BOSTON - One hundred years after their first faceoff, No. 18 Boston University and No. 14/15 Boston College collide in the Hockey East semifinals on Friday (March 16) at 5 p.m. at TD Garden.
The game will be televised on NESNplus and will be streamed outside the NESN viewing area on ESPN3. The second semifinal features second-seeded Northeastern and third-seeded Providence, as all four of the top seeds advanced to the Garden. The winners will face off on St. Patrick's Day at 7 p.m. for the Hockey East title.
#18 Men's Ice Hockey (19-13-4) - #4 Seed
vs. #14/15 Boston College (20-13-3) - #1 Seed |
| Date & Time |
Friday, March 16 - 5 p.m. |
| Venue |
TD Garden | Boston, Mass. |
| Tickets |
Ticketmaster |
| TV |
NESNplus |
| Watch |
ESPN3 |
| Listen |
TSRN |
| Live Stats |
HockeyEastOnline.com |
| Notes |
BU | BC | Hockey East |
| Twitter |
@BUGameDay | @TerrierHockey |
BATTLE OF COMM AVE COMES TO CAUSEWAY STREET
• One hundred years after their first faceoff, Boston University and Boston College collide in arguably their most important meeting in 12 seasons.
• The teams split their home-and-home weekend earlier this season with the road team winning both games.
• BU needs a win to keep its NCAA tournament hopes alive while BC's chances for an at-large bid would decrease considerably with a loss.
• On Feb. 6, 1918, the teams met for the first time ever in a game at Boston Arena. It was the first game in program history for the Terriers and the second for the Eagles. BC came away a 3-1 winner.
• This is the 22nd postseason meeting between the arch rivals with the Terriers holding a 14-7 advantage in the previous 21.
• BU has ended BC's season on three occasions (1978, 1993, 2009) while BC has done the same to BU twice (1949, 2006). The 2006 meeting in the NCAA Regionals - a 5-0 BC victory - was the last time the stakes were this high on each side.
• This is the first time BU and BC have met in the Hockey East semifinals in back-to-back seasons. The Eagles earned a 3-2 win last season in this round.
WE'RE NOT SO DIFFERENT AFTER ALL
• Both BU and BC have allowed 95 goals this season and each team has 13 losses. The Terriers have allowed 1057 shots on goal while the Eagles have given up 1055.
• Both teams are making their 24th Hockey East semifinal appearance - a league record.
SERIES HISTORY
• The Comm. Ave. rivals have met 276 times and the Terriers lead the series, 134-124-18 (.518).
• The Terriers have enjoyed a great amount of success against their archrival in the Hockey East playoffs, winning nine of 13 meetings.
• BU and BC have met in the Hockey East semifinals five times with BU winning three.
• No other opponent has appeared on BU's schedule more often. Northeastern is the next closest, having faced the Terriers 234 times since the 1930-31 season.
• The two teams have played 41 overtime games and BC holds a 15-9-17 edge.
• BU has 10 of the 19 shutouts in the series history.
SCOUTING THE EAGLES
• Boston College rolls into the league semifinals on a six-game win streak, its longest since stringing seven straight wins together last semester.
• BC swept Merrimack in the quarterfinals by scores of 1-0 and 4-3 with the latter decided on an overtime shorthanded goal.
• The Eagles' past 31 victories have all come against Hockey East teams. BC's last win over a team outside of the league came on Nov. 13, 2016, against Arizona State.
• BC has nine players with 18 or more points, the most of any team in the league.
• Freshman Logan Hutsko leads the squad in both points (31) and assists (19) and shares the lead in goals at 12 with sophomores Julius Mattila (12-14--26) and Graham McPhee (12-10--22).
• Sophomore David Cotton is second in points with 27 on nine goals and 18 assists.
• The Eagles' defense has opted to let their goaltenders get good looks at the puck, as they rank last in the nation in blocked shots per game (8.0).
• Sophomore goaltender Joseph Woll has earned 29 starts this season and has posted a 2.45 goals-against average and a .915 save percentage.
• Woll was named a Hockey East Third Team All-Star along with junior defenseman Michael Kim. Junior blueliner Casey Fitzgerald was a second-team selection in addition to being tabbed the league's best defensive defenseman.
