BC and BU Clash in Battle of Comm Ave on Jerry York Night

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Boston College will host Jerry York Night as it closes the first semester on Friday in the 288th edition of the Battle of Comm Ave against rival No. 6/7 Boston University at 7 p.m. All the action from Kelley Rink will air live on ESPNEWS and WEEI 850 AM.

SETTING THE SCENE
• The Eagles are coming off an undefeated 1-0-2 week against Brown and No. 10 Providence and are 3-1-3 in their last seven games overall
• The Terriers have won four games in a row and seven of their last eight after sweeping UNH 6-3 and 3-0 last weekend in a home-and-home series
• Friday will be the first meeting with neither Jerry York nor Jack Parker behind a bench in nearly 50 years
• The last meeting without one of the two legends was a 2-2 tie at Walter Brown Arena on Feb. 21, 1973
• BC hasn't lost to BU at Kelley Rink since December of 2017

JERRY YORK NIGHT
• Boston College will honor college hockey's all-time winningest coach and Hockey Hall of Famer Jerry York '67 during the first intermission on Friday night
• York retired earlier this year following the 100th season of BC men's hockey, marking his 50th and final season as a Division I head coach and his 28th at Boston College
• He closed his legendary career with 1,123 career wins after 28 years (1994-2022) at his alma mater, 15 years (1979-94) at Bowling Green and seven (1972-79) at Clarkson
• York brought four NCAA Championships to the Heights, including three in a span of five years – 2001, 2008, 2010, 2012 – in addition to his 1984 NCAA title at Bowling Green
• He led the Eagles to nine Hockey East Tournament titles, 12 Hockey East Regular Season Championships, 12 Frozen Four berths and nine Beanpot titles during his tenure

SERIES HISTORY
• Friday night marks the 288th edition of the Battle of Comm Ave, which began in 1918 as part of Boston College's first varsity season of men's hockey
• The Eagles are unbeaten in their last four matchups with BU at Kelley Rink (3-0-1)
• Those four previous meetings have been decided by a total of four goals, including the first scoreless tie in series history and a pair of 4-3 Eagle victories
• Boston University's last win at Conte Forum came back on Dec. 1, 2017
• The schools split their three-game regular season series 1-1-1 last year, with BC winning the lone meeting on the Heights by a 3-1 final on Feb. 27, 2022
• Drew Helleson blasted a left wing one-timer from Marc McLaughlin with 5:20 left in regulation for the game-winning goal on that Sunday evening

A CUT ABOVE
• Cutter Gauthier was named the Hockey East Rookie of the Month for November
• The forward led all Hockey East rookies with eight points and five goals in seven games during the month, and his five goals ranked second in the NCAA among all freshmen
• In seven games, he finished with a team-best 26 shots on goal and scored three power play goals
• Overall, Gauthier is tied for the Hockey East lead and ranks ninth nationally in goals per game, and he leads the team in goals (8), points (12) and power play goals (4)

WEEKLY AWARDS
• Graduate Mitch Benson (Goaltender of the Week) and freshman Cutter Gauthier (Rookie of the Week) received Hockey East weekly awards on Monday
• Benson stopped 95 of the 100 shots he faced in three starts last week for a .950 save percentage while going undefeated (1-0-2) in net
• The Windsor, Ontario native made a season-high 39 saves on Friday night in a 1-1 tie against No. 10 Providence at Kelley Rink
• Gauthier registered three points in three games last week, including two power play goals and an assist, and closed the week with 12 shots on goal
• He posted his third multi-point game last Tuesday in a 4-2 road win at Brown

PROVIDENCE SERIES RECAP
• Boston College and No. 10 Providence skated to a pair of ties last weekend as the schools split their two-game regular season series
• In Friday's series opener at Kelley Rink, Mitch Benson stopped 39 of the 40 Friar shots he faced, but PC earned an extra league point by winning the shootout
• Cutter Gauthier netted his team-high eighth goal of the season for the Eagles
• The series shifted to Providence on Saturday as Matt Argentina scored a goal in the third period and secured an extra point with a shootout winner in the fourth round
• Sophomore Connor Joyce scored the other goal for BC, his second of the season
• Benson finished with 33 saves, more than half of which came in the second period
• Boston College only allowed one power play to the Friars in the series finale

