First-Place Eagles Look to Separate from the Pack vs. UNH

Friday, February 5

Chestnut Hill, Mass.

7:00 PM

Boston College

New Hampshire

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First-Place Eagles Look to Separate from the Pack vs. UNH

February 04, 2016 | Men's Hockey

No. 4 Boston College sits atop the Hockey East pile and looks to create a bigger gap between the rest of the league at home against New Hampshire at 7 p.m.; Boston College will honor its legendary coach, Jerry York, in a pregame ceremony prior to puckdrop for JY1K night

GAME DAY INFORMATION
WHEN	Friday, Feb. 5 at 7 p.m.
WHERE	Kelley Rink at Conte Forum // Chestnut Hill, Mass.
GAME NOTES	PDF // WEB // UNH Notes
HOW TO FOLLOW	Video // Audio // Live Stats // BUY TICKETS
MEDIA CENTER	Radio: WEEI 850 AM (Play-by-Play: Jon Rish // Color: Andy Powers)
SPECIAL EVENT	JY1K Night: Head coach Jerry York to be honored for accomplishing 1,000-career victories (*Arrive by 6:30 p.m.*)

BOSTON COLLEGE vs. NEW HAMPSHIRE
The Wildcats return to The Heights on Friday night between the Eagles' Beanpot quest to close out the Hockey East season series on Friday as BC honors its legendary coach, Jerry York. Boston College and New Hampshire met in Durham, N.H. on Nov. 21, 2015 as BC skated to a 6-3 win and match its best start in program history under York's direction (10-1-0). Teddy Doherty lit the lamp twice while junior defenseman Steve Santini notched his first three-point performance by doling out a playmaker at the Whittemore Center. Matthew Gaudreau also scored that night to extend his point streak to a career best six games. The Friday night bout marks the 147th contest between the two Hockey East staples and the overall series is a closely contested on as BC owns the narrow 70-63-14 mark over UNH. As of late, the Eagles have owned the Wildcats, having not lost in the last six meetings (4-0-2) and are 11-1-1 in the last 13 tilts. Since Conte Forum was erected, Boston College possesses a 15-11-6 mark over New Hampshire. BC and UNH have some binding ties as well. Not only are York and UNH head coach Dick Umile two of the most celebrated coaches in the sport, they have combined for 1,571 victories and over 70 years of combined coaching experience. York is in his 44th season overall while celebrates his 26th season in Durham. Additionally, BC assistant coach Mike Ayers was New Hampshire's goaltender from 2000-04. Ayers was voted second-team All-American in 2003.

WILDCAT WATCH
New Hampshire skates onto Kelley Rink with a 9-13-4 mark and a 3-7-4 total in Hockey East play, tied for ninth with Maine in the league standings. After the BC contest on Nov. 21, New Hampshire has gone 6-9-1 heading into Friday's bout. The Wildcats went on a six-game unbeaten string (5-0-1) from Nov. 28 to Dec. 30 but followed that with a six-game losing streak from Jan. 2-29. UNH got off the snide with a 3-1 win at Providence to stop the bleeding. The Wildcats are anchored by the efforts of sophomore forward Andrew Poturalski, who is currently third in the nation in scoring, averaging 1.58 points per game with 19 goals and 22 assists (41 points). They boast another top-10 national scorer in junior forward Tyler Kelleher who is ninth overall, turning in 1.42 points per game with seven goals and 30 assists (37 points). Kelleher's 1.15 helpers per game is the second-best mark in the country, only two-hundredths behind Michigan's JT Comphter (1.17 apg). Senior forward Dan Correale has given the Wildcat power play a spark, scoring eight power play goals this year (tied for second in the NCAA) as the UNH's extra-man unit is the sixth best in college hockey, converting at a clip of 25.7 percent. The entire offense ranks 12th, nationally, scoring 3.31 goals per game, but the defense has struggled, surrendering 3.42 goals per outing which is 49th overall and 11th in Hockey East. As Dick Umile's clubs often are, the Wildcats are one of the least penalized teams in the nation, picking up only 7.8 penalty minutes per game. The penalty kill ranks 46th overall, keeping opponents off the board at a rate of 79.5 percent.

