No. 4 Eagles Host Maine for a Pair on the Heights

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – No. 4 Boston College welcomes the Maine Black Bears to Kelley Rink for a two-game Hockey East weekend series, beginning on Friday (Jan. 24) at 7 p.m. on NESNplus. The series finale on Saturday (Jan. 25) begins at 8 p.m. The Eagles enter the weekend 13-1-0 in their last 14 games and are tied for second in Hockey East with Providence, just one point behind UMass with two games in hand on the Minutemen and three on the Friars.

HUTSKO'S HEROICS IN LOWELL
• Boston College stormed back from an early 2-0 deficit to beat UMass Lowell 3-2 last Friday at Tsongas Center
• Logan Hutsko's individual effort at 3:42 of the third period gave the Eagles their first and only lead for the eventual game-winner as he won a foot race and beat Tyler Wall short side
• BC picked up its first win in Lowell since Oct. 26, 2012, which was a 1-0 shutout with Parker Milner in net
• 13th-ranked UMass Lowell struck twice in the first 71 seconds of the contest, but goals from Marc McLaughlin (3) and Alex Newhook (8) knotted the score in the second
• Spencer Knight shut the door on Lowell for the final 58 minutes and finished with 34 saves for his 13th victory

BATTLE OF COMM AVE
• Julius Mattila's deflected centering pass beat Sam Tucker with less than six minutes left in the third period, lifting No. 5 Boston College past rival Boston University 4-3 last Saturday night at sold out Kelley Rink
• Mattila finished the night with a goal and two assists, while Logan Hutsko tallied a pair of goals
• The duo's linemate David Cotton also collected two assists to give the veteran top line its fourth seven-point performance of the season along with a plus-8 rating
• BC held BU to just 18 shots on goal as Spencer Knight stopped 15 for the 14th victory of his rookie campaign
• Rookie Mike Hardman also tallied his sixth goal of the year on a wraparound in the first period

SCOUTING THE BLACK BEARS
• Maine enters the weekend 10-9-4 overall and 4-7-2 in Hockey East
• The Black Bears haven't seen the ice since falling 3-2 to UConn last Wednesday in Bridgeport despite a 39-26 shot advantage over the Huskies
• Mitchell Fossier leads the team with 26 points and 22 assists, which ranks third in the nation just behind Julius Mattila in assists per game
• Eduards Tralmaks has scored a team-high 11 goals, while Tim Doherty ranks second on the team in scoring with a 10-13-23 line, including five power play goals
• Boston Bruins draft pick Jeremy Swayman has played nearly every minute in net with 22 starts and a 10-9-4 record, 2.29 goals against average and .934 save percentage
• Maine has percentages of 18.7% on the power play and 88.1% on the penalty kill, which is second in the league and seventh in the nation
• Red Gendron's Black Bears are 3-9-2 playing away from Alfond Arena this season

SERIES HISTORY
• The schools are meeting for the 128th and 129th times in the all-time series with Boston College holding a 69-49-9 overall advantage
• BC had a seven-game winning streak against Maine heading into last season but was swept 3-0-0 in the three-game regular season series
• The Black Bears' 7-2 win at Conte Forum was its first against Boston College since Jan. 18, 2015 and its first at Kelley Rink in almost six years
• It marked the most goals scored by Maine in the series since a 7-4 victory in Orono seven years prior on Jan. 21, 2012
• The Eagles then lost a pair of tight 2-1 games at Alfond in late February, including an overtime defeat in the series finale on Mitchell Fossier's winner at 4:09 of OT

HULK LOGAN
• Logan Hutsko was named the Hockey East Player of the Week on Monday following a three-goal weekend
• His first goal on Saturday in the Battle of Comm Ave marked his 75th collegiate point
• The Tampa native is currently third in the nation in goals per game with 13 tallies in 16 games
• He is averaging a goal per game over his last seven contests and has already eclipsed his career-high in goals, which was 12 as a freshman during his Hockey East Rookie of the Year campaign
• The junior had a career-high 12-game point streak (9-5-14) earlier this season that was snapped on Jan. 10

FINK ON THE RINK
• Ben Finkelstein will skate in his 100th NCAA game on Friday, combined between St. Lawrence and BC
• The defenseman is seventh among Hockey East defensemen in points per game with 13 in 20 games
• The senior collected his 50th career point on Nov. 26 and is four assists away from his 50th
• Finkelstein leads the team with 25 blocked shots, including a career-best five at Denver on Oct. 18

FINNISH HIM
• Julius Mattila sits second in the entire country in assists per game with 22 helpers in 20 games
• He and Jack Dugan of Providence are the only two Hockey East skaters with a trio of three-assist games
• Mattila has 10 assists in his last six games and has factored into nine game-winning goals this year
• The senior is six points away from becoming the 82nd 100-point scorer in BC history

WE'RE THE THREE BEST FRIENDS
• Boston College's all upperclass top line of David Cotton, Julius Mattila and Logan Hutsko has combined for 69 points in 16 games (4.3 points per game) with a plus-30 rating as a three-man unit this season
• When one member of the line scores a goal, BC has a combined record of 28-1-0 this year
• The trio has produced seven points on four different occasions this season
• The line combined for 12 points in the home-and-home sweep of No. 9 Notre Dame on Dec. 6-8

ONE PERIOD AT A TIME
• Boston College has excelled defensively this season in the first and third periods
• The Eagles rank 14th and fifth nationally in team GAA in those two frames
• Since the start of November, the Eagles have allowed eight first period goals and went nearly 135 consecutive minutes of first period action without conceding a goal
• BC also ranks third in the country in second period scoring average (1.50) with 30 total goals
• The Eagles have been consistent in each period with goal margins of +12 (1st), +13 (2nd) and +12 (3rd)

UP NEXT
• Next Friday, Jan. 31, the Eagles travel to the Mullins Center to face UMass to complete the regular season series at 7 p.m.
• The 68th Beanpot begins on Monday, Feb. 3 with a matchup against Boston University at 8 p.m. at TD Garden

No. 4 Eagles Host Maine for a Pair on the Heights

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Players Mentioned

David Cotton

Ben Finkelstein

Mike Hardman

Logan Hutsko

Spencer Knight

Julius Mattila

Marc McLaughlin

Alex Newhook