Boston College Athletics
Men's Hockey Heads to Maine Saturday Night
November 22, 2013 | Men's Hockey
Nov. 22, 2013
Game Notes | Live Video | Listen Live (WEEI 850 AM) | Live Stats
(Game will be televised on Fox College Sports - CLICK HERE to see if you have access)
BOSTON COLLEGE VS. MAINE
In recent history, Maine has been one of those Hockey East opponents that have always played Boston College tough, especially last season. The Black Bears stormed into Conte Forum last season and swept the weekend in late January by 4-1 and 3-1 counts. Over the course of the last 10 games, Boston College and Maine has split down the middle, each winning five. Before that span of 5-5, BC owned the series, amassing a 7-0-1 mark from Jan. 24, 2009 to Nov. 21, 2010. The Eagles defeated Maine in Orono last season in November, snapping Boston College's four-game winless streak (0-3-1) at Alfond Arena. In all, Boston College leads the overall series, 60-44-9 (.571). BC's .571 winning percentage against the Black Bears is the fourth-lowest number amongst Hockey East teams. Since Jerry York started as head coach at BC, the Eagles have gone 33-28-8 (.536). Saturday's contest marks Boston College's first game against Maine's new head coach, Red Gendron.
MARKING MAINE
Leading up to Saturday's showdown, Maine is one game above .500 at 5-4-1, including a 2-2-1 record in Hockey East play. The Black Bears are tied for fourth (Notre Dame) and picked up a big win over Boston University in dominating fashion, 7-0, in their previous outing. Forty percent of Maine's outings have come against UMass, with only two of four contests counting towards the Hockey East standings. The Black Bears are a potent team at home, defending Alfond Arena with a 5-1 mark, but are winless on the road (0-3-1). Freshman Cam Brown is Maine's points leader with nine (1-8-9) and is tied for 13th in the country in points per game (0.90) amongst all rookies. Veteran backstopper Martin Ouellette has started all 10 games between the pipes and is 14th in the NCAA in save percentage (.930). Overall, the Black Bears defense is tied for 13th in the country (2.20 gpg) while the offense is tied for 25th (3.00 gpg).
LEADERS OF THE FLOCK
Nationally speaking, the Eagles occupy the top spot in several categories, starting with the country's leading scorer, Johnny Gaudreau. Following another two-goal performance, Gaudreau is college hockey's leading scorer with 1.92 points per game. Gaudreau's linemate, Bill Arnold, leads all NCAA skaters with 1.25 assists per game. The Needham, Mass., native has picked up 15 helpers this season. Having the country's top scorer has yielded the Eagles' offense as the most potent in the land. Boston College is averaging the nation's most goals per game (4.5 gpg). With that, BC's scoring margin of +2.33 is also second-to-none.
LUCRATIVE LINE
Ever since Johnny Gaudreau (LW), Bill Arnold (C) and Austin Cangelosi (RW) have paired up as linemates, the trio has combined for 35 points (15-20-35) in seven games. BC has yet to lose since the Gaudreau-Arnold-Cangelosi line took form against Northeastern on Nov. 1, amassing a 6-0-1 mark with a combined plus/minus rating of +41.
SEVEN HEAVEN
Johnny Gaudreau (9-6-15), Bill Arnold (2-11-13), Kevin Hayes (4-7-11) and Ryan Fitzgerald (5-5-10) are all riding seven-game point streaks into Saturday's meeting in Maine. For Arnold and Fitzgerald, the seven-game spurts stand as career bests. Gaudreau, Arnold and Hayes all have four multi-point performances within these stretches while Fitzgerald has posted two.
LET'S GET SOMETHING STRAIGHT
Destry Straight's second goal of the season at Harvard on Nov. 20 stood as his first game-winning goal since March 3, 2011, when his tally beat Vermont as a freshman.
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 4.50 goals per game. With that, BC also owns the top scoring margin in the country. With 54 goals for and only 26 against, Boston College is averaging a positive margin of +2.33 goals per game.
JOHNNY...AND THE REST
Johnny Gaudreau is college hockey's top scorer. Gaudreau is averaging an NCAA-best 1.92 points per game and is tied for third in the country in goal scoring, averaging 1.00 goals per game. In six of Boston College's last 12 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.
CHARTING JOHNNY
With the two-goal performance on Nov. 20 at Harvard, Gaudreau cracked the top 50 goal scorers list for a career at Boston College. The Carneys Point, N.J., native leapfrogged Ben Eaves (2000-04) and is now tied with Mike Lephart (1997-01) and Brian Callahan (1993-97) for 49th place, all-time, amongst Eagle goal scorers. Gaudreau is also tied with Lee Blossom (1979-83) for 57th all-time in career points with 118 (54-64-118). The third-year forward has recorded 118 points in 91 games played.
BLOOD LINES
Senior Kevin Hayes and freshman Ryan Fitzgerald are not only linemates, but cousins as well. Combined, Hayes and Fitzgerald have scored 12 goals this season. On 10 of those occasions, Hayes and Fitzgerald have factored into one another's tallies, assisting on the play.
UNBEATEN EAGLES
Boston College has started its November with a 6-0-1 mark, tied for the second-longest unbeaten streak in college hockey with Yale. Quinnipiac (12 games) is the only squad ahead of BC.
LEAGUE LEADERS
Johnny Gaudreau currently leads Hockey East in points per game (1.92), goals scored per game (1.00) and total game winning goals (3). Bill Arnold leads all league constituents in assists per game (1.25) 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 (1.20) and Austin Cangelosi (0.92) rank second and fourth, respectively.
#EagleTweetables
• Johnny Gaudreau is the nation's premiere scorer, averaging 1.92 points per game (12-11-23) #WeAreBC
• .@BCHockeyNews's offense is the top-ranked unit in the country - The Eagles are averaging an NCAA-best 4.50 gpg #WeAreBC
• Austin Cangeolsi has scored the first goal of the game on three occassions this season, including this Wednesday at Harvard #WeAreBC
• Johnny Gaudreau, Bill Arnold, Kevin Hayes and Ryan Fitzgerald have all scored at least one point in their last seven outings #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
