Eagles Face UConn in Hartford Prior to Beanpot

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – In its final tune-up before the 67th Beanpot begins next Monday, Boston College travels to face UConn at the XL Center in downtown Hartford on Friday night (Feb. 1) at 7 p.m. The Eagles won the first two meetings of the season against the Huskies in early December, shutting out UConn 4-0 on the road before holding on for a 3-2 home victory the following night. The game will be televised on CW20 in Connecticut, and radio coverage begins at 6:45 p.m. on WEEI 850 AM and BCEagles.com.

SETTING THE SCENE
• The Eagles took one point from a home-and-home series against No. 19 UMass Lowell last weekend
• BC is tied for second in Hockey East with Northeastern as only five points separate first place UMass from sixth place Providence with nine league games remaining on the Eagles' schedule
• Boston College will attempt to sweep the three-game regular season series; in their last six wins against UConn, the Eagles have held the Huskies to a total of six goals, including shutouts in two of the last three
• UConn (7-16-2, 2-11-2 HEA) is trying to end its five-game winless streak and climb out of the basement of Hockey East, currently seven points out of the eighth and final playoff spot, which is occupied by Maine at 5-6-3

FIRST TWO MEETINGS
• On Dec. 6, Julius Mattila recorded his first career hat trick and Joseph Woll posted his second straight shutout in a convincing 4-0 Hockey East win at the XL Center
• Mattila added an assist for a four-point night, while David Cotton (two assists) and Logan Hutsko (goal) helped the Eagles' top line combine for seven points
• The following night at Conte Forum, BC scored three straight goals and held on late for a 3-2 Hockey East victory over UConn to clinch the regular season series
• Cotton along with rookies Jack McBain and Oliver Wahlstrom accounted for the scoring for the Eagles, who closed the series 3-for-5 on the power play

SCOUTING THE HUSKIES
• Connecticut's losses to BC in December were its sixth and seventh in a row and the Huskies are currently riding a five-game winless streak (0-4-1)
• UConn fell to Sacred Heart 2-1 at the XL center on Tuesday night; last weekend, it tied UNH at in Hartford 2-2 on Friday before falling 6-0 in Durham on Saturday
• Czech rookie Jáchym Kondelík and senior Karl El-Mir are tied for the team lead with 22 points, while junior Alexander Payusov has scored a team-leading 13 goals
• Junior netminder Adam Huska has started 18 of 25 games in net and carries a 5-11-2 record, 3.16 goals against average, and .902 save percentage with one shutout
• UConn is clicking at 14.2% on the power play thus far and 77.6% on the penalty kill
• 18-year Boston College assistant coach Mike Cavanaugh is now in his sixth season as the head coach in Storrs

SERIES HISTORY
• Friday night marks just the 12th meeting in the all-time series, which Boston College leads 8-2-1 since UConn joined Hockey East in 2014
• The Eagles are undefeated against UConn in Chestnut Hill (4-0-1) and 4-2-0 at the XL Center after their 4-0 shutout win back on Thursday, Dec. 6 in Hartford

THE GAUNTLET
• All but three of Boston College's games down the stretch will come against teams currently ranked among the top-20 of the Pairwise Rankings for the NCAA Tournament
• The Eagles will play at least seven games against those squads: Harvard (15th) in the Beanpot, UMass (T-1st) twice, UMass Lowell (17th), Northeastern (13th) twice, and Providence (T-10th)
• Six of BC's eight games during the month of January came against ranked schools

UP NEXT
Boston College and 19th-ranked Harvard meet in the opening game of the 67th Beanpot at TD Garden next Monday (Feb. 4) at 5 p.m. on NESN.

Eagles Face UConn in Hartford Prior to Beanpot

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Players Mentioned

David Cotton

Logan Hutsko

Julius Mattila

Jack McBain

Oliver Wahlstrom

Joseph Woll