On Friday night, the Boston College men’s hockey team faced off against the Alaska Nanooks in Conte Forum to open the 2026-27 regular season.
It was a hot start for the BC offense, who got right to work after the opening puck drop. They got a bunch of quality chances in front of the Alaska net to start the first period, and Teddy Stiga converted just two minutes into the game for a 1-0 Eagles lead.
They continued to generate pressure for much of the period, but penalties got in the way of their momentum.
Both teams went on the penalty kill three times, creating a choppy back-and-forth pace that didn’t benefit BC. Eventually Alaska forward Sam Elliott blew by Eagles freshman Quinn Beauchesne in front of the net and got a bouncing puck past Cloutier to tie the game up at 1-1.
The second period was just as messy. The BC Pep Band played Seven Nation Army yet again as the Eagles went on the penalty kill for the 4th time. Alaska was now the team generating pressure and put BC on the back foot. Cloutier played admirably, though, and make a few nice pad saves to keep the Nanooks out of the net. Boston College finally got a little momentum towards the end of the period, keeping the puck in the offensive zone for an extended stretch and getting some quality shot opportunities. Oscar Hemming nearly scored over the goalie’s right shoulder, but it was just an inch too low and BC went into the second intermission still tied 1-1.
The third period started… exactly the same way. BC was in the penalty box again within three minutes, and this time Alaska converted on a deep shot from Davis Borozinskis to take a 2-1 lead.
BC received a powerplay of their own a few minutes later and got a couple shots at the top of the faceoff circle, but nothing really of substance. Then after the penalty timer ran out, Alaska’s Davis Borozinskis intercepted a pass at center ice and scored a breakaway goal, his 2nd of the night. Alaska had a 3-1 lead with just over 10 minutes left, and BC looked dysfunctional.
Despite getting that pressure early in the game and then some spurts of production in the second period, BC looked completely flat in the third. Alaska stifled the Eagles every time they brought the puck up the ice, with seemingly only Dean Letourneau able to get the puck past the blue line. Their coordination was completely off and they were regularly passing into contested areas without much hope of even establishing possession, nevermind getting a shot off.
Teddy Stiga got held by the net with about six minutes left to go, giving BC a much needed powerplay. Dean Letourneau scored almost immediately on a pass from Luka Radivojevic to give the Eagles some life, now down only 3-2. But Stiga quickly got into penalty trouble of his own, forcing BC into a two minute penalty kill with less than five minutes remaining. Then Quinn Beauchesne got BC into even more trouble by losing the puck behind Cloutier and getting penalized twice in succession, once for hooking and another for roughing when he pushed an Alaska player down to the ice unprovoked.
Killing the 5-on-3 took up most of the rest of the clock. Cloutier got pulled with just over a minute left, but by then it was too late. The Eagles couldn’t generate any quality chances with a 6-on-5 and the clock expired to give the Nanooks a 3-2 win at Conte Forum.
Boston College will host St Cloud State on Thursday and Saturday next week.
