Boston College Athletics
Men's Hockey Battles Harvard Wednesday Night
November 19, 2013 | Men's Hockey
Nov. 19, 2013
Game Notes | Watch Live (Ivy League Digital Network) | Live Stats | Listen Live (WEEI 850 AM)
BOSTON COLLEGE VS. HARVARD
Boston College takes on another mid-week challenge in the form of cross-town foe Harvard on Wednesday night in Cambridge. The last time the Eagles took over the Bright Center on Dec. 9, 2009, they eked out a 3-2 victory against a 1-7-2 Crimson club. Jimmy Hayes tallied the game winner in the second period. Boston College and Harvard have met twice since then, both as victories for BC in the Beanpot. The last tilt resulted in a 4-1 opening round triumph over HU on Feb. 4, 2013, at TD Garden before a 6-0 shutout in the first round of the Beanpot tourney on Feb. 1, 2010. In all, the Eagles possess a 70-44-5 (.609) advantage over Harvard, including a 26-13 mark in Beanpot meetings. Boston College has not lost to Harvard since a trip across the Charles River on Nov. 7, 2006 (0-4). The Eagles have won the last eight encounters by a goal margin of +23 (38-15). Jerry York is 22-5-2 all-time against Harvard behind the Eagles' bench.
CONCENTRATING ON THE CRIMSON
Harvard hosts Boston College fresh off a 5-3 victory at Princeton on Saturday, Nov. 16. The Crimson's win curbed a four-game losing streak in ECAC play, dropping consecutive games to Union, St. Lawrence, Clarkson and Quinnipiac, respectively. Sophomore forward Jimmy Vesey leads the Harvard charge with eight points, including six goals, and is tied for 53rd in the country in scoring (1.00 ppg). Vesey is also tied for seventh in the NCAA with 0.75 goals per game. Veteran goaltender Raphael Girard has been the early story for HU, leading the NCAA in both goals against average (1.52) and save percentage (.955), although his sample size is smaller because of a late Ivy League start date. In four starts, Girard has shutout a pair of teams, including Bentley (Oct. 26) and Rensselaer (Nov. 1). Girard anchors the country's 14th-ranked defense (2.25 gpg) and fourth-best penalty kill in the NCAA, stopping 30-of-33 chances (90.9 percent).
OFFENSIVE PACESETTERS
Heading into Wednesday's matchup at Harvard, the Boston College offense is ranked the No. 1 unit in college hockey. The Eagles are averaging 4.45 goals per game. With that, BC also owns the second-best scoring margin in the country. With 49 goals for and only 25 against, Boston College is averaging a positive margin of +2.18 goals per game.
JOHNNY...AND THE REST
Johnny Gaudreau is college hockey's top scorer. Gaudreau is averaging an NCAA-best 1.82 points per game and is tied for fourth in the country in goal scoring, averaging 0.91 goals per game. In five of Boston College's last 11 outings, Gaudreau has posted a multi-point game.. On Nov. 8, at Boston University, Gaudreau racked up his 13th-career game-winning goal alongside a pair of assists in a 5-1 triumph. He followed that performance with BC's first two goals and a couple of helpers in the 11-goal explosion over Army on Nov. 10. For his feats, Gaudreau was named Hockey East Player of the Week, marking his 12th award from the conference.
BLOOD LINES
Senior Kevin Hayes and freshman Ryan Fitzgerald are not only linemates, but cousins as well. Combined, Hayes and Fitzgerald have scored 11 goals this season. On nine of those occasions, Hayes and Fitzgerald have factored into one another's tallies, assisting on the play.
YORK DRAWS 100
Head coach Jerry York accrued his 100th draw in his 1,613th-career game as head coach when the Eagles tied Massachusetts, 2-2, on Nov. 15, 2013. At Boston College, York has coached the Eagles to 66 ties.
UNBEATEN EAGLES
Boston College has started its November with a 5-0-1 mark, tied for the third-longest unbeaten streak in college hockey with Yale. Quinnipiac (12 games) and Ferris State (seven games) are the other two squads ahead of BC.
LEAGUE LEADERS
Johnny Gaudreau currently leads Hockey East in points per game (1.82) and is tied for first in goals per game (0.91) and total game winning goals (3). Bill Arnold leads all league constituents in assists per game (1.18) and Patrick Brown is one of two skaters in the conference (Noel Acciari - Providence) to have scored two short-handed tallies thus far. Rookie netminder Thatcher Demko possesses Hockey East's top winning percentage of .875. Amongst Hockey East rookies, Ryan Fitzgerald (1.00) and Austin Cangelosi (0.82) rank third and tied for fourth, respectively.
STAGE FRIGHT(LESS)
Boston College's incoming class has shown no signs of stage fright early on. All nine rookies (discounting the netminder, Thatcher Demko) have scored at least one point and make up 36.4 percent of the Eagles' offense. Against Rensselaer on Oct. 13, three freshmen netted their first-career goals (Ryan Fitzgerald, Chris Calnan, Steven Santini) while Scott Savage (0-2-2) and Calnan (1-1-2) each notched their first-career multi-point performances. Against Wisconsin, Ian McCoshen scored a goal and an assist while Adam Gilmour doled out three assists.
#EagleTweetables
• Johnny Gaudreau is tied for the national lead in scoring, averaging 1.82 points per game (10-10-20) #WeAreBC
• .@BCHockeyNews's offense is the top-ranked unit in the country - The Eagles are averaging an NCAA-best 4.45 gpg #WeAreBC
• Cousins Kevin Hayes and Ryan Fitzgerald have combined for 11 goals so far -- they've assisted one another on nine of those goals #WeAreBC
• With the 2-2 draw against Massachusetts on Nov.15, Jerry York accrued his 100th draw in his 1,613th game as a college coach #WeAreBC
• Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau became the first brother tandem to score in the same game since Jimmy & Kevin Hayes on 1/29/11 #WeAreBC
