Team Plante Powers Past Team Roenick

Buffalo, NY -- It's not often a BC and a BU guy will connect for a goal at all, let alone the game-winning goal with 1:50 left. But, that's just what happened Thursday night in the CCM/USA Hockey All-American Prospects Game at the First Niagara Center.

With the game tied, 4-4, Team Plante took advantage of a late power play to complete the comeback. Boston University freshman defenseman Charlie McAvoy took the puck all the way down into the zone, going from right to left behind the goal. As he was circling back he found an open teammate. He sent the puck to Boston College commit Luke McInnis, who was at the left point. After receiving the puck, the Youngstown Phantoms defenseman took a couple steps in before rifling a wrist shot that beat Team Roenick goaltender Stephen Dhillon on the blocker side.

Another BU commit, Kieffer Bellows, added an empty net goal to seal Team Plante's 6-4 win over Team Roenick. Derek Plante's team had trailed the Jeremy Roenick-coached team, 4-3, heading into the final period.

The game started better than it ended for Team Roenick. Just 10 seconds into the contest, Wisconsin freshman Luke Kunin burst up the right side after getting a lead pass from Joey Anderson. Kunin looked off Tkachuk, who also got an assist on the play, before firing a laser that fit right between the goaltender's glove and the corner of the post and crossbar.

Team Plante evened the score just over four minutes later on a pretty give-and-go. Max Jones gave Willie Knierim a pass in the neutral zone. The Miami recruit powered his way into the zone before cutting in on net. After he drew all the attention, he fed the puck back to Jones for an easy tip-in goal.

Midway through the opening period Team Roenick regained the lead, 2-1. BC commit Michael Campoli threw what appeared to be a harmless wrist shot on net from the left point. With two teammates in front, Timmy Gettinger got his stick on the puck in midair to deflect it past Team Plante goaltender Evan Sarthou.

The first half of the second period was quiet, but then the fireworks ignited. Usually not known for his offensive capabilities, defenseman J.D. Greenway made a couple of nice moves to evade defenders before sending a perfect pass out to the slot. Wisconsin commit Trent Frederic was there to blast home a one-timer to tie the score, 2-2, at the 10:26 mark.

With 4:49 to play in the second, Logan Brown gave Team Plante its first lead of the night. He quickly one-timed a nice centering feed from Knierim.

Not to be outdone, Team Roenick scored twice in a span of 10 seconds less than a minute later to take a 4-3 lead into the locker room. Tkachuk scored from his knees to tie the score. Anderson and Kunin assisted on the goal.

Kunin scored his second of the night right after as he raced in on net after getting a lead pass from Tkachuk.

For the second time in the game, Jones showed off his speed to tie the score, 4-4, with 6:37 to play in the third. He came charging down the right side, pulled up and quickly released a wrist shot that caught Dhillon off guard for a nearside goal.

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Jeff Cox covers college, junior, high school and prep hockey, NCAA recruiting and NHL Draft prospects. Follow him on Twitter @JeffCoxSports.