Boston College 5, Providence 2: Eagles Claim Big Hockey East Win

Boston College hockey’s first home game of 2014 was a meaningful Hockey East contest, and as they so often have under Jerry York, the Eagles found a way to win.

On Friday night at Kelley Rink, the #5 Eagles defeated the #6 Providence Friars, 5-2. The win, in a game between the conference’s top two teams, resulted in Boston College widening its first-place lead to four points over Providence. The Eagles (14-4-2, 8-1-1) have won six games in a row, and have also been victorious in their last four Hockey East games.

Junior forward and probable Hobey Baker frontrunner Johnny Gaudreau scored two more goals on Friday, extending his career-best streak to 15-straight games in which he has had at least one point. Gaudreau is first in the nation in goals, points, and points per game, helped by his four points in this game.

Goal Sequence

[BC] Johnny Gaudreau (7:29 1st; Hayes, Matheson): BC 1, PC 0
[PC] Shane Luke (15:31 1st; Mauermann, Demopoulos): BC 1, PC 1

[PC] Derek Army (13:51 2nd; Saracino, Jankowski): PC 2, BC 1
[BC] Bill Arnold (16:37 2nd; Gaudreau, Matheson; PP): BC 2, PC 2

[BC] Patrick Brown (0:37 3rd; Hayes, Matheson; PP): BC 3, PC 2
[BC] Johnny Gaudreau (17:50 3rd; unassisted): BC 4, PC 2
[BC] Kevin Hayes (19:01 3rd; Gaudreau, McCoshen; EN): BC 5, PC 2

Kevin Hayes and Mike Matheson also had three-point games for Boston College; Matheson’s were all on assists, while Hayes had a goal and two assists.

Brian Billett won the game for the Eagles, making 26 saves, while Jon Gillies lost making 26 saves on the other end.

Boston College dominated on the power play on Friday night, having two goals to show for their efforts. The Eagles went 4-for-4 on the penalty kill.

This is a massive win for the Eagles, who have now extended their Hockey East lead and taken down another top-ten team. With six-straight wins in the bank, Boston College is gearing up for the approaching trophy season. Providence has had an exceptionally good season to this point, but for the Eagles to have won is further confirmation that they are the best team in the conference at present.

It is essentially impossible to assign the appropriate vocabulary to describe the state of Johnny Gaudreau’s game right now. Therefore, we will refrain, but to say he is locked in would be an understatement.

The Eagles return to the ice tomorrow afternoon for a non-conference game at Brown.