Jan. 19, 2008
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BOSTON -
Now in a tie for fourth place in the Hockey East standings, the Boston University men's ice hockey team will look to extend its four-game unbeaten streak in conference play (3-0-1) when it visits cross-town rival Boston College on Saturday (Jan. 19) for the final contest of their league series. Game time is set for 7 p.m.
BU dropped both ends of a home-and-home series with BC on Nov. 30-Dec. 1, falling 6-2 at Conte Forum before coming up just short in a 4-3 decision at Agganis the following night.
The Comm. Ave. rivals have met 240 times and the Terriers lead the series, 120-105-15 (.531). The teams are an even 6-6 in their last 12 meetings and 10-10 in the last 20, but BC has been victorious in six of the past eight match-ups.
No. 11 Boston College has won eight of nine games in a stretch that began with the weekend sweep of BU and is now tied with Northeastern for second in the league standings. Last night, the Eagles rallied from a 2-0 deficit to post a 5-4 victory over No. 15 UMass Lowell.
BC boasts the third-ranked offense in the country at 3.81 goals per game and its defense ranks 11th (2.29). The Eagles' power play is operating at 25.5 percent, trailing only Holy Cross nationally. Junior Nathan Gerbe has been the hottest offensive player in the country with 27 points in his last nine games, including 13 goals. He leads all Division I players in points per game at 1.80 and scored his 100th career point last night. Freshman Joe Whitney leads the nation in assists per game at 1.10 and classmate Brian Gibbons has a league-best +20 rating. Freshman John Muse has played every minute in goal, posting a 2.28 goals against average and a .920 save percentage.
BU scored five unanswered goals spanning the first two periods en route to a 6-4 road victory against Merrimack last night at Lawler Arena. The Terriers got goals from six different players, including a career-high four-point effort from freshman Colin Wilson (1g, 3a). BU's top line of Wilson and seniors Pete MacArthur (1g, 2a) and Bryan Ewing (1g, 2a) combined for 10 points on the night. Freshman Nick Bonino, junior Matt Gilroy and senior Brian McGuirk also found the back of the net for the Terriers, who earned their 11th straight win over Merrimack.
Excluding overtimes, the Terriers have scored at least one goal in 22 of their last 23 periods on the road. The lone scoreless stanza in the span was the middle period of BU's 6-2 loss at BC on Nov. 30.
