Eagles Take on the Huskies in Hartford Friday Night

BOSTON COLLEGE vs. CONNECTICUT
Boston College makes its way back to Hartford for the first time since before last Thanksgiving on Nov. 22, 2016 where JD Dudek scored his first-career hat trick to help carry the Eagles to victory. Friday's fixture at the XL Center marks the third and final regular season meetings between the Eagles and Huskies as BC has skated to a couple narrow victories (2-1 & 2-0) at home on Nov. 7, 2017 and Dec. 30, 2017, earlier this season. In the last meetings on Dec. 30, goaltender Ryan Edquist secured his first-career shutout via 23 saves in his fourth start of the season. In the eight-game history against the Huskies, five of those games have been decided by one goal or less (one tie). Friday marks the fourth visit to the XL Center all-time for Boston College as the Eagles own a 2-1 mark in that building. In the two teams' first-ever meeting, UConn shocked the Eagles on a Wednesday night (Nov. 5, 2014) by upseting BC, 1-0, after Boston College transfer Evan Richardson scored the game-winning goal in Hartford. Since that opening defeat in 2014, BC has not lost to UConn since (6-0-1). Another large in tie-in to the BC-UConn series is the relationship with Huskies' head coach Mike Cavanaugh. Cavanaugh became as assistant coach at Boston College before the 1995-96 season and was promoted to associate head coach in 2004. Cavanaugh assisted York for 773 games and helped the Eagles win four national titles in 2001, 2008, 2010 and 2012.

UCONN RECONNAISSANCE
After the Eagles shutout UConn at Kelley Rink on Dec. 30, the Huskies went on a bit of a tailspin and started the second half of the season losing their first five games from Dec. 30 to Jan. 18. Connecticut has righted the ship a bit and won its last three outings, taking down Providence on the road (3-1) on Jan. 20 and followed that with a home-and-home sweep of New Hampshire on Jan. 26-27. Junior Maxim Letunov continues to lead the way in points scored (7-14-21) for UConn while Alexander Payusov's 10 goals are the best on the club. Six of those tallies have come via the power play, which is tied for ninth best in the nation and one of only 33 skaters in college hockey with that many PPGs. Connecticut is currently in seventh place in Hockey East, jockeying for some points to move up to a better playoff slot. The Huskies' offense is scoring 2.52 goals per game, 46th in the nation and ninth in Hockey East while the defense is limiting teams to 2.72 goals per game, 22nd best in the country.

McPHEELIN' IT
Sophomore Graham McPhee scored his fifth goal in his last four games on Jan. 27 to maintain his lead in the goal-scoring category for the Eagles. The Las Vegas native has accounted for 11 goals on the season, seven of which since the turn of the calendar year. Against UMass Lowell, McPhee scored a pair of goals on the 26th and then scored the game winner on the 27th, his second of the season and first since his one at Northeastern on Nov. 18. The Las Vegas native is tied for 57th, nationally in goals per game (0.42 gpg) and tied for eighth in Hockey East.

CAN'T KEEP UP WITH COTTON
Sophomore David Cotton scored his third power play goal of the season, second in four games, against Lowell on Jan. 27. It marked the sophomore's seventh goal of the season and team-leading seventh-career power play tally. After a seven-game point streak from Dec. 2 to Jan. 14, Cotton had gone scoreless his last two outings but ended that quick dry spell tonight.

GET SHORTY
Boston College's penalty-killing unit has done a nice job of turning a positive into a negative as the Eagles are tied for sixth in the nation with four short-handed goals this season. Boston College is one of 13 teams in the NCAA with at least four short-handed goals as Julius Mattila, Graham McPhee, Christopher Brown and Christopher Grando have all accounted for a short-handed goal this season.

HIGH-FLYIN' FIN
Sophomore forward Julius Mattila had his nine-game point streak halted against Providence on Jan. 12. The Tampere, Finland native accounted for 14 points (5-9-14) over the course of his nine-game point streak from Nov. 17 - Jan. 6. He is tied for second on the team in points scored (6-12-18) with Graham McPhee and has notched at least one point in 10 of his last 16 games.

LOOSE CHANGE
• Boston College curbed a five-game losing streak to UMass Lowell with its domination 5-2 win on Jan. 27
• Boston College scored four goals in the second period to put the game out of hand. It marks the first time in almost two years since the Eagles lit the lamp four times in a period. The last time that occurred was at home against Merrimack in a 6-3 win on Feb. 12, 2016.
• Boston College's power play unit has scored at least one power play goal in its last five outings.
• Connor Moore has been on fire recently, extending his point streak to a career-best four games on Jan. 27. The Cumming, Ga. native did so by scoring his first-career power play in dramatic fashion. Moore blasted a pass from Jesper Mattila far corner and nearly exploded the Lowell water bottle in true video-game fashion.
• Cotton's and Moore's power play goals against Lowell on Jan. 27 marked the Eagles' fifth-straight outing with a power play goal, their longest stretch of the season. It also marks the second time this season Boston College has scored two power play goals in a game, with the first coming against Michigan Tech in Las Vegas on Jan. 5.
• JD Dudek accounted for his third multi-point performance on Saturday night after his fourth goal of the season and 10th helper. The Auburn, N.H. native also assisted on Jacob Tortora's goal midway through the second period.
• Christopher Brown assisted on Graham McPhee's goal in the second period, extending his career-best point streak to four games. The third-year captain has assisted in his last four outings.
• Jesper Mattila notched his second multi-point performance of the season with a pair of assists in Saturday's victory. The last time the Tampere, Finland native recorded a multi-point performance with a goal and two assists at Northeastern on Nov. 18.
• Jacob Tortora scored his fifth goal of the season and second in four games to move his point total (5-5-10) into double digits on the season.
• Aapeli Räsänen amassed his second-career two-game point streak with assists in back to back outings after helping out on Moore' first-career power play goal.
• Logan Hutsko notched his 11th assist of the season, one shy of the team lead, on Cotton's power play marker.
• Michael Kim assisted on Cotton's power play goal on Saturday night, marking the second-straight time he's provided the help on a Cotton power play tally.

ATOP THE LEADERBOARD
After each team defended home ice last weekend in the BC - UMass Lowell series, the Eagles retained their first-place status and maintained a two-point edge over Northeastern. Boston College is 13-10-3 in Hockey East with six games to go and is in search for its 16th regular-season crown.

THE BRICK WOLL
Sophomore backstopper Joseph Woll has stopped 485-of-537 shots faced in his first 20 outings for a .903 save percentage which is currently 50th in all of college hockey while his 2.68 goals against average ranks 35th in the game. Woll has stopped 1,397 - of - 1,536 shots faced (.910 save percentage) with a career mark of 2.65 goals against average. Woll was also one of 20 goalies named to the watch list for the 2018 Mike Richter Award, which annually honors the most outstanding goaltender in NCAA Division I men's hockey. Woll recently returned from the 2018 IIHF World Junior Championship where he backstopped Team USA to a bronze medal.

DEFENDING THE NEST
Boston College's defense continues to limit the opposing lamp being lit as BC is now holding its opponents to 2.73 goals per game. That number is tied for 23rd, nationally, and fourth overall in the league. Over the course of the last four games, BC has only given up more than three goals once.

Eagles Take on the Huskies in Hartford Friday Night

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Christopher Brown

David Cotton

JD Dudek

Ryan Edquist

Chris Grando

Logan Hutsko

Michael Kim

Jesper Mattila

Julius Mattila

Graham McPhee

Connor Moore

Jacob Tortora

Joseph Woll