Eagles Resume Hockey East Play Against Friars and Wildcats

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Boston College looks to snap a three-game losing streak as Hockey East play resumes on Friday night (Jan. 11) at Kelley Rink with seventh-ranked Providence making the trip north to Chestnut Hill. BC plays four of its next five games at home but travels to face UNH in Durham on Saturday (Jan. 12) at 7 p.m. The Eagles (6-1-2) are currently tied for first place in Hockey East with UMass, while the Friars (6-2-1) sit just a point back in a tie for third with Northeastern after nine league games. Friday's game can be seen on ESPN3 with Saturday's road game airing on ESPN+, and both games can be heard on WEEI 850 AM and BCEagles.com.

FINKELSTEIN JOINS THE BLUE LINE
• St. Lawrence transfer and reigning USHL Defenseman of the Year Ben Finkelstein is eligible to make his Boston College debut on Friday night against Providence after practicing with the team during the winter break trip
• A native of South Burlington, Vermont and 2016 seventh round NHL draft pick of the Florida Panthers, Finkelstein comes to BC after stints with St. Lawrence in the ECAC and the USHL's Waterloo Black Hawks
• He registered 23 points as a freshman at St. Lawrence during the 2016-17 season, which is tied for the third-best offensive season by a rookie defenseman in program history
• Finkelstein spent the second half of last season in Waterloo where he was the USHL Defenseman of the Year
• He recorded 34 points to rank seventh among USHL defensemen, earning at least one point in 18 of his 23 appearances, and helped Waterloo capture its third Anderson Cup in team history as regular season champions
• Finkelstein will wear No. 6 for the Eagles and joins the roster as a second semester junior

U-S-A, U-S-A
• Rookie forward Oliver Wahlstrom earned a silver medal with the U.S. National Junior Team at the 2019 IIHF World Junior Championship in Vancouver, British Columbia
• Wahlstrom had two goals and two assists in the competition, including the opening goal in Team USA's 2-1 win over Russia in the semifinal to reach the gold medal game against Finland, where the U.S. fell 3-2
• The 11th overall pick in the 2018 NHL Draft by the New York Islanders has four goals and an assist in 14 games in his freshman campaign and returns to the team after missing the last three games for the WJC
• The U.S. has now medaled in four straight World Junior Championships for the first time in team history after earning silver in 2019, gold in 2017, and bronze in 2018 and 2016

SCOUTING THE FRIARS
• Providence is tied for the longest active unbeaten streak in the nation with a 5-0-3 record over its last eight contests
• The Friars are ranked seventh (USCHO) and eighth (USA Today/USA Hockey) in the national polls which were released on Monday
• Josh Wilkins leads the team with both 17 assists and 23 points, while Kasper Björkqvist and Scott Conway have each scored nine goals
• Senior Hayden Hawkey has started 19 of 20 games in net with a 12-4-3 record, 1.94 goals against average, .913 save percentage and four shutouts
• PC is clicking at 24.2% on the power play and 84.6% while a man down
• Nate Leaman is in his eighth year as the head coach, posting over 160 wins and leading Providence to the 2015 NCAA Championship

SERIES HISTORY
• The Eagles have a significant lead in the all-time series with Providence at 113-50-14 overall and a 61-26-12 advantage in Hockey East play
• In the last 30 meetings dating back to 2008, Boston College has dominated Providence with a 22-4-4 record in the last decade
• BC has posted a 9-2-0 home record vs. PC in the last 11 meetings at Conte Forum
• Last season, the Friars went 2-1-0 against the Eagles, winning the final two meetings to snap their five-game winless streak against Boston College
• Logan Hutsko had the lone Eagles goal in a 4-1 loss to the Friars (two empty-netters) at Kelley Rink on Jan. 12, 2018
• Jerry York is 12-5-2 against Nate Leaman since he arrived at Providence in 2011

SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
• New Hampshire enters the weekend riding a five-game unbeaten streak (4-0-1)
• UNH beat Merrimack 2-1 in overtime last Friday and earned a 5-5 tie with No. 15 Yale at the Whittemore Center
• Angus Crookshank and Liam Blackburn are tied for the team lead with 15 points apiece, while Ara Nazarian has scored a team-high eight goals
• Mike Robinson has started 13 of the team's 19 games in net with a 5-5-5 record, 2.10 goals against average, and .926 save percentage
• UNH has posted percentages of 20.6% on the power play and 84.3% on the kill this season
• Mike Souza is in his first year as the head coach in Durham after taking over for the retired Dick Umile

SERIES HISTORY
• The two schools are meeting for the 154th time in the all-time series with Boston College holding a 75-63-14 advantage
• BC brings a 12-game series unbeaten streak (9-0-3) into Saturday's trip to Durham; the Eagles' last loss to the Wildcats will have been exactly six years ago
• Over its last 19 matchups with New Hampshire, the Eagles are 15-1-3
• The teams skated to a 2-2 tie at Conte Forum back on Nov. 16 to open the regular season series
• Last season, Boston College edged UNH 3-2 at the Whittemore Center in November before downing the Wildcats 5-2 at Kelley Rink in January
• Michael Kim scored twice during the road victory in Durham

ROUND NUMBERS
• Casey Fitzgerald (74) and David Cotton (70) are closing in on 75 career points
• Cotton is six games away from 100, while Fitzgerald and Christopher Brown are set to play their 130th
• JD Dudek is four points away from 50 and New Year's Eve was his 125th game
• Joseph Woll is one win away from 40 in his career and his last start was No. 80
• Michael Kim is seven assists from reaching 50 total

UP NEXT
• The Eagles begin a three-game homestand as they face Maine next Wednesday (Jan. 16) at 7 p.m. before hosting Providence again on Saturday (Jan. 19) at 7 p.m. in Hockey East play

Eagles Resume Hockey East Play Against Friars and Wildcats

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Players Mentioned

Christopher Brown

David Cotton

JD Dudek

Ben Finkelstein

Casey Fitzgerald

Logan Hutsko

Michael Kim

Oliver Wahlstrom

Joseph Woll