Hockey East Play Opens at Merrimack

Tuesday, October 25

North Andover, MA

7:00 PM

Boston College

Merrimack

Buy Tickets

October 24, 2016 | Men's Hockey

No. 8 Boston College and Merrimack officially kick off the 2016-17 Hockey East schedule on Tuesday night at Lawler Arena as both teams are coming off non-conference sweeps; game time set for 7 p.m.

WHEN: Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016 (7 p.m.)
WHERE: Lawler Arena - North Andover, Mass.
HOW TO FOLLOW: Video / Audio (BCEagles.com) / Live Stats / Buy Tickets
GAME NOTES: PDF / WEB

BOSTON COLLEGE vs. MERRIMACK
Boston College and Merrimack have the honor of officially opening the Hockey East schedule on Tuesday night in North Andover. Last season, the Eagles maintained their lengthy streak of home dominance over the Warriors as BC has not lost in 30 games at Kelley Rink when hosting Merrimack (27-0-3). The Warriors stand guard at Lawler Rink against the Eagles, though, as MC scrapped for a 5-5 tie with Boston College last season on Feb. 13 on Warriors' home ice. In the last nine games, Merrimack is 4-3-2 against Boston College at home so BC will look to even that score in the conference opener Tuesday night. All-time, the Eagles possess a 65-21-6 overall mark against the Warriors. Merrimack head coach, Mark Dennehy, a former Eagle under Len Ceglarski, started off his career against Jerry York winless in his first 19 meetings. York posted a 17-0-2 mark against Dennehy's club until he obtained the elusive first win over his alma mater on Nov. 1, 2009, in North Andover. In all, York is 30-4-4 against Dennehy. MC has only defeated BC once in the last 11 encounters. It occurred on Feb. 15, 2013 when Conor Toomey scored an overtime game-winning power play goal with 31 seconds left in overtime in North Andover.

WARRIOR WATCH
Merrimack is coming off of a two-game sweep over winless Colgate at home this past weekend, taking out the Red Raiders, 4-3 and 5-2, in that order. Prior to the sweep, MC lost its first three games by a combined score of 10-2 against Sacred Heart (1-2), Clarkson (0-4) and St. Lawrence (1-4). Junior Brett Seney leads Merrimack with four points (1-3-4) while senior Hampus Gustafsson is the leading goal scorer with three. So far, Merrimack's offense has struggled a bit as it ranks 46th overall (2.20 goals per game) and last in Hockey East. Defensively, the Warriors are tied for 11th amongst all conference constituents and tied for 24th nationally, giving up three goals a game.

GOAL LIGHT GALORE
The Boston College offense lit the lamp 10 times over the course of its non-conference sweep over Colorado College and Holy Cross. The Eagles netted four goals in their home opener aginst CC and followed it with six more at the DCU Center on Saturday night at Holy Cross. BC's overall offense is averaging 3.83 and jumped up to (tied) the 12th-ranked offense in college hockey and tied for fifth in Hockey East through six games.

ROOKIE PARTY
The Eagles new-look roster includes 13 rookies this season. All but one has dressed this year and following this weekend, all 12 have scored at least one point. David Cotton leads the newcomers with five points (3-2-5) while Graham McPhee broke out of his shell with three helpers on Oct. 22 at Holy Cross. Mike Booth and Luke McInnis both scored their first-career goals at the DCU Center as well.

PULLIN' OUTTA THE POWER PLAY FUNK
Before BC's home opener, the Eagles could not find their rhythm on the power play as BC missed out on its first 23 chances. This past weekend, the Eagles found the back of the net three times, going 3 - for - 11 with the extra skater as Colin White, Casey Fitzgerald and Chris Calnan all scored on the power play.

BETTER THAN MARGINAL
The Eagles outscored their opponents by a combined score of 10-2 this weekend, taking down Colorado College and Holy Cross, 4-1 and 6-1, respectively. Through the third weekend of play, Boston College possesses the seventh-best scoring margin. BC is outscoring its foes by +1.67 goals per game. Boston College has totaled 23 goals and surrendered 13 thus far.

FRISKY FITZY
Sophomore defenseman Casey Fitzgerald netted three goals over the course of the Colorado College - Holy Cross weekend, including one on the power play. The North Reading, Mass., native produced his first-career multi-goal game at Holy Cross on Oct. 22 as well. Fitzgerald's goals has also counted extra on the scoresheet as he knocked in both game-winning tallies against CC and HC. vIt marks the first time the all-rookie defenseman from last season has scored a goal in back-to-back games.

RISING TO THE TOP
In six games, Boston College's defense is surrending only 2.17 goals per game, ninth best in the country and third best on the conference level. Despite being the 12th most penalized team in college hockey thus far (20.0 PIMs / game), the Eagles' penalty-killing unit has done a good job, snuffing out 35-of-41 opportunities at a rate of 85.4 percent.

FIGHT TO THE FINNISH
Freshman defenseman Jesper Mattila is riding a three-game point streak. The Tampere, Finland native has accumulated a goal and two assists over the course of the streak, including his first collegiate goal in the home opener. Mattila's entire family was at Kelley Rink for the Eagles' home opener and able to see him score.

GOALIE GANG
In Boston College's home opener against Colorado College on Friday, freshman netminder Ryan Edquist earned his first-career start as an Eagle. The Lakeville, Minn. Native stopped 23 shots in his debut. Joe Woll closed out the weekend with his fifth start and earned his third win for BC. Woll has a goals against average of 2.42 (23rd in the NCAA) while his save percentage of .922 ranks 21 in college hockey. In his one game this far, Edquist's save percentage rests at .958 while his goals against average is a scant 1.01.

HOCKEY EAST OPENERS
Boston College and Merrimack officially kick off league play as the first Hockey East game of 2016-17 on Tuesday night. Since Jerry York has been head coach at Boston College, the Eagles are 12-7-3 in Hockey East opening games.

FRESHMEN FINDING THEIR GROOVE
Following Boston College's two non-conference victories over Colorado College and Holy Cross, every freshmen that has dressed for the Eagles all now have at least one point. Luke McInnis (Holy Cross), Mike Booth (Holy Cross) and Jesper Mattila (Colorado College) all scored their first-career goals as Eagles while Graham McPhee posted a playmaker (three assists) at Holy Cross.

WHITEWASH
In BC's home opener on Oct. 21, Colin White scored first power play goal of the season, ending a drought of 23 opportunities. White's power play goal is the fifth of his career. Casey Fitzgerald followed suit later in the first period, counting for his fourth power play tally in the maroon and gold. White added his second goal late in the second period, marking his fourth-career multi-goal performance. He also finished with three points (2-1-3), accounting for his 13th-career mutli-point game.

HOME OPENING - ACTION
Since Jerry York has been head coach at Boston College, the Eagles possess a 15-7-1 record in home opening games on The Heights. Dating back to the 2007-08 season, the Eagles are 8-1-1 in their first game of the season at Kelley Rink following the win against Colorado College.