No. 3 Eagles and No. 8 Spartans Meet for Top-10 Matchup

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Third-ranked Boston College continues its six-game homestand at Kelley Rink this week by hosting No. 7/8 Michigan State on Thursday and Friday night at 7 p.m. on ESPN+ and WEEI 850 AM. Tickets are available at BCEagles.com or by calling 617-552-GoBC.

SETTING THE SCENE
• The schools are facing one another for the first time in eight seasons, last meeting in November of 2015
• The Eagles are 3-1-0 following their first loss of the season to No. 2 Denver on Saturday, while the Spartans enter the week at 5-1-0 overall having won three straight
• Since meeting in the 2007 NCAA Championship Game, BC has won all three meetings
• BC ranks third nationally in average home attendance with 21,000 fans through three games

THE RANKINGS
• Boston College has spent the last two weeks ranked No. 3 nationally in both the USCHO.com and USA Hockey / The Rink Live polls after starting the year sixth in each poll
• This week will mark the second and third straight top-10 matchups on the Heights after the third-ranked Eagles hosted No. 2 Denver last Saturday
• Six Hockey East schools are ranked in this week's USCHO.com poll

YOU GOT A FAST START
• Will Smith leads the team with five points, four of which came last weekend (3-1-4)
• Oskar Jellvik is riding a career-high three-game goal scoring streak
• Cutter Gauthier leads Hockey East in total shots with 26 and shots per game with 6.5
• Gauthier is also tied for the league lead with a pair of game-winning goals
• Among players with at least 30 attempts, Colby Ambrosio ranks second in Hockey East with a 67.4% success rate at the faceoff dot
• Boston College killed off the first 16 opponent power plays it faced before Denver finally broke the streak in the third period last Saturday; BC is 17-for-19 on the year (89.5%)

EAGLES CRUISE PAST RPI
• Cutter Gauthier scored twice in the first seven and a half minutes and No. 3 Boston College never looked back in a 6-1 non-conference victory over RPI last Friday at Kelley Rink
• Friday marked the first meeting between the schools in eight seasons
• Rookie linemates Gabe Perreault and Will Smith each recorded his first collegiate goal and added an assist in the win for multi-point nights
• Oskar Jellvik and Connor Joyce also lit the lamp for the Eagles, who out-shot RPI 32-22

SHOWDOWN WITH DENVER
• Carter King's late third period goal with 2:02 remaining proved to be the game-winner as BC fell to No. 2 Denver 4-3 on Saturday night in front of a sellout crowd of 7,884 at Conte Forum
• Freshman Will Smith netted two goals for his first career multi-goal game, while sophomore Oskar Jellvik scored his third goal in four games to begin the season
• Freshman Ryan Leonard recorded a game-high five shots on goal while also tallying an assist
• DU went 2-for-5 on the power play, scoring the first two PPG of the season against BC's kill

FRESH TRIO IN NET
• All three of BC's goalies – Jacob Fowler, Jan Korec and Alex Musielak – are freshmen
• It marks the first time BC will go three consecutive seasons with a new starting goalie since 1991-92 to 1993-94 (Scott LaGrand, Josh Singewald, Greg Taylor)
• Fowler has started all four games this season and is 3-1-0 with a 1.97 goals against average
• He made a season-high 29 saves in his NCAA debut at Quinnipiac on Oct. 7

SERIES HISTORY
• Boston College and Michigan State will meet for the 28th and 29th times in series history
• The Spartans have a 17-9-1 all-time edge in the series, which began in 1953-54
• Thursday marks the first meeting between the teams since a 6-4 Boston College victory in a back and forth affair at Kelley Rink on Nov. 13, 2015
• Alex Tuch scored at 12:13 of the third period, giving BC a three-goal cushion with seven and a half minutes to play, but Michigan State scored three unanswered goals in 1:58 to tie it up
• Miles Wood tipped home a power play goal with just 1:54 left in regulation for the victory
• The schools have met 10 times in the NCAA Tournament with MSU winning eight of those matchups, including the 2007 National Championship Game in St. Louis
• BC carried a 1-0 lead into the third period, but Justin Abdelkader put the Spartans ahead with just 19 seconds remaining in regulation

NHL NOTES
• Joseph Woll (Toronto) has stopped 64 of the 65 shots he has faced over his last two appearances against Tampa and Washington
• Cam Atkinson (Philadelphia), who missed the entire 2022-23 campaign due injury, has scored four times in six games since his return
• Alex Newhook (Montreal) has a 3-1-4 line in his first six games for the Canadiens
• Chris Kreider (NY Rangers) has five goals and an assist in his first six games
• Noah Hanifin (Calgary) has posted four assists in his first seven contests

UP NEXT
• BC opens Hockey East play with a home-and-home series against UMass Lowell next weekend

No. 3 Eagles and No. 8 Spartans Meet for Top-10 Matchup

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Players Mentioned

Colby Ambrosio

Jacob Fowler

Cutter Gauthier

Oskar Jellvik

Connor Joyce

Jan Korec

Ryan Leonard

Alex Musielak

Gabe Perreault

Will Smith