Ryan Leonard is back with the Boston College Eagles in NCAA action after taking home a gold medal with Team USA at the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship. The 2023 first-round draft pick has played in three games since coming back stateside and has recorded six points (2g, 4a).
Leonard’s latest outing came against Merrimack College on Friday night. In the Eagles’ 6-4 victory, the 18-year-old winger assisted on a Will Smith goal and then scored his own 10 minutes later.
In the ensuing goal celebration, Leonard channeled his inner Radko Gudas and screamed directly in the face of Merrimack goaltender Zachary Borgiel. He received a two-minute, unsportsmanlike conduct minor penalty for his reaction. Here’s the video that was tweeted by @AdamZHerman.
The scoring play started with Leonard leading a rush into the Merrimack zone while on a power play. The Washington Capitals’ top prospect gained entry, dropped the puck to Smith, and then crashed the net. Smith sent a quick, cross-ice pass to Gabe Perreault who found Leonard at the back door for an easy tap-in.
Leonard then leaned over and roared directly in the face of Borgiel. A crowd then formed around the celebration hug as Merrimack players tried to get a shot in on Leonard, but couldn’t. Friday’s’s matchup between the two teams was a spicy one, featuring 18 minor penalties. Seven of those penalties were for roughing and Leonard received the lone unsportsmanlike conduct call.
The young winger has a propensity for sitting in the box due to his pest-like nature. He leads Boston College this season in both the number of penalties taken by one player (13) and penalty minutes served (26).
While Leonard’s goal ended up putting Boston College down a man and Merrimack scored on the ensuing power play, the marker also held up as the game-winning tally. The Eagles ended up 6-4 victors, snapping a four-game losing streak to Merrimack.
Leonard now has 24 points (12g, 12a) in 20 games in his freshman campaign. Right before leaving for the WJC, Leonard was named Hockey East Player of the Week and Hockey East Rookie of the Month in the span of a few days.
