Hockey East Championship Weekend Arrives in Boston

Hockey East Semifinals

#1 Boston College: No. 1/1, 29-5-1, 20-3-1 HEA
#5 Massachusetts: No. 12/16, 20-12-3, 12-10-2 HEA
Friday, March 22: 4 p.m. at TD Garden (Boston, Mass.)
TV (Stream): NESN/NESN+ (ESPN+)
Tyler Murray (play-by-play), Billy Jaffe (analyst), George Balekji (reporter)
Radio: WEEI 850 AM, Varsity App, BCEagles.com/Watch
Jon Rish (play-by-play), Andy Powers (analyst)
Live Stats: Friday

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. -- Hockey East Regular Season Champions and the tournament's top-seeded Boston College Eagle continue their quest for a second trophy with a semifinal match-up with fifth-seeded Massachusetts Friday at 4 p.m. at TD Garden. The winner advances to the championship game Saturday at 7:30 p.m. against the winner of two-seed BU and three-seed Maine. The Eagles finished the regular season winning 13 consecutive Hockey East match-ups; the longest win streak in league play since the Eagles won 12 in a row in 2012-13. BC has won a league-best 11 Hockey East Tournament Championships; having last won in 2012. All-time, the Eagles are 77-37-2 in the tournament and are 10-1 against UMass, which joined the league for the 1994-95 season; facing the Minutemen in the second playoff in a row.

CUT TO THE CHASE
• Cutter Gauthier is the Hockey East and NCAA leader in goals at 32. He is the first Eagle to reach 30 goals in a season since Hobey Baker Award winner Johnny Gaudreau in 2013-14. His 32 goals tie him with four individuals for 17th most goals in a season, including Jeff Farkes (1999-00), the most recent to finish a season with 32.
• Cutter Gauthier had a career-best 14-game point streak, with a 11-10-21 scoring line, snapped against BU (2/5) at the Beanpot. He bounced back from his streak being snapped with a four-point, two-goal performance against No. 17 New Hampshire (2/9).
• Gauthier scored his first career hat trick at Merrimack (1/19).
• Gauthier's 10 power play goals are the second most in Hockey East, sixth most in the NCAA.

FRESHMAN SUPERLATIVES
• Will Smith's 40 assists and Gabe Perreault's 35 are the second and fifth most in a season by a BC freshman.
• Smith's 57 points are third and Perreault's 50 points are sixth all-time by a freshman.
• Ryan Leonard surpassed Johnny Gaudreau (2011-12) for the fifth most goals in a season by a BC freshman and is now tied with Steve Heinze for fourth at 26.

HOCKEY EAST SUCCESS
• Boston College won its 18th Hockey East Regular Season Championship. The Eagles also finished the 2020-21 season atop the league standings, but the league voted to not recognize a regular season champion due to the Covid-19 impacted schedule.
• The Eagles went 20-3-1 in Hockey East; the most since claiming the second of back-to-back regular season titles with a 19-7-1 record in 2011-12. BC last won 20 games in 2010-11.
• BC exceeded 20 wins the first three seasons of Hockey East before the league schedule was reduced following the 1986-87 season.

BC-UMASS SERIES
• Friday marks the 98th matchup of all-time between the schools.
• Boston College leads the all-time series, 76-23-4. The first-ever meeting was a 5-4, triple overtime win for Massachusetts A.C. on Jan. 17, 1919.
• BC is 12-1 in its last 11 match-ups with UMass, having won eight in a row.
• Boston College swept a home-and-home weekend in February by scores of 5-1 and 6-4. Amherst native Ryan Leonard totaled five goals, including a hat trick in game two.

Hockey East Championship Weekend Arrives in Boston

Hockey East Semifinals

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Players Mentioned

Cutter Gauthier

Ryan Leonard

Gabe Perreault

Will Smith