Regular-Season Home Stretch Starts Up Friday vs. Merrimack

GAME DAY INFORMATION
WHEN	Friday, Feb. 12, 2016 (7 p.m.) // Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016 (7 p.m.)
WHERE	FRIDAY: Kelley Rink at Conte Forum (Chestnut Hill, Mass.) // SATURDAY: Lawler Arena (North Andover, Mass.)
HOW TO FOLLOW	FRIDAY: Video // Audio // Stats \| SATURDAY: Video (ESPN3) // Audio // Stats
GAME NOTES	PDF // WEB
MEDIA CENTER	Radio (WEEI 850 AM) - P x P: Jon Rish // Color: Tom Grace

BOSTON COLLEGE vs. MERRIMACK
Boston College and Merrimack meet up Friday night on The Heights on the heels of the Eagles' 20th Beanpot tournament victory in program history. Last year, BC took both games off the Warriors and look to extend a lengthy streak on Friday evening. Boston College possesses one of the longer streaks going in Hockey East and has not lost in 29 games within the confines of Conte Forum against Merrimack, mounting a 26-0-3 record, dating back to Oct. 31, 1997. All-time at Kelley Rink, BC is 36-6-3 against Merrimack since the start of Hockey East play. The narrative shifts a bit on the road as BC is 3-4-1 in its last eight outings at Merrimack and since the Eagles have been a member in Hockey East, BC owns just a 57.5 percent win percentage (22-16-2) at Lawler Arena. All-time, the Eagles possess a 64-21-5 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 29-4-3 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 heads into Friday's contest with an 8-14-6 overall mark and a 2-8-6 Hockey East record, tied for 10th place with Maine. Before their last two outings, the Warriors endured a 10-game losing streak in which they were outscored, 42-12, from Dec. 12 to Jan. 29. Merrimack responded by thumping college hockey's newest program, Arizona State, 10-0, at Lawler Arena and then tied Connecticut, 2-2, on Feb. 6. Senior forward Bria Christie leads the Warrior offense with six goals and 14 assists while classmate Ben Bahe has tallied the most goals with seven. Second-year goaltender Collin Delia has earned the majority of the time in net, starting 24 of 28 games with a 7-11-6 mark and a 2.78 goals against and .895 save percentage. Dellia backstops the 33rd ranked defense (2.79 gpg) in the nation while the offense is tied for 46th, averaging 2.36 goals per game. The Warriors' penalty kill is tied for 36th in the nation, killing of 82 percent of opponents' opportunities while the power play is 50th, converting at a rate of 12.1 percent.

OFFENSIVE NUGGETS
• The Eagles possess the nation's SECOND BEST scoring margin of +2.21 -- the Eagles have scored 112 goals this season and only surrendered 50 (4.00 goals for pg / 1.79 goals against pg)

• The Boston College offense is one of four units in the country to score four or more goals per game (4.00) and is the top-scoring offense in Hockey East - BU's is second (3.67 gpg)

• Alex Tuch is currently on a career-high six-game point streak (3-4-7) after netting the overtime game-winning goal at help the Eagles clinch their sixth Beanpot in seven seasons.

• The Eagles have seven scorers with 20 points or more and two already at the 30-point plateau (White - 35 / R. Fitzgerald - 31) -- Last year's leading scorer was Alex Tuch with 28 points

• Zach Sanford not only assisted on the overtime game-winning Beanpot tally against BU on Feb. 8, he also was the first Eagle to record 20 assists -- Sanford has topped his freshman year totals already in goals (9), assists (20) and point (29)

DEFENSIVE NUGGETS
• Boston College recorded its ninth shutout of the season to win the Beanpot on Feb. 8 - that is now a new school record, surpassing the old standard of eight set in 2005-06

• As a whole Eagles' defensive unit is tied for fourth nationally, yielding only 1.79 gpg - BC has kept opponents off the board in 48-of-74 periods of play

• Boston College's penalty-killing unit has surrendered only one power play goal in the last seven games as the Eagles rank fifth in the nation with an 87.2 percent kill rate (102-of-117)

• When holding a lead heading into the third period, the Eagle defense has been on lockdown, posting a 17-0-2 record with the advantage after two frames

• Steve Santini has broken his freshmen and sophomore marks with 12 assists already this season - the Mahopac, N.Y. native also assisted on Alex Tuch's overtime Beanpot winning tally, marking his second assist in six Beanpot games

BEANPOT TROT
Boston College won its sixth Beanpot trophy in seven years, and 20th overall as the Eagles defeated archrival Boston University in historic fashion on Feb. 8, 2016 at TD Garden. Alex Tuch delivered his fourth-career game-winning goal in overtime to break up the defensive standoff 1:57 into the extra session.

UNBEANLIEVABLE
Monday's title game marked the 256th installment of the Beanpot tournament. In the 255 games prior, there had NEVER been a 1-0 final score. It was also only the second-ever 1-0 game between the Eagles and Terriers since the start of Hockey East (Dec. 2, 2006). It marked only the fourth shutout in Beanpot championship game history and first since 1981 (also in 1962 and 1967). Boston College had never shutout BU in the Beanpot championship. Monday's win marked the seventh shutout in Beanpot history for BC and also pushed the Eagles over the mark in a season for most shutouts in a year (9).

CLOSING IN ON BEANPOT LORE
Boston College won its sixth Beanpot trophy in seven years (2010-16), closing in on Boston University's mark of eight pots in nine tournaments from 1995 to 2003.

