BOSTON — Providence, indeed.
Jon Gillies of South Portland made a career-high 49 saves to lead Providence College to its first NCAA hockey championship Saturday, 4-3 over Boston University before an announced crowd of 18,022 at TD Garden.
But the door was opened by Terriers goaltender Matt O’Connor, whose third-period gaffe will be talked about in hockey circles for years to come.
With BU leading 3-2 with 8:36 remaining, Friars defenseman Tom Parisi lofted a harmless shot that O’Connor easily gloved. He looked around as if wondering where to leave it for a teammate to sweep up and then dropped it at his feet, watching helplessly as it trickled across the goal line for the tying score.
“I couldn’t really see it in my glove,” O’Connor said. “I thought it rolled out of it. I tried to drop it and throw it to Jack (Eichel) and it was too late.”
The Terriers (28-8-5) then appeared to be in a trance as Providence College applied pressure. BU Coach David Quinn called timeout with 6:19 remaining to snap his team out of it, to no avail. On the ensuing faceoff, Providence College’s Kevin Rooney fed Brandon Tanev, whose quick wrist shot found the back of the net for the winning goal.
Gillies, a 6-foot-5 junior, took care of the rest. He gobbled up a deflected shot by Matt Grzelcyk with 4:50 remaining and gloved a Brandon Hickey attempt at 3:40. But his most miraculous save came as the clock approached the final minute with O’Connor pulled for an extra Terrier attacker.
Cason Hohmann gathered a rebound on his backhand and had nearly the entire net staring at him.
But Gillies dived backward and blocked his shot with his torso as the crowd roared.
“It’s six on five, so there’s a lot of traffic in front,” Gillies said. “You just try to let the puck hit you and if it does squirt out or something like that, at that point of the game, you just try to get something in front of it, and try and battle for the guys that are battling for you in the front.”
As time wound down, defenseman Kyle McKenzie turned in the crease and leaped up into Gillies’ arms.
Providence (26-13-2) became only the second No. 4 seed to win a title, joining Yale in 2013.
The Friars are also the third consecutive team to be crowned first-time champions after Yale, then Union College last year.
Gillies, who made 25 saves in the 4-1 semifinal victory against Nebraska Omaha, was named the Frozen Four’s Most Outstanding Player. He hoisted the championship trophy and skated it over to a throng of Friars fans gathered behind the Plexiglas in one corner of the arena.
Long forgotten were the early goals he surrendered.
“You just try to take a deep breath and refocus, and remember that it’s a long way to the game’s end,” Gillies said. “I believe in these guys 100 percent all year that we were going to be able to come back and win that thing, and that’s what happened.”
Gillies, a 2012 Calgary Flames draft pick, turned down the chance to begin his professional career after last season in order to return for a chance at a national championship.
Mission accomplished, with an assist by O’Connor.
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