WORLD JUNIOR SELECTIONS
• Sophomore defenseman Aidan Hreschuk and freshman forward Cutter Gauthier were among 32 players named by USA Hockey on Monday to the preliminary roster for the 2023 U.S. National Junior Team
• The group will gather for a training camp at USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth, Michigan from Dec. 12-17, auditioning for a spot on the final 23-player roster for the IIHF World Junior Championship Dec. 26, 2022 – Jan. 5, 2023 in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia
• Both Hreschuk and Gauthier played for the U.S. National Team Development Program
• 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 and 12th nationally in team faceoff percentage at 53.1%
• The Eagles are +27 at the dot over their last four contests, winning the faceoff battle convincingly in three of those games
• Centers Cam Burke (148) and Trevor Kuntar (136) are both top-10 in Hockey East in faceoffs won this season
• Burke and Kuntar are fourth and fifth in the league in faceoff percentage among skaters with at least 200 attempts, winning nearly 58% of their draws
• Mike Posma has won 48 of his 78 draws (61.5%), which is ninth overall in the league

KUNTAR'S CONTRIBUTIONS
• Assistant captain Trevor Kuntar had a career-high six-game point streak snapped last Friday at home against Providence
• Kuntar has at least one point in nine of his last 12 games overall
• The junior is tied for sixth in Hockey East with three power play goals
• He leads the team with 50 shots on goal, which ranks 11th in Hockey East and is nearly halfway to his sophomore total (106)

ROOKIE CLASS
• Cutter Gauthier is tied for seventh in the league with a point-per-game average
• Lukas Gustafsson is tied for 12th in Hockey East with a team-high nine assists
• Andre Gasseau has a pair of multi-point performances this season
• Oskar Jellvik has a point in seven of his first 12 collegiate games
• Charlie Leddy is tied for second on the team with 17 blocked shots

POWER UP
• After starting the year 0-for-7 on the power play, Boston College has gone 12-for-46 (26.1%) with the man advantage over the last 12 games
• The Eagles have scored at least once on the power play in 10 of those 12 games
• Boston College is up to third in Hockey East in power play percentage at 22.6%
• Cutter Gauthier is second in Hockey East with a team-high four power play goals, while Trevor Kuntar ranks sixth in the league with three PPG

THE KILL
• Boston College has killed off 22 of the last 23 power plays it has faced
• BC ranks third in Hockey East and eighth nationally on the penalty kill at 85.4%
• The Eagles had a streak of 16 consecutive kills snapped late in the third period against Brown last Tuesday, which was an extra attacker goal for the Bears
• Boston College was a perfect 6-for-6 against Providence last weekend

NHL NOTES
• Spencer Knight (Florida) stopped 35 of the 36 shots he faced in Seattle last Saturday to pick up the win in his 50th NHL appearance
• Alex Newhook (Colorado) scored a pair of goals while skating in his 100th career NHL game on Monday in Philadelphia
• Johnny Gaudreau (Columbus) has a point in nine of his last 10 games with four multi-point outings during that span
• Chris Kreider (NY Rangers) scored his 13th goal of the season against St. Louis on Monday which ranks tied for 14th in the NHL
• Alex Tuch (Buffalo) posted his 200th career NHL point on Dec. 1

UP NEXT
• BC begins the second half just before New Year's with a trip to face Arizona State on Dec. 30-31

BC and BU Clash in Battle of Comm Ave on Jerry York Night

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Players Mentioned

Matt Argentina

Mitch Benson

Cam Burke

Andre Gasseau

Cutter Gauthier

Lukas Gustafsson

Drew Helleson

Aidan Hreschuk

Oskar Jellvik

Connor Joyce

Trevor Kuntar

Charlie Leddy

Marc McLaughlin

Mike Posma