ROAD TEAMS TRADE WINS IN DECEMBER
• Despite giving up two goals just minutes after the opening faceoff, Boston University stormed back to post a 7-4 road win over Boston College on Dec. 1 at Conte Forum.
• The Terriers broke a 3-3 tie with three goals in span of under three minutes in the first half of the second period and never looked back.
• The Eagles were able to earn a weekend split, however, posting a 4-1 win at Agganis the following night.
• On Friday, senior captain Brandon Hickey had his second two-goal game as a Terrier and sophomore Patrick Harper had a career-high four points - all assists - to help the Terriers snap the Eagles' eight-game unbeaten streak (7-0-1).
• Freshman Shane Bowers had a goal and two assists while junior Bobo Carpenter and freshmen Logan Cockerill and Brady Tkachuk each tallied a goal and an assist.
• BU's goal total was its highest in a BC game since a 10-3 win at Walter Brown Arena on Jan. 13, 1996.
• On Saturday, the Eagles once again jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period but the Terriers were only able to muster a second-period goal by Bowers.
BEST VS. THE EAGLES
• Senior Brandon Hickey (2g, 4a) and juniors Bobo Carpenter (2g, 4a) and Jordan Greenway (1g, 5a) lead all current Terriers in career points versus Boston College with six each.
• Freshman Shane Bowers is off to a good start in the rivalry with four points (2g, 2a) in two games.
• Sophomore goaltender Jake Oettinger has won four of his six career starts against BC with a 2.04 goals-against average and a .934 save percentage in those meetings, which all came against his former USNTDP goaltending partner, Joseph Woll.
NOTABLE
• Three of the top six current unbeaten streaks in the nation belong to teams playing at TD Garden this weekend - Northeastern (7), BC (6) and BU (5).
• BU has now qualified for the semifinals in 14 of the past 17 seasons.
• BU joined Northeastern as the only schools to have played every Hockey East member (past or present) at least once in the league tournament.
• Seven of BU's past eight Hockey East tournament games have been decided by a single goal and the Terriers are 5-2 in those contests.
HOME, SWEET HOME
• BU has now won a school-record 12 straight home games in the Hockey East playoffs, the second-longest streak of its kind in league history.
• The Terriers have hosted a portion of the Hockey East tournament in 28 of the 34 seasons of the league's existence, including 13 of the past 14 years. The lone exception over that span came in 2014.
QUARTERFINAL NOTES
• Boston University opened the Hockey East playoffs with a sweep for the fourth straight season, earning a 5-4 overtime win over UConn on Friday before advancing with a 2-1 victory on Saturday.
• Junior Bobo Carpenter tallied nine points (7g, 2a) in five games against UConn this season, capped by his overtime winner last Friday.
• UConn had three leads on Friday before sophomore Chad Krys sent the game to overtime on a goal with 4:38 left in regulation. He added a pair of assists while junior Jordan Greenway tallied a pair of goals.
• Freshman Logan Cockerill had the primary assist on Carpenter's overtime tally and then scored a game-winner of his own the following night en route to Hockey East Rookie of the Week honors. Cockerill's goal was his first-ever at Agganis Arena.
• Freshman Brady Tkachuk opened the scoring on Saturday with a power-play goal.
• This was the third straight year that BU's Hockey East tournament opener went to overtime.
• UConn held a 40-38 shot advantage in the opener before oushooting BU by a wide 37-19 margin on Sunday.
• Sophomore Jake Oettinger stopped 72 of the 77 shots he faced over the weekend for the Terriers.
SEEDING STORY
• This is the first time since 1992 - and third time overall - that the Terriers are the No. 4 seed in the league tournament.
• BU is now 2-2 all-time as the No. 4 seed, losing single-game quarterfinals to Northeastern in 1987 and Boston College in 1992.
• The Terriers have qualified for all 34 of the Hockey East tournaments since the league's inception in 1984 and finished lower than the fifth seed just three times (6th - 2001, 8th - 2004, 9th - 2014).
