Eagles and Terriers Renew Rivalry in Battle of Comm Ave

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Boston College and Boston University renew the Battle of Comm Ave this weekend with a home-and-home series between the longtime rivals. The series begins on Friday night at 7 p.m. on NESN from Agganis Arena and wraps up on Saturday night at 7 p.m. on NESN+ at Conte Forum. Both games will also be available on ESPN+. Limited tickets remain for the Saturday series finale at (617) 552-GoBC or BCEagles.com.

SETTING THE SCENE
• Boston College is 5-2-3 in its last 10 games but will try to rebound from a one-point Hockey East weekend at home against Vermont at Kelley Rink
• The Terriers have moved up to No. 4 and 5 in the national rankings following a stretch of seven wins in eight games and a four-game winning streak
• The Eagles are unbeaten in their last five matchups with BU at Kelley Rink (4-0-1), including a 9-6 victory back on Dec. 9 to finish the first half

SERIES HISTORY
• This weekend marks the 289th and 290th editions of the Battle of Comm Ave, which began in 1918 as part of Boston College's first varsity season of men's hockey
• Boston College is 5-2-2 in its last nine trips to Agganis Arena
• Last season, BC earned a shootout win following a 3-3 tie at Agganis on Dec. 10, 2021 then fell to the Terriers 6-3 on Feb. 26, 2022
• BC is riding a five-game home unbeaten streak, as 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 3-1 on Feb. 27, 2022

THE LAST MEETING
• 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
• Cutter Gauthier registered two goals and two assists for a four-point performance
• Six other Eagles had 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
• 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
• Schiller Family Head Coach Greg Brown was a freshman defenseman in that game

POWER UP
• Boston College is second in the league and 12th nationally on the power play at 24.4%
• The Eagles have scored at least once on the power play in 14 of their last 19 games
• Cutter Gauthier (5) and Trevor Kuntar (4) are both top-10 in Hockey East in PPG

A CUT ABOVE
• With 12 goals in his first 17 collegiate games, Cutter Gauthier ranks second in Hockey East and third nationally in goals per game (0.71)
• He is fourth in the league and 16th in the country in points per game (1.18)
• Gauthier has scored goals in back-to-back games on three occasions this season
• The forward was named the Hockey East Rookie of the Month for November

COOKING WITH GAS
• Freshman Andre Gasseau was named the Pro Ambitions Hockey East Co-Rookie of the Week on Jan. 16 for his first career weekly honor
• Gasseau had a career-high three-point performance at Sacred Heart on Jan. 14, including a shorthanded goal and the primary assist on the overtime winner
• The Garden Grove, California native has 12 points in 21 games this season and has posted three multi-point performances on the year
• Gasseau ranks fifth nationally with a pair of shorthanded goals

AT THE DOT
• BC ranks fourth in Hockey East and 13th nationally in faceoff percentage at 53.2%
• The Eagles are +56 at the dot over their last 11 contests, winning the faceoff battle in nine of those games including both last weekend against UVM
• Center Cam Burke ranks eighth in Hockey East with 212 faceoffs won
• Burke (57%) and Trevor Kuntar (56.9%) are fifth and sixth in the league in faceoff percentage among skaters with at least 250 attempts

NHL NOTES
• Johnny Gaudreau (Columbus) had two assists in his return to Calgary on Jan. 23
• Kevin Hayes (Philadelphia) scored twice in his 600th career NHL game on Jan. 22 and recorded his first career hat trick on Jan. 17
• Marc McLaughlin (Boston) was recalled by the Bruins on Jan. 23
• Alex Tuch (Buffalo) scored against Florida on Jan. 16 to set a new career-high in goals with 21, which was previously set in 2018-19 with Vegas

UP NEXT
• BC plays a pair of road league games next week at Northeastern on Tuesday and UMass Lowell on Friday prior to the 70th Beanpot

Eagles and Terriers Renew Rivalry in Battle of Comm Ave

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Players Mentioned

Cam Burke

Andre Gasseau

Cutter Gauthier

Lukas Gustafsson

Oskar Jellvik

Connor Joyce

Trevor Kuntar

Marc McLaughlin

Nikita Nesterenko

Eamon Powell