Road Test in Durham on Tap

WHEN: Friday, Feb. 3, 2017 (7 p.m.)

WHERE: Whittemore Center / Durham, N.H.

GAME NOTES: PDF / WEB

HOW TO FOLLOW
- ESPN3: Dan Parkhurst (Play-by-Play) // Pete Webster (Color Commentary)
- Radio: WEEI 850 AM -- Jon Rish (Play-by-Play) // Andy Powers (Color Commentary)
- Live Stats

BOSTON COLLEGE vs. NEW HAMPSHIRE
The Eagles head over the New Hampshire border on Friday night to take on the Wildcats at the Whittemore Center. BC and UNH met earlier this year as Boston College came away with a 5-3 triumph over New Hampshire. BC went up 3-0 before UNH stormed back to tie it up but JD Dudek put it away with 2:27 left in regulation to give the Eagles their fourth-consecutive win over UNH. Boston College is unbeaten in its last eight (6-0-2) meetings against New Hampshire, including a 12-2-1 mark over the course of the last 15 fixtures. As a whole, the series has been somewhat of a closely contested one over the course of time as Friday night's battle marks the 149th contest between the two Hockey East staples as BC owns the narrow 72-63-14 mark over UNH. 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 1,611 victories and over 70 years of combined coaching experience. York is in his 45th season overall while Umile celebrates his 27th 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 started off its Hockey East stretch hot, amassing a 5-1-1 record in league play, but in the last seven conference clashes, UNH only has one victory. The Wildcats are winless in their last five, having lost their last three straight games and tied twice before then. Heading into Friday, thanks to its strong start, New Hampshire is still in a tie for fifth place with UMass Lowell in the league standings. The Wildcats tout one of the most prolific scorers in all of college hockey as Tyler Kelleher has risen up the scoring charts, tied for third overall, with 1.65 points per game. Kelleher's 28 assists (1.08 apg) is the benchmark in the United States, leading all other college skaters. Senior defenseman Matias Cleland is the third most-prolific scorer amongst all blue liners in the NCAA, averaging 1.00 point per game (1-25-26). The Wildcat offense is tied for 16th, nationally (3.19 gpg) while the defense is ranked 32nd (2.92 gpg).

NOT TO POINT FINGERS, BUT...
Boston College possesses the second-most points in all of college hockey (93-169-262), 10 behind Union. The Eagles have also racked up the second-most assists (169) and are currently fifth in goals scored (93). Boston College is also leading college hockey in even-strength points scored (190) and fourth in the nation in most road points scored with 136. Boston College is also back up to in first place in the NCAA in plus/minus differential (+36).

TWENTY SOMETHINGS
Following the victory over Notre Dame on Jan. 28, Boston College has six forwards with 20 points or more and three skaters who have found the back of the net 10 times or more (White, Cangelosi, Dudek). Following their second six-goal performance in three games, the BC offense is now ranked 10th, overall, in the nation and third in Hockey East. Boston College is averaging 3.32 goals per game.

LEADING THE WAY
Boston College's top five point getters through 27 games are Matthew Gaudreau (6-18-24), Christopher Brown (7-15-22), Colin White (12-9-21), Austin Cangelosi (10-10-20) and Ryan Fitzgerald (6-14-20). White's 0.52 goals per game ranks tied for 36th in all of college hockey while Gaudreau and R. Fitzgerald are averaging 0.64 assists per game, tied for 56th in college hockey.

HERE'S MY PLUS-ONE
The Eagles are outscoring their opponent by exactly one goal per game and are tied for the eighth-highest mark in the NCAA. BC's + 1.00 goal differential is third in the league as the Eagles have netted 93 goals and given up only 65. The +36 plus / minus mark, as a club, is tied the best in all of college hockey.

STARTING OFF STRONG
The Boston College defense has been rock solid starting off games thus far. The Eagles' defensive unit has not allowed more than two goals in the first period of play the entire season until Notre Dame snuck a couple past on Jan. 28. At this point, BC leads all teams in the league in first-period goals given up, surrendering only 12 through 28 games.

