By Lenny Neslin, Boston.com Staff

Today was the first time Cory Schneider took the net at TD Garden since his days as Boston College's netminder from 2004-2007.

"It was a great feeling," Schneider said of playing on familiar ice. "As a college player I didn't know if I would ever get the chance to play here again, so to be able to come back and have this opportunity in front of a lot of friends and family and people at home watching, it was really cool."

Schneider was a part of two Frozen Four finals teams before forgoing his senior season to enter the NHL draft.

But today most of the crowd wasn't on his side. Throughout the game fans chanted, "We want Luon-go," referring to Roberto Luongo, the Canucks' usual starter.

"Different vibe but we got a good taste of it last year so it's nothing new. It was a great atmosphere to play in. It was fun for me to play in front of people who have grown up cheering for me and supporting me my whole life."

Vancouver coach Alain Vigneault didn't share his reasoning on choosing Schneider over Luongo.

Schneider was able to block out the distractions in a game filled with 32 penalties and several delays for fights, stopping 36 shots in the Canucks' 4-3 victory. He said, as a goalie, he couldn't get involved with any of the fighting.

"I have to worry about stopping the puck so I don't want to get distracted and get caught up in that stuff," Schneider said. "As a goalie it's not my place to be grabbing guys and jumping guys unless I have to and/or their guy gets in there."