Hockey East Home and Home in the Face of JY1K

Friday, January 22

Amherst, Mass.

7:00 PM

Boston College

Massachusetts

Hockey East Home and Home in the Face of JY1K

January 20, 2016 | Men's Hockey

No. 4 Boston College heads to western Mass for a Friday night date with UMass before the Eagles return home to host Connecticut on Saturday at Kelley Rink; both games currently scheduled for 7 p.m.

GAME DAY INFORMATION
WHEN	Friday, Jan. 22 at 7 p.m. // Saturday, Jan. 23 at 7 p.m.
WHERE	Mullins Center (Amherst, Mass.) on Friday // Kelley Rink at Conte Forum (Chestnut Hill, Mass.) on Saturday
HOW TO FOLLOW	FRIDAY: Video // Audio // Live Stats \| SATURDAY: Video // Audio // Live Stats
GAME NOTES	PDF version // WEB version
MEDIA CENTER	Radio (WEEI 850 AM) - P x P: Jon Rish // Color: Andy Powers // Engineer: Mark Feldman

MASSACHUSETTS vs. BOSTON COLLEGE
Boston College closes out the regular season series against Massachusetts Friday night at the Mullins Center; a venue where the Eagles have no lost in since 2012, but have the Minutemen have put up a good fight in recent battles. As members of Hockey East, the Eagles lost their first trip to western Mass against the Minutemen on Jan. 7, 1995 (3-5) before rattling off 16-consecutive victories on Masschusetts' ice over the course of 10 years from 1995 to 2005. Since then, UMass has given BC a run for its money as Boston College holds only a slight 6-5-1 margin over the Minutemen in games at the Mullins Center since 2006. Boston College and UMass initiated their season series in early November as the Eagles trounced the Minutemen, 7-0, at Kelley Rink. UMass fell victim to being BC's fourth shutout opponent in five games on Nov. 3, marking a program first. BC scored six goals in the second period against UMass, marking the first time that's happened on The Heights since Nov. 25, 1995 (St. Lawrence, 10-4 win). When BC and UMass met on a Tuesday in early November, it marked the 75th meeting between the two Commonwealth institutions. Boston College holds the overall series advantage, 59-13-3 and is 8-1-1 in its last 10 encounters with the Minutemen. Since Massachusetts has joined Hockey East, Boston College has mounted a 32-6-3 mark on home ice and a 27-5-1 win-loss total in Amherst.

MINUTE ON THE MINUTEMEN
As Hockey East action is in full swing to start the second half of the season, UMass find itself in a three-way tie for eighth place in the league with New Hampshire and Vermont. The Minutemen are 2-7-4 in conference play and 7-12-4 on the whole. Since getting shutout at Boston College (7-0) on Nov. 3, the Minutemen are 3-12-3 and have lost 10 of their last decisions since Nov. 27. Over the course of UMass' skid, Massachusetts has been outscored 41-12 with its only win over the last 11 games coming as an overtime victory at Army (2-1). Senior Shane Walsh has been the catalyst for Massachusetts' offense as the veteran is tied for 13th in the country in goals scored with 15 (0.65 gpg) while sophomore Dennis Kravchenko is 66th in college hockey in points per game (0.95 ppg). First-year forward Austin Plevy is UMass' leading scoring rookie and is ranked 33rd amongst all rookies with 0.68 points per game (6-9-15). Freshman Nic Renyard is the primary goaltender for the Minutemen with a 4-8-4 record along with a .902 save percentage (62nd) and 3.41 goals against average (71st). The UMass offense is ranked eighth in Hockey East and 39th, nationally, with 2.48 goals per game but the defense has struggled most of the season. The Minutemen own the conference's highest goals against average (3.61) and are tied for 54th, nationally, in that category. Both UMass' power play (12-for-75) and penalty kill (67-of-83) are tied for 38th in college hockey.

OFFENSIVE NUGGETS
• Ryan Fitzgerald's game-tying goal at Boston University put him in the team lead for goals scored this season (13) and tied for the lead in points (13-15-28) with Colin White

• The Eagles possess the nation's second-best margin of +2.14 -- Boston College trails only Quinnipiac (+2.26 -- BC has scored 89 goals and given up only 42

• Boston College's power play has hit its stride as of late and ascended to the 20th-ranked unit in the country (19.8 percent - 20-of-101), scoring seven PPGs in its last four outings

• Following the three-point weekends against Providence and Boston University, the Eagles are tied for the sixth-best winning percentage in college hockey (75.0 percent - 15-4-3)

• Austin Cangelosi converted on a penalty shot in the second period, marking the Eagles' first penalty shot goal since Chris Kreider tallied one against Notre Dame on Nov. 18, 2011. It should be noted, Cangelosi's penalty shot occurred when the Eagles were short-handed.

