Men's Hockey Heads to Amherst Friday Night

Nov. 19, 2014

GAME NOTES: PDF  |  ISSUU (web based)

LIVE VIDEO: UMass All-Access

LIVE AUDIO: WEEI 850 AM (P x P: Jon Rish  |  Color: Andy Powers)

LIVE STATS

BOSTON COLLEGE vs. MASSACHUSETTS

Massachusetts will be the first team Boston College scratches off its Hockey East list when the Eagles and Minutemen collide on Friday night at the Mullins Center. Boston College and UMass met on Oct. 25 where the Eagles skated away with their first league victory of 2014-15 with a 4-1 win on The Heights thanks to a pair of 5-on-3 goals for Adam Gilmour and three assists for Michael Matheson. That victory ended a two-game winless streak at home against Massachusetts. In their last four trips to Amherst, the Eagles are 2-2 and at the Mullins Center, overall, since the Minutemen joined Hockey East, Boston College has mounted a 26-5-1 mark on UMass ice. BC pieced together a 16-game winning streak at the Mullins Center that spanned almost 20 years from Jan. 19, 1995, to Dec. 10, 2005. Saturday marks the 74th meeting all-time against UMass as the Eagles have the upper hand with a 56-13-4 mark and a 51-11-4 mark in Hockey East play. Friday’s matinee marks BC’s first trip back to the Mullins Center since a gritty 2-1 victory on Nov. 14, 2013.

A MINUTE ON UMASS

The Minutemen snapped a three-game losing streak against American International in dominating fashion on Nov. 7 in a 7-1 triumph. UMass has not played since that day and has had an odd two-week break before the Eagles come to town. Massachusetts sports a 3-5-0 record with a 1-4-0 mark in Hockey East play. UMass lost its season opener against Boston University, 8-1, before splitting at BC’s most recent site, Michigan State. The following weekend, UMass beat Northeastern at Matthews Arena before its loss to BC at Kelley Rink. The Minutemen were then swept by Maine before the AIC victory. Second-year forward Steven Iacobellis is tied for 28th nationally in scoring with 1.12 points per game. The sophomore has netted three goals and six assists while newcomer Dennis Kravchenko has posted four goals and as many assists to be tied for 42nd in the NCAA, averaging a point per game. Kravchenko’s hot start has him tied for the fifth most prolific scoring freshmen in college hockey to date. Iacobellis and Kravchenko lead an offense that’s tied for 15th in scoring. On the flipside, the Minutemen have struggled to keep opponents out of the net, surrendering four goals per game. Only three other teams in college hockey have a high mark in team defense than UMass. Freshman Henry Dill and senior Steve Mastalerz have split time in net as Dill’s goals against average (3.41) ranks 65th, overall, while Mastalerz mark of 4.90 goals against is 76th. Dill is 3-2-0 on the season while Mastalerz has lost all three games he has started. UMass’ special teams rank near the middle of the pack on both sides. The penalty-killing unit ranks 29th (27-of-32 – 84.4 percent) while the power play is tied for 33rd (4-of-28 – 14.3 percent) in the NCAA.

SAME AS SNOOKS

Boston College head coach Jerry York matched legendary skipper, John ‘Snooks’ Kelley (1932-42 & 1946-72), as the winningest coach in program history after the victory at Michigan State on Nov. 14. In all, Kelley coached for 36 years and had York under his wing as a player. Kelley’s overall mark at BC was 501-244-15 (.670). York, in his 21st season as head coach at BC, is 501-247-68 (.656). A win against Massachusetts will give him the all-time wins record as an Eagle head coach.

FIVE (hundred) ALIVE

Jerry York won his 500th game behind the Eagles’ bench in only 811 games after a 2-1 victory at Denver on Oct. 31, 2014. York continues to maintain the label as college hockey’s winninges coach all-time, possessing a  968-582-102 mark in his 43rd season as a college hockey head coach.

TOUGH THROUGH TWO

Boston College has proved how important it is to get out ahead early. The Eagles are 4-1-0 with a lead after two periods of regulation, yet have not come back to win a game while facing a deficit through 40 minutes of regulation. The Eagles are 0-3-0 when down after two periods of play.

POWER PLAY IS PARAMOUNT

Scoring on the power play has proved to be key to the Eagles’ success in the early goings of the 2014-15 schedule. Boston College has scored at least one goal or more in four of its five victories thus far. Conversely, the Eagles are 1-5 when denied a power play goal. In all, Boston College has converted five of its 47 chances at a rate of 10.6 percent which ranks 4th in the country right now.

REMEMBER THE LAST TIME BC LOST FOUR GAMES? 

The last time Boston College lost four consecutive games, you would have to look back to the 2003-04 season when the Eagles lost to New Hampshire (3-2 - Feb. 28), Maine (3-0 and 3-4, March 5-6) and Boston University (3-2, March 11). That season, the Eagles went on to compete in the 2004 Frozen Four, in Boston, eventually falling to Maine in the national semifinal, 2-1, on April 8, 2004. BC snapped its recent four-game slide in a 3-2 triumph at Michigan State on Nov. 14.

WHERE THE OFFENSE STANDS

Through nine games, Boston College is averaging three goals per game, tied for 21st in all of college hockey. That mark is tied for fourth best in Hockey East.

GAUDREAU 2.0

Sophomore forward Matthew Gaudreau has only dressed in four games this season, but scored in two of them already. The Carneys Point, N.J., native also scored in back-to-back games on Nov. 11 and Nov. 14, marking his first-career point streak. Gaudreau has played in 12 career games and netted his first-career goal against Army on Nov. 10.

ZACH ATTACHS

Rookie Zach Sanford did his duty dishing the puck, recording six assists in his first nine games as an Eagle. In his 10th game, Sanford found the back of the net on Nov. 14 in East Lansing, Mich.

FITZ BLITZ

Sophomore Ryan Fitzgerald exploded for another two-goal performance against Boston University on Nov. 7, marking his second outburst in four games. The North Reading, Mass., native had never scored a pair of goals in a game until the Denver contest on Nov. 1. Heading into this weekend, Fitzgerald is tied for 12th in goals scored, averaging 0.70 goals per game.

QUINN CAN

Quinn Smith delivered his first game-winning goal and fifth of his career at Michigan State on Nov. 14. The Fairfield, Conn., native has already surpassed his goal total (2) from his junior season. Smith is BC’s fourth-leading career goal scorer with 14.

DEFENSIVE POSITIONING

Boston College’s defense is ranked 33rd, surrendering 2.70 goals per game. That mark currently ranks eighth in Hockey East.

LAST LINE OF DEFENSE

Sophomore goaltender Thatcher Demko is 5-4 on the season and currently ranks 20th in the NCAA in goals against average with 2.10 with a save percentage of .923, good for 28th in college hockey. Demko’s winning percentage of .556 is tied for 31st in the country. Following his freshman campaign, Demko was drafted by Vancouver, 36th overall, in last summer’s NHL Entry Draft. As a freshman, Demko turned in in college hockey’s sixth-best winning percentage (.729 – 16-5-3) with a 2.24 goals against average and a .919 save percentage. Not only did the 6-foot-4 goaltender go 9-1-1 in Hockey East last season, his 1.35 goals against average in conference action  was also the lowest goals against average mark since Jimmy Howard’s (Maine) record of 1.15 in 2003-04. A member of the Hockey East All-Rookie Team, Demko captured the 2014 Eberly Award (goaltender with the best save percentage in the Beanpot) with a save rate of .966, marking the second-best save percentage in Beanpot Tournament history.

Boston College Athletics

Men's Hockey Heads to Amherst Friday Night

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