Holy mother of hockey, folks. Brandon Avezov just put on an absolute clinic at World Ice Arena on Friday night, tallying a hat trick AND a six-point performance in Columbia’s thrilling 6-5 victory over Sacred Heart. When you’re already putting up video game numbers with 27 goals and 26 assists in just 10 games entering this one, what do you do for an encore? Drop six points in a single game, apparently. This kid is absolutely ridiculous.
The Lions came into this ECHC matchup sitting at .500 (6-6), while Sacred Heart was riding high with a solid 7-3 record. But records went out the window once the puck dropped, because this turned into an old-fashioned barn burner that had everything you could want in a college hockey game. Sacred Heart pushed Columbia to the brink, outshooting them 43-38, but sometimes hockey is just about having the right guys get hot at the right time.
Christopher Lerner decided he wasn’t going to let Avezov have all the fun, chipping in with two goals and two assists for his own four-point night. The kid came in with 18 goals and 24 assists in just eight games, so clearly Columbia has some serious offensive firepower. Dylan Bott, who’s only played two games this season, made his limited ice time count with three assists, while Jack O’Sullivan added a goal to round out the balanced scoring attack.
Frank Boal between the pipes for Columbia had to earn every penny of this win, facing 43 shots and making 38 saves for an .884 save percentage. Not his prettiest statistical night, but when your offense is putting up six goals, sometimes you just need to make enough stops to get the job done. Sacred Heart clearly came to play and made this way more interesting than Columbia probably would have preferred.
This win gets Columbia back to .500 at 7-6, while Sacred Heart drops to 7-4 but still sits in great position in the ECHC standings. But let’s be real – the story here is Avezov continuing his absolutely bonkers pace. Six points in one game is the kind of performance that makes highlight reels and gets college hockey fans talking. If this kid keeps up anywhere near this production, Columbia might be a lot more dangerous than their record suggests. What an absolute show.