Defense Look to Stay Locked In Against Denver

GAME DAY INFORMATION
WHEN	Friday, Oct. 30, 2015 at 7 p.m.
WHERE	Kelley Rink at Conte Forum
HOW TO FOLLOW	Live Stats // Video // Audio
GAME NOTES	PDF // WEB version
MEDIA CENTER	Radio (850 AM WEEI): P x P: Jon Rish // Color: Andy Powers // Engineer: Mark Feldman

BOSTON COLLEGE vs. DENVER
Not only does Friday mark a top-five matchup, but also the element of revenge factors into the Boston College – Denver showdown at Kelley Rink. The Eagles and Pioneers have become familiar with one another as of late, particularly in the postseason. In last year's NCAA Tournament, second-seeded Denver handed third-seeded BC a first-round exit, defeating the Eagles, 5-2, at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence. Prior to the 2015 postseason meeting, the Eagles took on DU in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in 2014, as well. The story favored Boston College more handily at the DCU Center in Worcester as BC dumped DU, 6-2, thanks to a hat trick from Johnny Gaudreau and a 13-point performance (6-7-13) from his line of Kevin Hayes and Bill Arnold. Sandwiched in between those two postseason affairs was a back-to-back series at Magness Arena in Denver on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1, 2014. Head coach Jerry York earned his 500th win as head coach of the Eagles on Halloween night thanks to a pair of goals by Ryan Fitzgerald but the Pios sent BC packing the next night by hand it a 2-1 setback in overtime after Danton Heinen netted both tallies. Friday night will be a tiebreaker of the last year and a half worth of matchups between these two programs as each has won twice. It will be the 30th meeting between BC and Denver as the Pioneers possess a 16-13 advantage over the Eagles. Since York's arrival, Boston College has posted an 8-7 mark against Denver. The Pioneers and Eagles boast the second and third-longest active NCAA Tournament appearance streaks, respectively, behind North Dakota. DU has earned a spot in the dance the last eight years while the Eagles have been in the last six entries. Combined, these two programs have hung 12 national championship banners (Denver – 7 | BC – 5). Denver is 2-2 in games at Kelley Rink, having visited The Heights last on Oct. 14, 2011 (DU, 4-2).

PIO PREVIEW
Friday marks University of Denver's first contest outside of Colorado as the Pioneers journey to Boston to take on the Eagles at Kelley Rink and then travel down Comm Ave. to combat Boston University Saturday night. After losing at Air Force in the season opener, the Pioneers are winners of three straight, including a home sweep over Michigan State on Oct. 16-17. DU flies into The Heights well rested as the Pioneers have no played a game in two weeks. Senior defenseman Nolan Zajac, tied for the team lead in points (1-3-4), is one of the most seasoned skaters in all of college hockey. Zajac started the season tied for third-most games played in college hockey (119) and is currently tied for sixth amongst all defensemen in scoring (1.00 gpg). Matt Marcinew leads the Pioneers with three goals scored and tied with Zajac for the team lead in points. Junior netminder Evan Cowley and sophomore Tanner Jaillet continue to split time in net, each having started a pair of games thus far. Even though Jaillet shutout Michigan State in DU's last game, Cowley's 1.51 goals against average ranks ninth in college hockey while his .944 save percentage is tied for 10th. Heading into this season, Cowley's career save percentage (.929) was third best amongst all of college hockey returnees. Junior Trevor Moore returns to the lineup after earning second team All-America honors in 2014-15 and has accrued three assists this season. Denver is the second lightest team in the country (second behind Colorado College, in fact) average 179 pounds. The Pios' offense is averaging 3.50 goals per game, tied for 15th nationally while the defense is tied for either, surrendering only 2.00 goals per game. Denver has struggled mightily on the power play, having converted only once in 14 tried (7.1 % - tied for 49th) while the penalty kill is tied with the Eagles in eighth at 91.7%.

OFFENSIVE NUGGETS
• Adam Gilmour logged his third-career multi-goal performance with a pair at CC on Oct. 24. He now has the second-most PPGs (10) for a career and also gathered his fifth game winner.

• Zach Sanford notched his second-career three-point performance with his first-career short-handed tally along with a pair of assists on Oct. 24. He is tied for the team lead with six points.

• The Eagles are only one of three teams in all of college hockey to have scored two short-handed goals so far this season, joining Renssealer and Ohio State.

• The Eagles are one of 12 teams in college hockey averaging four goals or more. BC is tied for 10th in the nation in offense, scoring at a clip of four goals per game.

DEFENSIVE NUGGETS
• BC is off to its best defensive start in program history - BC's 0.60 goals allowed p.g. through the first five contests of the season is the lowest mark in BC's 94 years of varsity hockey.

• Boston College's three-consecutive shutouts marks only the fourth time in Eagle history that phenomenon has transpired.

• The last goal scored against BC was at RPI on Oct. 11 (3:02 - third period) - the Eagles have not allowed a goal in 196:58 seconds.

