Eagles Look to Get Back on Track at Kelley Rink

Friday, January 8

Chestnut Hill, Mass.

7:00 PM

Boston College

Providence

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Eagles Look to Get Back on Track at Kelley Rink

January 06, 2016 | Men's Hockey

Boston College looks to snap its three-game skid as the Eagles and Friars continue their three-game series at Kelley Rink Friday night

GAME DAY INFORMATION
WHEN	Friday, Jan. 8 at 7 p.m.
WHERE	Kelley Rink at Conte Forum
HOW TO FOLLOW	Live Stats // Video // Audio // BUY TICKETS
GAME NOTES	PDF // WEB
MEDIA CENTER	Radio (WEEI 850 AM) - P x P: Jon Rish // Color: Andy Powers // Engineer: Mark Feldman

PROVIDENCE vs. BOSTON COLLEGE
Providence clinched victory in game one of the best of three series between the Eagles and Friars on Tuesday, Dec. 29 in the consolation contest of the Florida College Hockey Classic at Germain Arena in Estero, Fla. Boston College and Providence will close out the set with a home and home starting on The Heights Friday night. Boston College has enjoyed a great deal of success at home when Providence comes to town, winning 11 of the last 12 outings at Kelley Rink with the only blemish occurring on March 2, 2013 (5-1 loss). Including Tuesday's loss, BC and PC have skated to an even 3-3 mark, but prior to the recent standoff, the Eagles had not lost to Providence over the span of almost five years. BC posted a 15-0-2 mark from March 14, 2008 to March 1, 2013 against the Friars. Before beating BC in 2013, Providence had not won in Chestnut Hill since Oct. 31, 2006. Overall, the Eagles own a significant margin in the overall series, 110-48-13, and a 58-24-11 mark in Hockey East play. The win on Dec. 29, 2015 was Providence coach Nate Leaman's third win over BC in 12 tries (3-8-1). 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
The Friars enjoyed a 15-game honeymoon following their first national championship in 2015, skating into the holiday tournament with BC in Florida with a 12-0-3 mark. Cornell's Jeff Kubiak branded PC's schedule with its first 'L' of the season 2:56 into overtime to send the Friars into a consolation showdown with the Eagles to create the three-game series. After the Eagles lost to Ohio State, the two Hockey East clubs squared off and Providence skated away with a wild 2-1 victory. Neither team scored in the first two periods before Teddy Doherty broke the silence at 6:56 into the third period. Providence responded with a power play strike about two minutes later then Brandon Tanev tipped in the game winner 44 seconds later. Providence returned home and traveled across to town to take on Brown in the 30th annual Mayor's Cup last Sunday. Brown's Tommy Marchin handed PC its second overtime loss in three games as the nation's then-ranked No. 1 team lost two of its last three games. PC's Jake Walman, out for the tournament with an upper body injury, is the nation's leading scorer on defense with 1.39 points per game (11-8-19) and is PC's leading scorer as well. Walman is averaging 0.79 goals per game which ranks fifth in the NCAA. Six of Walman's 11 tallies have come via the power play (tied for fourth in the country). Walman has played a large role in the seventh-ranked defense in the country as had junior goaltender Nick Ellis. Ellis owns the eighth-best save percentage (.937) and ninth-lowest goals against average (1.80) in all of college hockey. Ellis and the rest of the Friar defense is holding opponents to 1.89 goals per game while the offense is also contributing, scoring at a rate of 3.56 goals per game. PC's power play weighs in with a conversion rate of 22.5 percent (18-for-80 – tied for 11th nationally) while the penalty kill is 17th, nationally, at 85.3 percent (64-for-75).

OFFENSIVE NUGGETS
• The Eagles possess the nation's second-best margin of +2.28 -- BC lead in this category most of the season until St. Cloud State overtook the Eagles at the break (+2.55)

• Zach Sanford has stepped up his productivity as of late and has accounted for 11 points over the course of his last nine games - Sanford is tied for 39th, nationally, in scoring (1.06 ppg)

• Colin White (1.44) & Miles Wood (1.19) are ranked second and third, respectively, amongst all rookies. White and Wood posted 10 and seven-game pointstreaks, respectively, this year

• Both Ryan Fitzgerald and Zach Sanford have scored a pair of short-handed goals this year -- BC is one of two schools in the nation with two SHG scorers (Sacred Heart also has two)

• With a thin lineup against Providence on Dec. 29, captain Teddy Doherty had to play as a forward, leaving his primary position as a defenseman. Doherty ended up being BC's only goal scorer that night after serving as a forward -- it marked Dohety's 11th-career game up front

DEFENSIVE NUGGETS
• The BC defense has recorded 33 scoreless periods out of 54 possible frames. The Eagles defense is third best in the country, surrendering a scant 1.72 goals per game

