

As mentioned Boston College is on a hot streak, 17 wins in a row heading into the Frozen Four. What's more is that in those 17 wins, BC gave up more than two goals just one time. It happened to be the first game of the streak, meaning that they have 16 games in a row where they have not given up more than 2 goals. And to take it a step further, in those 16 games where they didn't give up more than 2 goals, they actually only allowed 2 goals 5 times. They also had 5 shutouts.

Boston College is difficult to score on, especially over the past 2 months.

By contrast the Gophers are... well, not that much different... at least on an overall basis.

Defensively the Gophers give up 2.21 goals/game, while scoring 3.67 goals/game, and they actually give up less shots than BC at just 24.9/game. The Gophers scored 4 goals or more in 17 games this season and they won 15 of them. The other two were a tie and a loss.

To recap...
When the Gophers score 4 or more goals, they win 88% of the time.
When BC gives up 4 or more goals, they lose 100% of the time.

So, looking only at stats, and considering my uneducated hockey mind (notice how I keep reminding you of that?), if the statistics hold true, and the Gophers can keep with their season average and get 4 goals past BC Junior Goalie Parker Milner (93.5 save %), they will beat Boston College.

It's really that simple folks. If the Gophers score 4 goals they will win.

Game Plan: Score 4 goals.

You're welcome.

(Please feel free to forward this simple game plan to Don Lucia. I'd do it myself, but that would just be arrogant.)