• BU is in search of its ninth Hockey East title, having captured the tournament crown in 1986, 1991, 1994, 1995, 1997, 2006, 2009 and 2015.
• BU made its 33rd Hockey East quarterfinal appearance, the most of any school.
IN THE TOURNAMENT
• BU has an overall Hockey East tournament record of 72-39-1 (.647). BU is 2-1 in the opening round, 49-23-1 (.678) in the quarterfinals, 11-12 (.478) in the semifinals, 2-0 in the consolation and 8-3 (.727) in the championship.
• Providence has been the Terriers' most common opponent in the tournament with 21 meetings. The Terriers have played 15 games against Maine and 13 against both Boston College and UMass Lowell.
IN THE SEMIFINALS
• The Terriers have now advanced to the semifinal round 24 times in Hockey East's 34-year history.
• BU is 11-12 in the semifinals.
• The Terriers set the league record for consecutive trips to the semifinals at nine (2002-10) and Boston College later tied the mark (2005-13).
IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP
• The Terriers have reached the title game on 11 occasions and have come out the champion eight times (1986, 1991, 1994, 1995, 1997, 2006, 2009, 2015).
AT TD GARDEN
• BU is 44-27 (.620) all-time at TD Garden, which opened as the FleetCenter in 1995.
• The Terriers are 11-12 in the building for the Hockey East tournament.
CURRENT TERRIERS IN THE TOURNAMENT
• Twenty-two current skaters and one goaltender have played at least one contest in the Hockey East tournament.
• Junior Jordan Greenway has eight points (4g, 4a) in nine games while classmate Bobo Carpenter has five points on the strength of four goals.
• Sophomore defensemen Chad Krys (2g, 2a) and Dante Fabbro (1g, 3a) each have four points in five games while senior blueliners Brien Diffley and Brandon Hickey and freshman Shane Bowers have three assists apiece.
• Jake Oettinger has won four of five Hockey East playoff starts and boasts a .931 save percentage and a 2.36 goals-against average.
SIX EARN ALL-LEAGUE HONORS
• Junior Bobo Carpenter and sophomore Dante Fabbro headlined five Terriers on the Hockey East all-star squads and two BU forwards were selected to the conference all-rookie team.
• Carpenter and Fabbro were named Second Team All-Stars while junior Jordan Greenway earned third-team recognition.
• Senior captain Brandon Hickey and freshman Shane Bowers received honorable mention.
• Bowers and Brady Tkachuk were two of three forwards selected to the Hockey East All-Rookie Team.
• Carpenter enters league championship weekend with team highs in points (31) and goals (19). He ranked third in Hockey East for goals during league play with 14.
• Fabbro ranks second among Hockey East defensemen in points with 29 (9g, 20a) and his 0.85 points per game is the third-best by a BU blueliner in the past 20 seasons.
• Like Carpenter, Greenway reached the 30-point mark for the second consecutive season and currently has a 12-18–30 scoring line.
• Hickey, a veteran of 143 contests, has turned in a strong senior campaign on both ends of the ice and has 13 points on six goals and seven assists.
• Bowers is tied for second on the team with 30 (16g, 12a) points and Tkachuk is fifth with 28 (8g, 20a).
WHO'S HOT?
• Freshman Logan Cockerill is on a 10-game point streak, the longest by any Hockey East player this season. He has four goals and seven assists during the stretch.
• It marks the longest streak by a Terrier since Clayton Keller put together streaks of 15 and 10 last season as a rookie.
• Sophomore Dante Fabbro has at least a point in 10 of the past 12 contests and ranks third in the country over the past two months in points by a defenseman with 17 (5g, 12a).
• Since returning from the Olympic Games in South Korea, junior Jordan Greenway has tallied five points (3g, 2a) in four games.
• He is currently on a six-game point streak dating back to the start of February with seven points, including four goals, during the run.
REBOUND FROM TOUGH START
• After the season's first 11 games, the Terriers were averaging only 2.27 goals per game, which ranked tied for 50th in the nation.
• Since then, BU is scoring 3.48 goals per game, which ranks fifth in the nation during that span.
• BU went 8-11-1 in its first 20 games and has just two losses in the 16 games since (11-2-3).