FREE BEANS
Nine of the 43 Beanpot contests between Boston College and Boston University have gone to overtime. The Eagles hold a huge 7-2 advantage in that department, including the last two championship meetings. Before Alex Tuch's winner, Billy Arnold took down the Terriers in overtime in the 2012 Beanpot championship.

ANOTHER ONE FOR THE BIOGRAPHY
Head coach Jerry York earned another record on Feb. 8, 2016, when he surpassed his former coach at Boston College, Snooks Kelley, for most Beanpots won the Heights. York won his ninth trophy, which stands as the most in school history of any other coach.

...AND NEW
Thatcher Demko surpassed Cory Schneider for the all-time single-season shutouts record holder, notching his ninth of the season against BU in the Beanpot on Feb. 8. Boston College, as a whole, has never shut out nine teams in a season.

STANDING TALL AMONGST THE BEST
Demko is currently third in the nation in goals against average (1.64) and save percentage (.940) on the year and ranked first in overall shutouts with nine. For a career, the 6-foot-4 backstopper is 54-22-9 (.688) with a 2.04 goals against average and a .928 save percentage (2,223 saves on 2,407 shots).

COMIN' IN HOT
Boston College is tied for the longest unbeaten streak in college hockey heading into Friday's Merrimack game. The Eagles are 7-0-3 over the course of 10 games, tied with Air Force (7-0-3) while Quinnipiac leads with a 6-0-4 mark. Since the turn into 2016, Boston College is unbeaten in those 10 games. The longest unbeaten stretch under Coach York after the New Year was the 2013-14 team that went 13-0-2.

20 / 20
With the Beanpot victory over BU on Feb. 8, Jerry York has now lead his program to a 20-win season (or more) in 17 of his 22 years behind the bench. This is the seventh-consecutive season the Eagles will have won at least 20 games.

DEFENDING THE HEIGHTS TO NEW HEIGHTS
Boston College logged its ninth shutout of the season on Feb. 8, 2016 against Boston University, breaking the school record that was set in 2005-06 (8). All nine shutouts have been pitched by Thatcher Demko, who surpassed Cory Schneider's mark from the 05-06 season. No other team has posted nine shutouts in college hockey this season..

OVERTIME EXHILIRATION
Alex Tuch's overtime winner at the 1:57 mark of overtime in the championship game against BU gave the Eagles their first OT walk-off winnger since Ryan Fitzgerald turned the trick against Harvard in the consolation game of the Beanpot on Feb. 23, 2015. The last time BC pitched a shutout in a neutral site was when Brian Billett did so at CONSOL Energy Center against Bowling Green on Dec. 27, 2013, 5-0. The last two neutral site shutouts took place at an NHL arena (Pittsburgh & Boston).

THE LEGEND CONTINUES...
Boston College coach Jerry York has reached the 1,000-win mark for his career in his 1,703rd game as a head coach. In all, York's record is 1,004-595-109 (.620) in 44 seasons at the head coach level and 537-260-75 (.659) in his 22nd season at the helm of Boston College. At the collegiate level, York is the 55th head coach to reach 1,000-career victories and the first to do so in college hockey. York remains the winningest coach in the history of the game. In his 1,000-career victories, Jerry York has defeated 69 different programs spread out through his tenures at Clarkson, Bowling Green and Boston College. The all time total goal count in Coach York's 1,000 victories is 5,421 goals for and 2,395 goals against. York also won his ninth Beanpot trophy on Feb. 8, 2016, checking off another record in the Boston College annals.

TUCH LUCK
Alex Tuch's fourth-career game-winning goal came in grand fashion on Feb. 8, helping the Eagles claim the Beanpot at the 1:57 mark of overtime. The Baldwinsville, N.Y., native is riding a career-best six-game point streak that started on Jan. 22 and has accounted for three goals and four assists over that span.

WATCH OUT FOR WHITE
Colin White, who has registered 11 multi-point performances this season, is currently the 11th most prolific scorer in college hockey and the second-highest scoring freshman with an average of 1.35 point per game. The Hanover, Mass. native leads the Eagles with 35 points, notching 16 goals and 19 assists along the way. White tallied his second game-winning goal in power play fashion against Harvard in the Beanpot on Feb. 1.

FITZ IN A FLASH
Ryan Fitzgerald is tied for sixth in the nation in shot attempts per game, triggering at a rate of 4.41 shots on net. The North Andover, Mass. native was the first Eagle to 10 goals and second on the team with 31 points (14-17-31) this seaosn. Fitzgerald is tied for 21st overall in scoring with 1.19 points per game. He recorded his second four-point performance of the season on Jan. 8.

SPECIAL TEAMS TALES
The Eagles' power play continues to pick up speed as the Eagles scored a pair against Harvard in the Beanpot on Feb. 1. The extra man unit has risen from 38th to 18th in the country (25-for-121 - 20.7 %) while the penalty kill continues to assert its dominance over the country. BC is fifth in the nation, killing off 87.2 percent (102-for-117), including shutting out the third-ranked unit (Harvard) on Feb. 1 on the power play.

IT'S THE MOST WONDERFUUUUL TIME, OF THE YEAR
As of Saturday, Boston College is ranked fourth in the Pairwise ranking with an RPI rating of .5903, claiming the top spot in the poll with respect to Hockey East.

Regular-Season Home Stretch Starts Up Friday vs. Merrimack

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Players Mentioned

Brian Billett

Thatcher Demko

Ryan Fitzgerald

Zach Sanford

Steve Santini

Alex Tuch

Colin White