OFFENSIVE NUGGETS
• The Eagles possess the nation's SECOND BEST scoring margin of +2.31 -- the Eagles have scored 107 goals this season and only surrendered 47 (4.12 goals for pg / 1.81 goals against pg)

• The Boston College offense is one of four units in the country to score four or more goals per game (4.12) and is the top-scoring offense in Hockey East

• Colin White scored the game-winning power play goal in the second period against Harvard in the Beanpot - White is currently ranked eighth, overall in scoring, with 1.46 ppg

• The Eagles have six 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 netted his fourth power play goal of the season and his risen as the 45th-most prolific scorer in college hockey, averaging 1.04 points per game - the Manchester, Mass., native is one of 66 skaters with four or more power play goals this season

DEFENSIVE NUGGETS
• The Boston College penalty kill mustered TWO short-handed goal in Amherst on Jan. 22 - the last time that occurred was on Feb. 6, 2012 - the PK unit is ranked seventh nationally (86.1%)

• Following their eighth shutout of the season, the Eagles' defensive unit ranks fifth nationally, yielding only 1.81 gpg - BC has kept opponents off the board in 44-of-68 periods of play

• Thatcher Demko's eighth shutout of the season ties him for the school record in a year with Cory Schneider (2005-06) - Demko is four away (11) from tying Schneider's career mark of 15

• When holding a lead heading into the third period, the Eagle defense has been on lockdown, posting a 16-0-2 record with the advantage after two frames

• Charlie Van Kula, a student manager with the Eagles, was called upon to serve as the official back-up goaltender for Boston College at the Beanpot when Ian Milosz suffered an injury

DAM-KO
Thatcher Demko contines to rewrite the record books at Boston College as the Eagle netminder tied the school record for shutouts in a season with eight after a 4-0 win at Notre Dame on Jan. 29. The San Diego native notched the record in just 25 games, tying Cory Schneider's record set in during the 2005-06 season. It took Schneider 37 games to capture his eight shuout. Demko's 10th shutout came in his 50th-career game. Demko is now four career shutouts (11) behind Schneider's career record of 15. Demko's eight blankings are best in college hockey this season.

BEANPOT TROT
Boston College will be playing in its 35th Beanpot championship game on Feb. 8, marking the third Battle of Comm Ave. this season when it takes on Boston University in the finals for the 22nd time in tournament history (BU, 12-9). This will be BC's ninth appearance in the championship game in the last 11 years. BC will be seeking its 20th Beanpot championship on Monday and its seventh in the last 10 years. If the Eagles were to win, it would mark Coach York's ninth Beanpot title, the most of any coach in school history.

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 1,002-595-109 (.619) in 44 seasons at the head coach level and 535-260-75 (.658) 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.

JAMMIN' IN JANUARY
Following a 1-3-1 mark in December, Boston College responded with an undefeated 4-0-3 win-loss total in January. Under Coach York, it marks the third time the Eagles have flown undefeated in that month. BC went 7-0-1 in January for the 2013-14 season and 9-0-1 during the 2004-05 season.

FAST FITZ
Casey Fitzgerald scored his third goal of the season 1:35 into the Beanpot semifinal on a feed from brother, Ryan to set the early tone. It was the fastest goal to start a Beanpot game since Bryan Ewing scored 1:23 into the game on Feb. 6, 2006.

McCAUTION
Defenseman Ian McCoshen broke through offensively and scored his first-career four-point performance on Jan. 15 against BU. It also stands as BC's fifth four-point showing this season. McCoshen pieced together his first-career five-game point streak from Jan. 8-22 and has scored in eight of his last 11 games, averaging over a point per game.

WATCH OUT FOR WHITE
Colin White, who has registered 11 multi-point performances this season, is currently the eighth most prolific scorer in college hockey and the second-highest scoring freshman with an average of 1.43 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 ranked sixth in the nation in shot attempts per game, triggering at a rate of 4.48 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 ranked 18th overall in scoring with 1.24 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 16th in the country (24-for-113 - 21.2 %) while the penalty kill continues to assert its dominance over the country. BC is tied for sixth in the nation, killing off 86.4 percent (95-for-110), including shutting out the third-ranked unit (Harvard) on Feb. 1.

MILESTONE MARKS
Several career game milestones Jan. 22 at UMass as Austin Cangelosi and Ryan Fitzgerald played in their 100th-career games tonight. Adam Gilmour dressed in his 100th game at BU. Teddy Doherty took part in his 125th game on Jan. 16 at BU while Travis Jeke donned the maroon and gold for the 50th time at Agganis Arena on Jan. 16. Scott Savage will play in his 100th-career game against New Hampshire on Feb. 5.

IT'S THE MOST WONDERFUUUUL TIME, OF THE YEAR
As of Saturday, Boston College is ranked fifth in the Pairwise ranking with an RPI rating of .5841, claiming the top spot in the poll with respect to Hockey East.

HOBEY HULLABALOO
Three members of the Eagles are up for the 2016 Hobey Baker award, including: Thatcher Demko (G), Ryan Fitzgerald (F) and Colin White (F). Fans can vote for the Hobey Baker award at Facebook.com/TheHobey .