No. 2 Eagles and Merrimack Clash in Hockey East Home-and-Home

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – No. 2 Boston College begins a Hockey East home-and-home series against Merrimack on Friday night at Lawler Rink with faceoff set for 7 p.m. on ESPN+ and WEEI 850 AM. After a day off, the series moves to Kelley Rink on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. live on NESN, ESPN+ and WEEI 850 AM. Limited tickets are available at BCEagles.com or by calling 617-552-GoBC.

SETTING THE SCENE
• Merrimack ended the Eagles' season a year ago with a 1-0 double overtime victory in the Hockey East Quarterfinal at Lawler Rink
• Boston College sits second in the Hockey East standings at 7-3-1 for 22 points after 11 league contests
• BC has won seven of its last nine games overall and split with Providence last weekend, beating the Friars 7-1 at home on Friday
• The Warriors are 10-10-1 overall (3-7-1 HEA) and have won four of their last five games after splitting with UMass last weekend

SERIES HISTORY
• Friday marks the 111th matchup of the all-time series between the schools
• Boston College holds a 76-27-7 lead in the series against the Warriors
• Merrimack ended the Eagles' 2022-23 season on March 11, 2023 in the Hockey East Quarterfinal with a 1-0 shutout on Mick Messner's winner at 8:20 of double overtime
• BC had a seven-game winning streak against Merrimack snapped in November of 2021 at Kelley Rink; since then, the Warriors have won the last four meetings
• MC swept a home-and-home regular season series in early November of 2022, winning 3-1 in North Andover before beating the Eagles 5-2 at Kelley Rink two days later
• The Eagles are 11-5-0 in their last 16 games against the Warriors over the last six years

CUT TO THE CHASE
• Cutter Gauthier is riding a career-best nine-game point streak with a 6-9-15 scoring line
• He has also put together a career-high five-game assist streak
• Gauthier has scored 14 goals in his first 19 games as the sophomore ranks third in Hockey East and eighth nationally in goals per game (0.74)
• Gauthier is second nationally in game-winning goals (5) and ninth in power play goals (6)
• He is third in the NCAA with 102 shots on goal, 23 more than anyone else in Hockey East

ON A PERR-ROLL
• Gabe Perreault has at least one point in 16 of his last 17 games, including an 11-game point streak in the first half, and is currently riding a five-game point streak
• His last four games have all been multi-point outings; he has 11 multi-point games this season
• The winger is coming off a five-point weekend against Providence (1-4-5)
• His 30 total points are the most in Hockey East and the most among NCAA freshmen
• Perreault also leads Hockey East and is tied for third nationally with 24 assists

NOW THIS IS A STORY
• Will Smith is riding a career-best four-game goal scoring streak with five goals in that span
• Smith ranks tied for fifth in Hockey East in total goals (11)
• The rookie center ranks third among all skaters in Hockey East in points per game (1.42) and sits ninth nationally in points per game
• All nine of his multi-point efforts have come over his last 17 games
• He has a point in 16 of his first 19 contests, including a seven-game point streak in the first half

RED HOT LENNY
• Ryan Leonard has scored 10 of his 11 goals over the last 13 games
• Leonard leads the team with a +12 rating, which is tied for ninth in Hockey East
• He is tied for fifth in Hockey East in goals per game with 11 tallies in 19 contests
• The Amherst native also sits 11th in the league in points per game (1.16)
• Leonard has posted six multi-point games this season and two multi-goal outings

WORKHORSE IN NET
• Jacob Fowler posted his 14th win against Providence last Friday and is now 14-4-1 in net
• He is second in Hockey East and fifth in the country in winning percentage (.763)
• Fowler leads Hockey East and ranks fifth nationally with a .925 save percentage
• The rookie's 2.20 GAA ranks seventh among NCAA goalies with at least 14 appearances
• He has played the second-most minutes among Hockey East goalies (1146:55)

PACK CONTE
• BC leads Hockey East and ranks fourth nationally in average home attendance with more than 70,000 total fans through 10 games for an average of 7,006 per home date
• Kelley Rink has been at 88.9% of its 7,884 seating capacity this season
• Conte Forum has seen six crowds of at least 7,300 fans, including four sellouts vs. Denver (Oct. 21), Michigan State (Oct. 27), Northeastern (Dec. 1) and Providence (Dec. 9)
• The Battle of Comm Ave next Friday against Boston University on Jan. 26 has already been announced as a sellout
• Boston College is 8-2-0 through 10 home games, out-scoring its opponents 47-28

GOALS IN BUNCHES
• As a team, Boston College has 11 different two-goal performances this season
• Cutter Gauthier has registered three of those multi-goal games, while Ryan Leonard, Will Smith and Oskar Jellvik each have a pair
• Andre Gasseau and Jack Malone have one multi-goal game each on the year
• The Eagles have had a two-goal scorer in five of their last nine games

TRULY SPECIAL TEAMS
• Boston College's penalty kill is the second-ranked unit in the nation at 91.5%
• The Eagles been perfect on the kill in 11 of their last 14 games
• BC also leads Hockey East on the power play, clicking at 28%
• The PP ranks fifth nationally and has converted in all but four games this season
• BC has nine power play goals over its last seven games, including a season-high three PPG against Providence on Dec. 9 to close the first half

GOLDEN EAGLES
• Seven members of the Eagles won gold medals as the U.S. National Junior Team beat host Sweden 6-2 to win the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship on Jan. 5
• Forwards Cutter Gauthier, Ryan Leonard, Gabe Perreault and Will Smith, defensemen Drew Fortescue and Aram Minnetian, and goaltender Jacob Fowler earned gold medals
• The U.S. claimed its sixth gold medal at World Juniors and second in the last four years, following the 2021 title featuring Matt Boldy, Drew Helleson and Spencer Knight
• Boston College set a USA Hockey record with seven players from the same school on a World Junior Championship roster
• BC now has 17 players who have earned a total of 18 gold medals in the history of the tournament; 16 of those gold medals have been won by American skaters
• The U.S. finished the tournament at 6-1-0 and earned its 15th tournament medal

NHL NOTES
• Thatcher Demko (Vancouver) has been elected to his second NHL All-Star Game, receiving the most votes (1,398,699) of any skater or goalie in fan voting
• Demko shut out the Sabres on Jan. 13 and currently ranks third in the NHL with four shutouts on the season
• Chris Kreider (NY Rangers) scored his 166th goal at Madison Square Garden on Jan. 2 to surpass Rod Gilbert for the most ever at the venue

UP NEXT
• The Battle of Comm Ave is set for next weekend on Jan. 26-27, beginning at Kelley Rink on Friday at 7 p.m. on NESN

No. 2 Eagles and Merrimack Clash in Hockey East Home-and-Home

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Players Mentioned

Drew Fortescue

Jacob Fowler

Andre Gasseau

Cutter Gauthier

Oskar Jellvik

Ryan Leonard

Jack Malone

Aram Minnetian

Gabe Perreault

Will Smith