Men's Hockey Locks Up with UVM for Two

Feb. 12, 2015

GAME NOTES: PDF  |  ISSUU (web version)

LIVE STREAM: Eagle Vision All-Access

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

LIVE STATS

BOSTON COLLEGE vs. VERMONT
The Eagles welcome Vermont as one of two remaining teams (Notre Dame) BC has not tangled with yet in Hockey East play. It is closing on almost two years since the Catamounts skated at Kelley Rink as the last occasion took place on March 15-16, 2013, as part of the Hockey East quarterfinal round. Boston College swept UVM out of the quarters as part of an 11-game unbeaten streak against the ‘Cats that extends all the way back to Nov. 28. 2010. In their last 11 confrontations, BC is 10-0-1 and has not lost to Vermont since Nov. 13, 2010, at Gutterson Fieldhouse. Vermont has not won in Chestnut Hill since Nov. 15, 2009, marking the Catamounts only victory on The Heights since joining Hockey East. Since UVM became a Hockey East affiliate in 2005, the Eagles have mounted a 15-1 mark against Vermont at home. Last season, Boston College swept UVM at Gutterson Fieldhouse, 4-3 and 5-3, respectively, on Feb. 14-15 last season after skating against them four times in eight days between March 8-16. Over the course of that stretch, BC went 3-0-1 including the playoff wins. All time against Vermont, Boston College is 35-12-5 with a 23-6-3 mark in Hockey East decisions. In the early goings of the BC-UVM Hockey East rivalry, the Eagles struggled in Burlington, going 1-4-2 in their first seven trips to Gutterson Fieldhouse in league play.

CAT CALLS

It has almost been a tale of two halves for Vermont this season. The Catamounts started off to a blistering 14-3-1 start with a 7-3-1 mark in conference play as the New Year approached. Since December 29, the Catamounts have hit the skids and have gone 2-7-1, winning just one game in their last five outings. Vermont’s rough patch was triggered after losing the Catamount Cup championship game at home against Providence on Dec. 29, 3-0. This past weekend, UVM split with New Hampshire before losing a 4-2 decision against Penn State at the Wells Fargo Center on Jan. 31. UVM endured a tough 0-3-1 run against Northeastern and Boston University, respectively, in the middle of the slide. Heading into Friday’s contest, the Catamounts are in sixth place in Hockey East with an 8-7-1 conference mark. Senior defenseman Mike Paliotta leads the Catamounts’ scoring efforts (9-18-27), averaging 0.96 points per game which is tied for 52nd in the nation. That mark also stands as the third-best scoring clip of any defensemen in college hockey. Sophomores Brady Shaw and Mario Puskarich guide the goal efforts for UVM with 11 apiece, while six of Shaw’s strikes have occurred via the power play. Vermont’s bedrock has been its defense and is currently the seventh stingiest in the country. The Catamounts are surrendering only 2.11 goals per game despite giving up a six spot to New Hampshire in their latest outing. UVM has built its defense from the net out and sophomore Mike Santaguia is currently second in the nation in both goals against average (1.63) and save percentage (.943), despite splitting time with junior Brody Hoffman. Hoffman has a much stronger record of 11-4-2 while Santaguida rests at 5-6-0. Vermont’s offense is averaging 2.89 goals per game (27th) and are also the fourth-least penalized team in the country. The Catamounts special teams’ units are some of the best in the land with a fourth-ranked penalty kill and an eighth-ranked power play. The Catamounts’ 22.1 percent success rate (25-for-113) on the power play is eighth best in college hockey while the penalty kill is slotted fourth best.

GOLDEN TUCH

First-year forward Alex Tuch logged his second two-goal, one-assist performance of the season at Merrimack on Feb. 6. The Baldwinsville, N.Y., native is now 13th in the country amongst all rookies with 0.81 points per game (10-12-22). Tuch now has six multi-point performances on the season. Tuch is currently the 13th-most prolific scorer in the country amongst rookies with 0.81 points per game.

ELUSIVE BEANS

For the second time in as many weeks, the Beanpot Tournament had been postponed due to inclement weather. The second week was originally scheduled for Feb. 9 but was delayed until Monday, Feb. 23 at TD Garden. The 2015 Beanpot marks the fourth postponement in the tournament’s history, including last week’s delay. In the 1983 Tournament, the semifinal round was also pushed to Tuesday. The Blizzard of 1978 also created a postponing, pushing the championship and consolation rounds of the 1978 Beanpot to Wednesday, March 1, 1978. The famous ‘blizzard games’ were played that Monday, Feb. 6, 1978.

PARSING THE PAIRWISE

Heading into the Vermont series, BC has made another move to 11th in the Pairwise rankings with an RPI of .6429. The  Eagles made a big move amongst Hockey East teams in the Pairwise and are now the third-highest ranked club behind Boston University (3rd) and Providence (10th).

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 two points clear of second place in the league with 22 points. The Eagles trail league-leading Boston University by four points. As if stands, the Eagles would have a first-round bye and have home ice for the quarterfinal series. The Eagles have five games left in conference play, including two with UVM, two with Notre Dame and one left against UMass Lowell.

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 11-0-0 when scoring at least one power play goal. When denied a power play goal, the Eagles are 6-9-2.

A GRAND OL’ TIME

Jerry York’s countdown to 1,000-career victories is officially on. York reached his 980th-career triumph against Merrimack on Feb. 6 and now has 20 wins left to reach 1,000.

WHERE THE OFFENSE STANDS

Through 28 games, Boston College is scoring at a rate of 3.00 goals per game, tying them for 18th in all of college hockey and third in Hockey East.

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.

CAGED UP CANGE

Austin Cangelosi scored his first-career power play goal on Jan. 2 against Brown. Cangelosi’s first PPG fell on his 57th-career game. Cangeolsi has now scored three goals from Dec. 5 - Jan. 2 after going scoreless in his first 14 games this season. Cangelosi scored BC’s first game-tying goal of the season on Dec. 5 and followed that with another on Dec. 6. On Feb. 6 at Merrimack, Cangelosi buried his first game-winner of the season and second of his career.

DEFENSIVE POSITIONING

BC’s defense is currently tied for 17th, surrendering 2.32 goals per game. That mark ranks fifth in Hockey East.

HANIFIN HAVIN’ FUN

Newcomer Noah Hanifin tallied his fourth multi-point performance of the season (1-1-2) on Jan. 16, including his first-career power play goal. Hanifin scored his first-career goal as an Eagle against Colorado College and followed that with his first-career mutli-point game with both assists on Adam Gilmour’s 5-on-3 tallies against UMass. At UMass on Nov. 21, Hanifin registered his first-career three-point performance. Hanifin has scored a point in seven of his last 10 outings, including his fourth goal of the year on Jan. 30.

LAST LINE OF DEFENSE

Sophomore goaltender Thatcher Demko is 15-8-2 on the season and currently ranks 22nd in the NCAA in goals against average with a mark of 2.11. Demko’s save percentage of .926 is good for 19th in college hockey. Demko’s winning percentage of .640 has him tied for 14th 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. Demko will start in his 50th-career game Friday night against Vermont.

Boston College Athletics

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