Eagles Play Host to No. 10 Friars on Saturday at 4 p.m.

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – For the second time in eight days, Boston College hosts No. 10 Providence at Kelley Rink in Hockey East play on Saturday (Jan. 19). Due to the impending winter storm, the original 7 p.m. faceoff has been moved up three hours to 4 p.m. All the action can be seen on ESPN3 and heard on WEEI 850 AM and BCEagles.com.

SETTING THE SCENE
• The Eagles have a chance to clinch the regular season series with the Friars on Saturday with a victory; the teams meet again to close the regular season on March 7 at Schneider Arena
• Boston College fell at home to Maine 7-2 on Wednesday night, while Providence rebounded from a pair of league losses last weekend to BC and BU with a 5-1 victory at Brown on Tuesday to retain the Mayor's Cup
• BC and BU are tied for third place in Hockey East with 16 points; PC is three points back in fifth but has a game in hand on Boston College and three on Boston University

FIRST MEETING
• Julius Mattila's one-timer off a feed from his twin brother Jesper early in the third period proved to be the game-winner in a 4-2 victory against Providence last Friday, snapping the Friars' eight-game unbeaten streak
• BC's penalty kill was 5-for-5, including a full two-minute 5-on-3 in the second period, and senior Michael Kim netted a shorthanded goal to tie the game at two early in the middle frame
• David Cotton (1 G, 1 A) and Mattila (1 G, 1 A) finished with multi-point nights on the Eagles' top line, while Christopher Brown sealed the points with an empty-netter in the final 90 seconds
• Joseph Woll made 28 saves between the pipes to collect his 40th career NCAA victory
• Boston College posted a dominant performance (42-21) in the faceoff circle

SCOUTING THE FRIARS
• Providence entered last Friday with the nation's longest unbeaten streak (8) before losing to Boston College 4-2 and Boston University 4-3
• The Friars rebounded by beating Brown 5-1 on Tuesday in the annual Mayor's Cup, scoring four goals in the opening nine minutes
• Josh Wilkins leads the team with 26 points and is tied with rookie Jack Dugan in assists (17); senior Scott Conway has scored a team-best 12 goals
• Senior Hayden Hawkey has started 22 of 23 games in net with a 13-6-3 record, 2.01 goals against average, .910 save percentage and four shutouts
• PC is clicking at 23.1% on the power play and 86.1% 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 114-50-14 overall and a 62-26-12 advantage in Hockey East play
• BC has posted a 10-2-0 home record vs. PC in the last 12 meetings at Conte, including its 4-2 victory eight days ago on Jan. 11
• 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
• Overall, the Eagles are 5-2-1 in their last eight meetings against PC
• Jerry York is 13-5-2 against Nate Leaman since he arrived at PC in 2011

WHAT'S YOUR SPECIALTY
• Boston College ranks 13th in the country in combined special teams at 53.8%
• The Eagles are 16-for-18 on the penalty kill in the last five games and rank 20th nationally (83.8%)
• The kill is third in Hockey East during conference play at 87.5% with two shorthanded goals
• BC's power play unit was scoreless in five straight games heading into the Maine matchup on Wednesday but snapped an 0-for-17 stretch in the first period on Cotton's fifth PPG of the season (third in HEA)
• Boston College's lack of power play chances has been significant, earning the lowest total number in Hockey East (63) and ranking third-lowest nationally in power play attempts per game (3.15)

UP IN THE RAFTERS
• Boston College will raise the jerseys of former Eagle greats Tim Sheehy '70 and Tom Mellor '73 to the rafters at Kelley Rink on Saturday, Feb. 16 when BC hosts top-ranked UMass at 8 p.m.
• A two-time All-America selection in 1969 and 1970, Sheehy was named the ECAC Player of the Year in 1969-70
• He tallied 185 points (74 goals, 111 assists) in his 80-game career, leading the Eagles in scoring three straight seasons; he is also the second all-time leading scorer in Beanpot history despite playing just three seasons
• A 1973 All-American and ECAC Player of the Year, Mellor established a school scoring record for defenseman, tallying 135 points (37 goals, 98 assists) from 1969-71 and 1972-73
• His 45 assists as a senior still ranks third all-time in Boston College history for a single season
• Sheehy and Mellor were teammates on the 1972 U.S. Olympic Team that won a silver medal in Sapporo, Japan

UP NEXT
• BC moves on to a home-and-home series with UMass Lowell next weekend, beginning at Conte Forum on Friday, Jan. 25 at 7 p.m.

Eagles Play Host to No. 10 Friars on Saturday at 4 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

Christopher Brown

David Cotton

Michael Kim

Julius Mattila

Joseph Woll