• Boston College's penalty kill has elevated to the fourth-best unit in all of college hockey (88.8%) - the Eagles have given up two PPGs only twice this year (Denver and Northeastern)

• Thatcher Demko stopped a season-best 35 shots against Notre Dame on Dec. 10 - the Eagles gave up 39 attempts to the Irish, also a season high

• When holding a lead heading into the third period, the Eagle defense has been on lockdown, postinh an 11-0-1 record with the advantage after two frames

EAGLE ADDITIONS
Following the rough outing in Florida, Boston College starts its second half of hockey with a pair of additions to the roster, including defenseman Michael Kim (Toronto, Ontario) and goaltender Ian Milosz (North Grafton, Mass.). Both student-athletes hail from the Boston Jr. Bruins organization and were expected to be part of the 2016-17 incoming class, but with a thin roster to start 2016, the two enrolled early and became eligible to play immediately. Kim has already skated in one game for BC, registering one shot on net against Providence on Dec. 29.

GETTING BACK ON TRACK
Boston College is in the midst of a three-game losing streak and looking to get back to its winning ways. As an illustration of Coach York's success, the Eagles have not lost four-straight contests since the 2003-04 season. BC has gone winless over the course of five games a couple times but has not lost four in a row since Feb. 28 - March 11, 2004.

KILLIN' IT
The Eagles' penalty-killing unit has had its work cut out this season, but excelled at a high rate thus far. Boston College has killed off 71-of-80 (88.8 percent) opponent power play attempts, good for third best in college hockey.

POWER PLAY SCHMOWER PLAY
When the opponent goes on the power play, Boston College has had no problem taking matters into its own hands to score. The Eagles have six short-handed goals on the season while Ryan Fitzgerald and Zach Sanford both have scored a pair. They are the only two skaters in Hockey East to have accomplished that feat thus far.

WHITE TURNED TO BRONZE
Freshman Colin White returns to the United States as a bronze-medal winner from the 2016 World Junior Championship from Helsinki, Finland. The Hanover, Mass., native finished second on Team USA in goals (3), assists (4), points (7) and plus/minus rating (+5). White scored a short-handed goal and led Team USA in shooting percentage (30% - 3-for-10).

FIRST-HALF FUN
Boston College won 13 of its first 16 games in the first half of the season, including an unbeaten string of 13. The Eagles' 11-1 start to the 2015-16 ledger marked the best start under a Jerry York club on The Heights. BC's first half mark of 13-2-1 (.841 winning percentage) is also the best first half to a season in both wins and winning percentage under York.

STANDING TALL AMONGST THE BEST
Demko is currently seventh in the nation in goals against average (1.72) and 10th in save percentage (.936) on the year and tied with Quinnipiac's Michael Garteig shutout mark (6). For a career, the 6-foot-4 backstopper is 48-22-7 (.669) with a 2.10 goals against average and a .926 save percentage (2,016 saves on 2,178 shots). If Demko's 2.10 GAA held, it would rank as the third-best career mark all time. His six shutouts this season is two shy of matching the single-season mark set by Cory Schneider during the 2005-06 season. Demko possesses nine career shutouts, good for fourth-best all-time. He is three blankings shy of matching John Muse's third-place mark of 12 career shutouts (2007-11). Schneider holds the record with 15 (2004-07) while Scott Clemmensen is second with 13 (1997-2001).

IT'S THE MOST WONDERFUUUUL TIME, OF THE YEAR
As of Wednesday evening, Boston College is tied with Rensselaer for 15th in the Pairwise ranking with an RPI ranking of .5429.

CHART TOPPERS
Despite BC's recent skid, the Eagles' offensive and defensive units still rank amongst the best. Boston College's defense remains the third-ranked unit in the country (1.72 gpg) while the offense is one of five teams in college hockey that is averaging four goals or more. BC is ranked fifth with 4.00 goals per game. The Eagles' scoring margin of +2.28 is the second-highest total in the NCAA.

FITZ IN A FLASH
Ryan Fitzgerald is one of 33 skaters in college hockey to have score three game-winning goals this season. He is the first Eagle to 10 goals (now has 11) this season and is tied 19th in all of college hockey with 0.60 goals per game. He is 20th in all of college hockey in points scored with 1.24 ppg.

CAPTAIN VERSATILE
Teddy Doherty is tied for sixth on BC in scoring as a defenseman, tallying seven goals and six assists. Four of his seven goals have come via the power. Since the addition of defenseman Michael Kim, Doherty has flex to a forward and will be predominantely used up front for the foreseeable future. Amongst defensemen, Doherty is tied for 14th with 0.76 points per game.

TURNED AWAY
Thatcher Demko stopped a season-high 35 shots on Dec. 10 against Notre Dame.

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 997 victories and a win-loss total of 997-594-105 (.618), 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 THREE wins away from hitting that number as he is already the winningest coach in the game's history.