DEFENDING THE HEIGHTS
The freshmen goaltending tandem of Joseph Woll and Ryan Edquist have performed at a high level this season as both are keeping the Eagles' defensive corps in the top half of the rankings. Against UConn on Jan. 24, Woll turned in a career performance, turning away 42 shots. In all, Woll has amassed a 13-8-1 (.614 - 23rd in the NCAA) record, with a 2.40 goals against average (25th in the NCAA) and a .923 save percentage (14th overall). Edquist has been the primary back up with nice numbers, recently picking up his fourth-career win (4-1-1 in all) after defeating UMass on Jan. 20. In all, Edquist owns a 1.75 goals against average with a .929 save percentage.

DON'T GET ALL DEFENSIVE
Boston College's defense has not given up a big number of goals since North Dakota netted four on Dec. 3. The Fighting Irish got the BC's defense and scored the same number on Jan. 28, but between then, BC only coughed up two goals per game in nine outings between then. In all, the Eagles' defense ranks 13th in college hockey, surrendering 2.32 goals per game.

NONPLUSSED
Senior Austin Cangelosi has been slowly building his plus / minus rating this season and is currently tied for third in the country with a +20 showing. Veteran rearguard Scott Savage is tied for ninth in the same category with a plus / minus of +18.

COMEBACK KIDS
Boston College came from behind to score four unanswered goals against Notre Dame on Jan. 28 in front of a sold-out crowd of 7,884 strong. Julius Mattila scored the game-tying goal 1:59 into the third period and Chris Calnan won it at the 15:59 mark before Ryan Fitzgerald tallied an empty netter with 67 seconds to play. It marked Boston College's first win in eight tries heading into the third period with a deficit.

CALLING ON THE CAPTAIN
Chris Calnan turned in his fourth-career multi-goal performance with a pair on Jan. 28, including his sixth-career game-winning goal. For Calnan, it was his first game-winning goal of the season, curbing a 14-game drought.

PLAYMAKERS
Both Casey Fitzgerald and David Cotton turned in a playmaker on Jan. 28, each stockpiling three assists. They were the sixth and seventh playmakers for BC this season. For Cotton, it marked a career best as the Parker, Texas native posted a pair of two-assist performances prior to Saturday. C. Fitzgerald also tallied his first-career three-assist performance, including his first-career three-point showing in 64 games as an Eagle.

SAVED BY THE WOLL
Boston College was outshot, 43-26, against UConn on Jan. 24. The Eagles pulled out the 2-1 win thanks in large part to first-year goaltender Joseph Woll's career performance, turning away 42 of UConn's 43 attempts to preserve his 12th (12-8-1) victory of the season.

SOMETIMES, STATS DON'T MAKE SENSE
When analyzing shot totals, a trend is starting to form for the Eagles. When BC limits its opponents to between 13 - 29 shots per game, Boston College is 12-1. When the Eagles surrender between 30 and 39 shots, they have gone 2-8-2. Oddly enough, the two times BC has yielded 40 shots or more (Denver - Oct. 8 - 41 shots & UConn - Jan. 24 - 43 shots), BC has won both of those contests.

RUBY TUESDAY
The Eagles had a rare slate of SIX Tuesday night games this season, but the short turnaround time did not disrupt the squad as it went 5-0-1 over those six games, outscoring its opponent, 21-12.

GET THERE EARLY
Boston College has displayed a knack for scoring goals early this season, particularly in the Eagles' 2-1 win on Jan. 24. Michael Kim (00:54) and JD Dudek (1:28) put BC up, 2-0, in a matter of a minute and 28 seconds. It was Boston College's fastest first goal of the season since David Cotton scored 10 seconds in at Wisconsin on Oct. 16.

SHARING THE WEALTH
In Boston College's 6-1 rout of Massachusetts on Jan. 20, the Eagles sported six different goal scorers. Boston College has done this twice this season, both occurring against the Minutemen.

SHOOTING IN A VACUUM
Boston College limited Massachusetts to 13 shots in the Jan. 20th victory, the lowest amount this season by five shots. The second closest total was when BC went out to Amherst where UMass mustered only 18 shots on net in the Eagles' 7-4 win on Oct. 29.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Christopher Brown

Chris Calnan

Austin Cangelosi

David Cotton

JD Dudek

Ryan Edquist

Casey Fitzgerald

Ryan Fitzgerald

Matthew Gaudreau

Michael Kim

Julius Mattila

Scott Savage

Colin White

Joseph Woll