Return Trip to Providence on Deck Friday Night

Friday, October 27

Providence, R.I.

7:00 PM

Boston College

Providence

Return Trip to Providence on Deck Friday Night

October 24, 2017 | Men's Hockey

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No. 19 Boston College returns to Schneider Arena for the second time in 12 days to try and knock off No. 11 Providence

By: Athletic Communications

BOSTON COLLEGE vs. PROVIDENCE
Boston College returns to Schneider Arena for the second time in 12 days, returning to the scene of where Casey Fitzgerald netted the overtime winner 69 seconds into the extra session to give the Eagles their first win of the season. On Oct. 15 in the last outing at Providence, the Eagles went down 3-0 early before Boston College rattled off four unanswered goals as Fitzgerald had a pair, including the game winner, alongside Christopher Grando and Graham McPhee. In the last 28 games overall, dating back to 2008, Boston College has dominated Providence, owning a 22-2-4 mark. 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, 113-48-14, and a 61-24-12 mark in Hockey East play. Since Nate Leaman arrived in Providence, Jerry York has had his number, owning a 10-3-1 mark over the Friar skipper.

FRIAR FOCUS
The weekend after the Eagles knocked off the Friars in overtime, Providence took a trip to upstate New York for a pair against St. Lawrence and Clarkson, respectively. Sophomore Josh Wilkins scored an overtime winner of PC's own at 2:47 to down the Saints at Appleton Arena on Friday before getting shutout at Clarkson the following night, 4-0. Wilkins leads Providence in scoring with five points (2-3-5) and is tied for 71st, nationally, averaging 1.00 points per game. Kasper Björkqvist is PC's primary goal scorer, netting four goals thus far and is tied for 16th in goal scoring in all the NCAA. The Friar offense is averaging 3.00 goals per game and tied for 20th in the nation while the defense is surrendering 3.20 goals per game, which is tied for 37th in the NCAA. Providence is the second-most penalized team in the conference so far, averaging 15.6 penalty minutes per game, ranking the Friars 13th nationally in that category.

FRESHMEN FURY
The Boston College freshmen class of 2017-18 has stepped up in a big way in the first three weekends of the season. The Eagles have accounted for 29 points through the first three games of the season and the rookie class has notched 35 percent (4-6-10) of those points. Logan Hutsko scored his first goal as an Eagle in power play fashion on Oct. 20 at St. Cloud and leads the rookies with four points (1-3-4). Christopher Grando is one of three Eagles with a pair of goals while Jacob Tortora scored BC's first tally of the season with the game-tying power play marker against Quinnipiac on Oct. 6.

POWERING THROUGH
Boston College's power play has had a nice start to the season as the Eagles have scored an extra-man marker in three of their first five outings. BC has converted on 3-of-16 (18.8 percent) chances this season which is eighth in Hockey East and 24, nationally. Jacob Tortora, Graham McPhee and Logan Hutsko have accounted for the PPGs so far this season.

McPHEnomenal
Sophomore forward Graham McPhee pieced together his first-career three-game point streak after providing the secondary assist on Logan Hutsko's first-career tally at St. Cloud. The Bethesda, Md. native has notched four points (1-3-4) in his hot start. McPhee also posted his third-career multi-point performance at Providence on Oct. 15 after his first goal of the season against Wisconsin on Oct. 13. McPhee 's tally was also the equalizer at 3:47 of the third period at Providence, standing as his first-career game-tying goal.

HUSTKWHOA.
Freshman Logan Hutsko scored his first-career goal in power play fashion on Oct. 20 at St. Cloud, capping a three-game point streak. The Tampa, Fla. native accounted for four points (1-3-4) from Oct. 13-20 and is the third Eagle (Jacob Tortora, Graham McPhee) to score a power play goal this season. He is tied for 22nd, nationally, amongst rookies in points scored with 0.80 PPG.

DU-IN' IT N DU-IN' IT N DU-IN' IT
On Saturday, Oct. 21 at St. Cloud State, junior JD Dudek scored his first goal of the season and 15th as an Eagle late in the third period. The Auburn, N.H. native also lobbed a game-best six shots on net on Saturday night. Sophomores David Cotton notched his first point of the season with the primary helper while Julius Mattila notched his second assist of the season on that same play.

FITZ ON THE FRITZ
Junior defenseman Casey Fitzgerald notched his second-career two-goal game (at Holy Cross – Oct. 22, 2016), including the overtime winner 69 seconds into the extra session to give the Eagles their first win of the season at Providence on Oct. 15. Fitzgerald's game-winning goal stands as the third of his career as the North Reading, Mass. native accounted for a pair last season. For his big showing, the captain was named the Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 16.

DÉJÀ VU
The last time Boston College scored an overtime winner was when Casey Fitzgerald's older brother, Ryan, scored the walkoff winner in game three of the Hockey East quarterfinals two years ago against Vermont on March 13, 2016.

THE EAGLES GO MARCHING IN
The Eagles fell victim to a 3-0 deficit in the first 25:16 of regulation at Providence on Oct. 15. Boston College gathered itself and stormed back from a three-goal deficit to win for the first time since November 16, 2012 when the Eagles came back and beat Merrimack at home, 4-3.