DEFENSIVE NUGGETS
• Ian McCoshen broke through offensively and scored his first-career four-point performance vs. BU on Friday - McCoshen scored two goals and two assists and the game-winning PP goal

• Boston College's penalty kill is pegged as the 11th-best unit in all of college hockey (85.6%) - the Eagles have given up two PPGs or more only three this year (Denver, Northeastern & BU)

• Four of BC's six dressed defensemen recorded at least one point int he 5-3 win against BU, including McCoshen (2-2-4), Doherty (0-1-1), C. Fitzgerald (0-1-1) and Santini (0-1-1)

• When holding a lead heading into the third period, the Eagle defense has been on lockdown, postinh an 13-0-1 record with the advantage after two frames

• The Eagles shut down defenseman has logged assists in respective games for the first time in his career - Santini had a big play at Providence (Jan. 9) and assisted on Ian McCoshen's empty-net goal against BU (Jan. 15)

LIVING HISTORY
The Schiller Family Head Hockey Coach of Boston College, Jerry York, enters his 44th season of coaching college hockey. Not only is York the winningest coach in the game's history, having amassed 999 victories and a win-loss total of 999-595-108 (.619), York is approaching another historic benchmark. After locking up the most wins all-time at his alma mater (502) and heads into his 22nd season behind the Eagles' bench, he now has the 1,000-win plateau in his sites. York is just ONE win away from hitting that number as he is already the winningest coach in the game's history.

McCAUTION
Defenseman Ian McCoshen broke through offensively and scored his first-career four-point performance on Jan. 15 against BU. It also stands as BC's fifth four-point showing this season. McCoshen is on his first four-game point streak since Feb. 14-27, 2014. The Faribault, Minn., native has accounted for three goals and four assists over his recent offensive outburst.

SHORT-HANDED LAY-UP
Austin Cangelosi converted on a penalty shot against BU on Jan. 15, marking the Eagles' first penalty shot goal since Chris Kreider tallied one against Notre Dame on Nov. 18, 2011. It should be noted, Cangelosi's penalty shot occurred when the Eagles were short-handed.

HATS OFF
Freshman Colin White, fresh off his trip to Finland as a member of Team USA's bronze-medal winning team at the World Junior Championship, responded with Boston College's first hat trick of the season on Jan. 8 vs. PC and added an assist for his second-career four-point performance. For his performance, White was awarded his third Hockey East Rookie of the Week honor. White's hat trick marks BC's first since Ryan Fitzgerald scored all three goals in a 3-2 win at home over Connecticut on Jan. 24, 2015.

SPECIAL TEAMS' TALES
The Eagles' power play awoke in the Providence series, scoring five power play tallies over the course of two games. BC added two more against the Terriers on Jan. 15 as the power play unit rose from 38th in the nation to 20th in four games (20-for-101 - 19.8%). Boston College's penalty kill remains the top corps in Hockey East and ranked 11th overall, killing off penalties at a rate of 85.6 percent.

FITZ IN A FLASH
Ryan Fitzgerald is one of 46 skaters in college hockey to have score three game-winning goals this season. He is the first Eagle to 10 goals and now leads BC in goals scored (13). Fitzgerald is tied with Colin White for the team lead in points (13-15-28) and is tied for 13th in all of college hockey with 1.33 points per game. The North Reading, Mass. native recorded his second four-point performance of the season on Jan. 8.

IT'S THE MOST WONDERFUUUUL TIME, OF THE YEAR
As of Wednesday, Boston College is ranked ninth in the Pairwise ranking with an RPI rating of .5697. Providence is the only team in the league ahead of BC in fourth..

POWER PLAY SCHMOWER PLAY
When the opponent goes on the power play, Boston College has had no problem taking matters into its own hands to score. The Eagles have six short-handed goals on the season while Ryan Fitzgerald and Zach Sanford both have scored a pair. They onlu two skaters in Hockey East (Steven Swavely - Maine) to have accomplished that feat thus far.

HOBEY HULLABALOO
Three members of the Eagles are up for the 2016 Hobey Baker award, including: Thatcher Demko (G), Ryan Fitzgerald (F) and Colin White (F). Fans can vote for the Hobey Baker award at Facebook.com/TheHobey .