• Ian McCoshen scored his first goal of the season and Scott Savage notched his first multi-point performance of the season with a pair of assists

KELLEY RINK ONE AWAY FROM 300 WINS
Boston College celebrates its 28th season of playing hockey on Kelley Rink at Conte Forum. Starting in 1988, BC's overall record at Kelley Rink is 299-118-37 (.699). The Eagles played at McHugh Forum prior from 1958-86 when Boston College posted an overall mark of 282- 95-10 (.748). Boston College has won 10 or more games at home the last seven-consecutive seasons.

SCORE -- BORED OPERATORS
Boston College has shutout its last three opponents consecutively, not allowing a puck in the net since a goal at RPI at 3:02 of the third period, marking 196:58 minutes of scoreless hockey. It marks the fourth time in program history (1920-21 // 1997-98 - Scott Clemmensen // 2005-06 - Cory Schneider // 2015-16 - Thatcher Demko) and three times in the modern era. The Eagles are now the only team to shutout three-straight opponents in the modern era three separate occassions.

BEST DEFENSIVE START IN 94 YEARS
In allowing only three goals in BC's first five regulation games, the Eagles are off to their best defensive start in program history. Boston College's 0.60 goals allowed per game through the first five contests of the season is the lowest mark in BC's 94 years of varsity hockey.

DAM-KO
Thatcher Demko is in the midst of a historic run. Not only is he the 21st goaltender in NCAA hockey history to have shutout three opponents consecutively, but he is also is chasing Scott Clemmensen's record set during the 1997-98 season of keeping opponents scoreless for 254:23. Demko is chasing NCAA record-holding Lake Superior State's Blaine Lacher, who charted five-sraight shutouts from March 4-14, 1994 in a total of 375:01 minutes. He earned his sixth-career shutout and is now tied for sixth all-time at Boston College with six career shutouts. He is tied with Parker Milner (2009-13) and Joe Carroll (1951-54). The junior's 0.60 goals against average is best in the nation currently and his .974 save percentage is second to Nebraska Omaha's freshman Evan Weninger (.980), who has only played in two games thus far.

DOUBLE TROUBLE
Ryan Fitzgerald notched a pair of goals in the opener at CC on Oct. 23 while Adam Gilmour did the same the following night. For Fitzgerald, it was his first two-goal game since his hat trick against UConn on Jan. 24, 2015 and his third-career multi-goal performance. He also accounted for his team-best seventh-career game winner. Gilmour scored his 10th-career power play goal after netting his fifth-career game winner on Oct. 24.

SHORTY FOR DOHERTY
Teddy Doherty and Zach Sanford score their first-career short-handed goals against Wisconsin and Colorado College, respectively. The Eagles are one of three teams to have score a pair of short-hande tallies, joining Ohio State and Rensselaer.

QUICK DRAW CANGE
Austin Cangelosi scored 12 seconds into the home opener against Wisconsin, marking the fastest goal scored by an Eagle since Matt Price tallied 11 seconds into the game against Northeastern on March 7, 2008. The Estero, Fla., native scored twice against the Badgers, marking his second-career two-goal outing. His first also came against Wisconsin on Oct. 18, 2013

ROOKIE ROMP
Boston College's freshmen class came to play in the season opener at Army on Oct. 9 as three rookies scored their first collegiate goals. Miles Wood, Casey Fitzgerald and Chris Brown all found the back of the net in their first game donning the maroon and gold, marking the first time under Jerry York three freshmen scored in a season opener. They have racked up five goals and 15 assists so far this season.

HOME TURF
Since Jerry York has been head coach at Boston College, the Eagles possess a 14-7-1 record in home opening games on The Heights. Dating back to the 2007-08 season, the Eagles are 7-1-1 in their first game of the season at Kelley Rink.

DEMKO ON THE DOCKET
For the second-consecutive season, Thatcher Demko has been placed on the 2015-16 Mike Richter Award watch list along with 19 other netminders. The Mike Richter Award goes to the most outstanding goaltender of the season and is awarded during Frozen Four weekend.

LIVING HISTORY
The Schiller Family Head Hockey Coach of Boston College, Jerry York, enters his 44th season of coaching college hockey. Not only is York the winningest coach in the game's history, having amassed 986 victories and a win-loss total of 986-592-105 (.616), York is approaching another historic benchmark. After locking up the most wins all-time at his alma mater (502) and heads into his 22nd season behind the Eagles' bench, he now has the 1,000-win plateau in his sites. York is just 14 wins away from hitting that number as he is already the winningest coach in the game's history.

Defense Look to Stay Locked In Against Denver

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Players Mentioned

Austin Cangelosi

Thatcher Demko

Teddy Doherty

Casey Fitzgerald

Ryan Fitzgerald

Adam Gilmour

Ian McCoshen

Zach Sanford

Scott Savage

Miles Wood