Men's Hockey Hosts PC for Prime Position

Jan. 28, 2015

GAME NOTES: PDF  |  ISSUU (web based)

LIVE STREAM: Eagle Vision All-Access

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

LIVE STATS

BOSTON COLLEGE vs. PROVIDENCE

Boston College and Providence meet up in a huge Hockey East battle Friday night on The Heights in the Friars’ first trip back to Kelley Rink in over a year (Jan. 10, 2014). With just five weeks left in the regular season, every point matters as a PC victory would vault the Friars into a second-place tie with Boston College. Before puck drop, the Eagles have racked up 18 points in league play while PC is in fourth with 16. The Eagles will be looking for redemption after goaltender Jon Gillies stopped all 43 BC shots in a 1-0 shutout at Schneider Arena on Nov. 29. It also marked Providence’s first win at home over Boston College since Oct. 31, 2006. Dating back to March 14, 2008, the Eagles have owned Providence, winning 10 of the last 11 fixtures at Kelley Rink. In the last 22 meetings, Boston College has posted a 17-2-3 mark. Overall, the Eagles own a significant margin in the overall series, 109-46-13, and a 57-22-11 mark in Hockey East play. On Nov. 29, Providence coach Nate Leaman picked up his second overall win in 10 tries (2-7-1) against Boston College. Shutouts have seemed to be a common denominator in recent history as five of the last 11 contests have resulted in a blanking. Boston College has won four of those five shutouts.

FRIAR FOCUS

Providence skates into Chestnut Hill off a historic weekend, sweeping No. 5 UMass Lowell first the first time since Nov.23-24, 2005, and did so by outscoring the River Hawks by a combined score of 11-4. PC responded from a two-game skid beforehand with losses to Brown (5-3) and New Hampshire (2-1), respectively, on Jan. 10 and Jan. 13. Prior to those to setbacks, the Friars ascended the national rankings by winning 11-of-12 games, including six consecutive and winners of their holiday tournament in Burlington, Vt. Over the course of that hot streak, the Friars skated laps around their opponent, outscoring the opposition, 36-15. Junior Trevor Mingoia leads the PC attack and is ranked 48th national in scoring with 0.96 points per game while classmate Nick Saracino is tied for 79th with 0.88 points per game. Mingoia’s 13 goals (0.52 gpg) are tied for 28th in the NCAA while six of those tallies have come via the power play (tied for fifth in the country with 0.24 ppg per game). Third-year backstopper Jon Gillies have proved to be rock solid in net once again as he anchors the sixth toughest defense in the game. Providence is surrendering just above two goals per game (2.04 gpg) as Gillies is tied with eight others for the national lead in shutouts (4). The Calgary Flames draft pick is 11th in college hockey with a .932 save percentage and 15th with a 2.02 goals against average. Offensively, Providence averages 2.76 goals per game (27th) while the power play stands in 37th with a 15.4 percent (19-of-123) conversion rate. Providence has been granted the most power play chances in the nation this far (123).

PARSING THE PAIRWISE

Heading into the weekend, BC jumped five spots after its victory against UConn into 13th in the Pairwise rankings with an RPI of .5535. The  Eagles made a big move amongst Hockey East teams in the Pairwise and are now the third-highest ranked club behind Boston University (T-3rd) and Providence (ninth). Vermont (14th) and UMass Lowell (15th) lurk behind.

CENTURIAN CAPTAIN

Junior captain Michael Matheson will play in his 100th-career game on Friday against Providence. Matheson is fresh off a two-assist performance against UConn as the Pointe-Claire, Quebec, native has registered 13 goals and 49 assists on his time on The Heights.

HATS OFF FOR FITZY

Ryan Fitzgerald scored Boston College’s first hat trick of the season and within that trifecta was two power play goals and the game-winner against UConn on Jan. 24. He became the first Eagle to record a hat trick since Johnny Gaudreau turned the trick against Denver on March 29, 2014. Fitzgerald became the 38th skater in college hockey to record a hat trick this season. Alaska Anchorage’s Bret Cameron scored four goals in a game this year. 

BEFORE THE BEAN

In games immediately before the Beanpot Tournament, Boston College possesses a 42-17-3 overall record.

POWER PLAY PICKING UP STEAM

Since the Eagles 8-1-1 run commencing on Dec. 6, the power play has picked up. Boston College’s overall numbers stand at 13.3 percent (14-for-105), but over the course of the last 10 games, the Eagles have up their percentage to 19.0 percent (8-for-42).

HOCKEY EAST IS HEATING UP

Like every time this season, the race of the Hockey East championship is a bottleneck. Heading into the weekend, Boston College is tied with UMass Lowell for second place in the league with 18 points. The Eagles trail league-leading Boston University by four points. BC is one of three teams (Northeastern, UMass) to have played a league-high 15 games thus far, so several teams have a game in hand over the Eagles. As if stands, the Eagles would have a first-round bye and have home ice for the quarterfinal series.

TAG, YOU’RE IT

When Boston College scores first, the Eagles have mounted a 10-2-1 record.

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 is an unblemished 10-0-0 when scoring at least one power play goal. When denied a power play goal, the Eagles are 5-8-2.

SHOOTING GALLERY

Shots on goal has had a significant impact on the Eagles’ results this season. When BC limits its opponents to 20-29 shots, the Eagles are 10-4. When allowing 30 or more, Boston College is 4-4-2. When BC takes 30 or more shots, Boston College is 9-3-1.

A GRAND OL’ TIME

Jerry York’s countdown to 1,000-career victories is officially on. York reached his 978th-career triumph against Connecticut on Jan. 24 and now has 22 wins left to reach 1,000.

WHERE THE OFFENSE STANDS

Through 25 games, Boston College is one of 17 clubs averaging three goals per game. The Eagles are scoring at a rate of 3.0 goals per game, tying them for 16th in all of college hockey and third in Hockey East.

FITZ-HERALDED

Not only did Ryan Fitzgerald score BC’s first hat trick of the season on Jan. 24 and first since Johnny Gaudreau’s on March 29, 2014, he became the second skater to log a pair of power play goals in a game (Adam Gilmour - Oct. 25). Fitzgerald scored all three goals in BC”s 3-2 win over UConn and posted his fourth game-winning tally of the season and is tied with Chris Calnan for fourth in thta category. The sophomore now leads the Eagles with 12 goals after becoming the 38th skater in college hockey to turn in a hat trick.

GAME-WINNING GUSTO

Sophomore Chris Calnan and Ryan Fitzgerald are tied with two others having scored the most game-winning goals in Hockey East. Both Calnan and Fitzgerald have registered four game-winning goals.

DEFENSIVE POSITIONING

BC’s defense is currently ranked 20th, surrendering 2.32 goals per game. That mark ranks fifth in Hockey East.

LAST LINE OF DEFENSE

Sophomore goaltender Thatcher Demko is 13-7-2 on the season and currently ranks 21st in the NCAA in goals against average with a mark of 2.08. Demko’s save percentage of .928 is good for 17th in college hockey. Demko’s winning percentage of .636 has him ranked 20th in the countr.

COLD-BLOODED (PENALTY) KILLERS

Boston College possess the 11th-ranked penalty killing unit in the country and third best in all of Hockey East. The Eagles have denied 94-of-108 chances with a stoppage rate of 87.50percent.

Boston College Athletics

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