Eagles and Black Bears Meet for Key Weekend Set in Orono

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Boston College brings a three-game winning streak to Alfond Arena this weekend for a key two-game Hockey East series against Maine in Orono. Both games of the series start at 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday night live on ESPN+ and WEEI 850 AM.

SETTING THE SCENE
• Boston College leads Maine by one point for the No. 7 seed in the league standings
• The Black Bears beat the Eagles 3-1 at Kelley Rink just two weeks ago and can clinch the three-game regular season series with at least one win this weekend
• Four of the last nine meetings between the teams have gone to overtime

UMASS SWEEP
• BC swept UMass in a home-and-home last weekend by the combined score of 10-4
• On Friday at Kelley Rink, Boston College exploded for five goals in the first period and Nikita Nesterenko recorded his first career hat trick in a convincing 7-3 victory
• Nesterenko (3-1-4) and linemate Oskar Jellvik (1-2-3) combined for seven points, while defensemen Eamon Powell and Charlie Leddy each collected a pair of assists
• Mitch Benson made 29 saves for the win in his 100th career start
• Trevor Kuntar scored twice on Saturday in Amherst, including the eventual game-winner in the third period, and BC swept the weekend with a 3-1 road win
• It was Boston College's fifth straight win over the Minutemen at the Mullins Center
• Connor Joyce added an insurance goal for the Eagles in the third period, and Andre Gasseau finished with a pair of assists

SERIES HISTORY
• The schools are squaring off for the 136th and 137th meetings in series history
• Boston College holds a 72-53-10 all-time advantage over Maine
• The Eagles have dropped their last three visits to Alfond Arena, scoring a single goal in all three of those defeats including a 4-1 loss last season on Jan. 28, 2022
• The Black Bears have won the last two meetings overall following a four-game unbeaten streak in the series (3-0-1) for Boston College

THE LAST MEETING
• Boston College out-shot Maine 32-21 on Feb. 10, but Victor Ostman made 31 saves and the Black Bears pulled out a 3-1 Hockey East victory at Kelley Rink
• Maine took the lead 5:18 into the first period on a tic-tac-toe passing play when Donavan Villeneuve-Houle found Lynden Breen open on the weak side at the right post
• The Black Bears doubled their lead on a shorthanded goal from Didrik Henbrant, who beat Mitch Benson blocker side on a breakaway at 14:00 of the opening frame
• Trevor Kuntar pulled a goal back with just under four minutes remaining, receiving a pass from Andre Gasseau on his backhand and lifting the puck over Ostman's glove
• Villeneuve-Houle sealed the points for Maine with an empty-netter at 18:26

JUNIOR CLASS
• Boston College's junior class represents four of the team's top six scorers
• Nikita Nesterenko, Trevor Kuntar, Colby Ambrosio and Eamon Powell have combined for 88 points this season, which is 37% of the team's scoring
• Three of the four have already surpassed their career-highs in points
• Ambrosio is four away from his career-high, but has tied his career-best in goals (9)

TRICKY NESTY
• Nikita Nesterenko was named the Hockey East Player of the Week on Monday following his first career hat trick last Friday against UMass
• Nesterenko added an assist for a career-high four-point performance and finished with a plus-three rating in the win with five shots on goal
• The junior has a point in seven of his last 10 games and five goals in his last five
• Nesterenko is tied for 10th in Hockey East in points per game (0.90) and has registered six multi-point games this season
• The Coney Island native has already established new career-highs in goals (10) and points (27) and is one assist away from setting a new career-best in that category

KUNTAR STREAKIN'
• Trevor Kuntar has matched his career-high with a six-game point streak, a stretch he also put together back in November
• He has established career-highs in goals (13), assists (12) and points (25) after scoring four goals in his last four games
• Kuntar has moved up to fifth in Hockey East in goals per game (0.46) and 12th in the league in points per game (0.89)
• The Buffalo native has at least one point in 20 of his last 26 games overall
• The Boston Bruins draft pick has also set a new career-high with 114 shots on goal, second in Hockey East behind only Merrimack's Alex Jeffries (120)

HIT THE GAS
• Rookie Andre Gasseau recorded his seventh multi-point performance of the year on Saturday night in Amherst with a pair of assists
• Five of those multi-point efforts have come since Jan. 14
• Gasseau had career-high four-game assist and point streaks snapped last Friday
• The California native has collected 15 points over his last 13 games (3-12-15)
• The winger has moved up into the top-25 in Hockey East in points per game and is tied with Nesterenko for the team-lead in assists (17)

NHL NOTES
• Joseph Woll (Toronto) made 29 saves on Feb. 18 in the Maple Leafs' 5-1 victory over Montreal for his first NHL win on home ice in Toronto
• Woll won three times on the road in 2021-22 with the Leafs
• Alex Tuch (Buffalo) registered his 100th career NHL goal on Tuesday against Toronto
• Miles Wood (New Jersey) scored the game-winning goal on Feb. 19 to beat the Winnipeg Jets for his ninth goal of the season
• Matt Boldy (Minnesota) had the shootout winner and an assist in the Wild's win over the Dallas Stars on Feb. 17

UP NEXT
• Boston College hosts UConn for Senior Night next Friday at Kelley Rink
• The series concludes on Saturday afternoon in Storrs for the regular season finale

Eagles and Black Bears Meet for Key Weekend Set in Orono

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Players Mentioned

Colby Ambrosio

Mitch Benson

Andre Gasseau

Oskar Jellvik

Connor Joyce

Trevor Kuntar

Charlie Leddy

Nikita Nesterenko

Eamon Powell