Eagles Return to Action with Arizona State Trip

TEMPE, Ariz. – Boston College travels west to Arizona and closes 2022 with a two-game series against Arizona State at the Sun Devils' new home Mullett Arena on Friday, Dec. 30 at 9 p.m. (ET) and Saturday, Dec. 31 at 5 p.m. (ET). Both games will be streamed live via pac-12.com and radio coverage begins 15 minutes prior to faceoff on WEEI 850 AM and BCEagles.com.

SETTING THE SCENE
• The Eagles are 4-1-3 in their last eight games as they enter the second half of the season one game above .500 at 6-5-4 overall
• The Sun Devils have slipped to a game below .500 at 9-10-0 after losing six of their last eight games to close out the first half
• The schools have met just three previous times in series history

BATTLE OF COMM AVE
• In the highest scoring Battle of Comm Ave since 1986, Boston College pulled away from No. 6 Boston University for a 9-6 Hockey East victory in front of a sellout crowd on Jerry York Night at Kelley Rink on Dec. 9 to close the first semester
• It marked the highest goal total in a Battle of Comm Ave since a 9-6 Boston College victory at Boston Garden on Dec. 2, 1986
• Freshman Cutter Gauthier registered two goals and two assists for a four-point performance in the 288th edition of the rivalry
• BC extended its home unbeaten streak against the Terriers to five games (4-0-1)
• Gauthier was joined by six other Eagles with multi-point games, including Trevor Kuntar (1-2-3), Nikita Nesterenko (1-1-2), Lukas Gustafsson (1-1-2) and Connor Joyce (1-1-2)
• Oskar Jellvik and Eamon Powell each collected a pair of assists in the win

SERIES HISTORY
• This weekend will mark just the fourth and fifth all-time meetings between Boston College and Arizona State in men's hockey
• The first meeting on Nov. 13, 2016 resulted in a 3-1 Eagles victory at Kelley Rink
• Boston College out-shot the Sun Devils 41-24 on the night and received goals from forwards Colin White, David Cotton, and Chris Calnan
• ASU swept BC in Arizona by 5-2 and 2-0 final scores on Jan. 4-5, 2019
• The teams played the opening game at Oceanside Ice Arena in Tempe before meeting at the Coyotes' former home Gila River Arena in the series finale

NASTY NESTY
• Nikita Nesterenko has matched his career-high with a five-game point streak
• The junior has posted a 3-4-7 scoring line over the last five games and has nine points in his last seven contests
• Nesterenko is third on the team in scoring and ranks 17th in Hockey East in points per game with a 4-9-13 line in 15 games

KUNTAR'S CONTRIBUTIONS
• Assistant captain Trevor Kuntar is eighth in Hockey East in scoring by averaging a point per game over his first 14 games of the season
• Kuntar had a career-high six-game point streak snapped on Dec. 2 vs. Providence and has at least one point in 10 of his last 13 games overall
• The junior is tied for second in Hockey East with four power play goals
• He leads the team with 53 shots on goal, which ranks 14th in Hockey East and is exactly halfway to his sophomore season total (106)

WORLD JUNIORS BOUND
• Freshman forward Cutter Gauthier will miss the weekend series as he competes for the 2023 U.S. National Junior Team at the IIHF World Junior Championship
• Gauthier made the final 23-player roster for the tournament, which is taking place Dec. 26, 2022 – Jan. 5, 2023 in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia
• Gauthier has four assists through three preliminary round games, wins over Latvia and Switzerland and a loss to Slovakia
• Boston College has seen 10 different players earn a total of 11 gold medals in the history of the World Junior Championship
• The U.S. has medaled in five of the last seven tournaments, winning gold in Edmonton two years ago with Matt Boldy, Drew Helleson and Spencer Knight

AT THE DOT
• Boston College ranks second in Hockey East behind UMass Lowell and 12th nationally in team faceoff percentage at 53.1%
• The Eagles are +32 at the dot over their last five contests, winning the faceoff battle in four of those five games
• Centers Cam Burke (159) and Trevor Kuntar (142) are both top-10 in Hockey East in faceoffs won this season
• Burke and Kuntar are fifth and sixth in the league in faceoff percentage among skaters with at least 200 attempts, winning roughly 58% of their draws
• Mike Posma has won 52 of his 84 draws (62%), which is seventh in the league

ROOKIE CLASS
• Cutter Gauthier ranks fifth in the league with 1.23 points per game
• Lukas Gustafsson is tied for eighth in Hockey East in assists per game
• Andre Gasseau has a pair of multi-point performances this season
• Oskar Jellvik has a point in eight of his first 13 collegiate games
• Charlie Leddy is tied for second on the team with 18 blocked shots

POWER UP
• After going 3-for-3 against BU last time out, Boston College ranks second in Hockey East and sixth nationally in power play percentage at 26.8%
• BC started the year 0-for-7 on the power play but has gone 15-for-49 (30.6%) with the man advantage over the last 13 games
• The Eagles have scored at least once on the power play in 11 of those 13 games
• Cutter Gauthier and Trevor Kuntar are tied for second in Hockey East with 4 PPG

THE KILL
• Boston College has killed off 23 of the last 25 power plays it has faced
• BC ranks fourth in Hockey East and 15th nationally on the penalty kill at 84%
• The Eagles had a streak of 16 consecutive kills snapped late in the third period against Brown on Nov. 29, which was an extra attacker goal for the Bears
• Boston College was a perfect 6-for-6 in the Providence series on Dec. 2-3

UP NEXT
• Boston College faces UMass in Frozen Fenway next Saturday at 6 p.m.

Eagles Return to Action with Arizona State Trip

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Players Mentioned

Cam Burke

Andre Gasseau

Cutter Gauthier

Lukas Gustafsson

Drew Helleson

Oskar Jellvik

Connor Joyce

Trevor Kuntar

Charlie Leddy

Nikita Nesterenko

Mike Posma

Eamon Powell