Boston College Athletics
Men's Hockey Hosts Holy Cross Friday Night
November 27, 2013 | Men's Hockey
Nov. 27, 2013
Game Notes: Boston College | Holy Cross
Watch Live (BCEagles.com/allaccess)
Listen Live on WEEI 850 AM (P x P: Jon Rish | Color: Andy Powers)
BOSTON COLLEGE VS. HOLY CROSS
Boston College and Holy Cross meet up on the ice for the first time since Nov. 22, 2004, and for just the second time since head coach Jerry York returned to the BC bench. The Commonwealth-based series between Boston College and Holy Cross has been one-sided. The Eagles have flown away with 15-of-16 encounters, all-time, including the last 11 meetings. In the last three clashes, the Eagles have only surrendered one goal combined, having shutout the Crusaders on Nov. 11, 1985 and Nov. 22, 2004. The Crusaders lone victory in the series took place in Worcester on Jan. 19, 1946, when HC shutout the Eagles, 4-0. The first four encounters between these two clubs occurred at Boston Arena (what is now known as Matthews Arena) from Jan. 27, 1928 to March 1, 1929. The Eagles have played just two games on Holy Cross’ ice (Jan. 19, 1946 and Nov. 10, 1986). All-time, Boston College has outscored the Crusaders, 97-38.
CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS ON HOLY CROSS
Holy Cross makes its way to The Heights with a 3-9 record, having lost four of its last five outings. The Crusaders split a two-game series at Robert Morris on Nov. 22-23, winning the front end, 2-1, before dropping the second tilt, 5-1. Holy Cross has already had a taste of Hockey East competition, playing BC’s Beanpot constituents tough. HC opened the season with Boston University on Oct. 12 and lost by a goal, 3-2. The following weekend, HC hung tough with Northeastern, losing 3-1 and 5-2. In Atlantic Hockey action, Holy Cross has mounted a 3-4 mark. Asides from the RMU victory, the Crusaders have defeated Sacred (4-3) and Army (4-1). Holy Cross’ offense is tied for 53rd in the NCAA, averaging only 2.00 goals per game while the defense is tied for 38th (3.08 gpg). Tim Driscoll leads Holy Cross with seven points (2-5-7) while netminder Matt Ginn has started all 12 contests, posting a .909 save percentage and 2.93 goals against average.
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 at Harvard on Nov. 20, Gaudreau is college hockey’s leading scorer with 1.85 points per game. Gaudreau’s linemate, Bill Arnold, is second amongst all NCAA skaters with 1.15 assists per game. 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 (4.23 gpg). With that, BC’s scoring margin of +1.85 is second only to Minnesota (+2.00)
LUCRATIVE LINE
Ever since Johnny Gaudreau (LW), Bill Arnold (C) and Austin Cangelosi (RW) have paired up as linemates, the trio has combined for 36 points (15-21-36) in eight games. That line has amassed a 6-1-1 mark with a combined plus/minus rating of +32 since the Northeastern game on Nov. 1.
SEVEN HEAVEN
Bill Arnold (2-11-13), Kevin Hayes (4-7-11) and Ryan Fitzgerald (5-5-10) all amassed seven game point streaks from Nov. 1 to Nov. 20. The three were held scoreless in the Maine loss on Nov. 23. For Arnold and Fitzgerald, the seven-game spurts stand as career bests. Johnny Gaudreau (9-7-16) assisted on BC’s lone goal, extending his point streak to eight games. Gaudreau, Arnold and Hayes all had four multi-point performances within these stretches while Fitzgerald had 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 4.23 goals per game. With that, BC also owns the second-best scoring margin in the country. With 55 goals for and only 31 against, Boston College is averaging a positive margin of +1.85 goals per game. The Eagles’ 55 goals is the nation’s best thus far.
JOHNNY…AND THE REST
Johnny Gaudreau is college hockey’s top scorer. Gaudreau is averaging an NCAA-best 1.85 points per game and is third in the country in goal scoring, averaging 0.92 goals per game. In six of Boston College’s last 13 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 now 57th all-time on the career points list with 119 (54-65-119). The third-year forward has recorded 119 points in 92 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.
