Boston College 2, Providence 0: Demko Brilliant in Eagles’ Shutout Win

The #2 Boston College Eagles took another major step towards sealing the top spot in Hockey East on Friday night.

At Providence, the Eagles defeated the #7 Friars, 2-0, for another crucial Hockey East win. With the victory, the Eagles improve to 19-4-3 (12-1-1) on the season, increasing to 25 points within the conference and an eight-point lead over Northeastern. Providence, in third place, is now ten points behind Boston College.

Thatcher Demko was the star of the show for the Eagles, stopping all 30 shots that came his way for a hard-fought shutout win. His stout goaltending helped the Eagles to their 12th-straight undefeated game (11-0-1 since late November).

Goal Sequence
[BC] Brendan Silk (10:45 2nd; Brown, Santini): BC 1, PC 0

[BC] Johnny Gaudreau (14:01 3rd; unassisted): BC 2, PC 0

Notably, Johnny Gaudreau ran his personal-best goal streak to 21-straight games, having notched the insurance goal late in the third period. Gaudreau leads the nation with 51 points this season in 26 games. Kevin Hayes, however, had his points streak stopped at 12 consecutive games, taking just one shot on-goal.

Boston College hockey continues to heat up, and with the Beanpot coming on Monday, the Eagles are well into late-season destruction mode. This was a great and meaningful win for Boston College against a top opponent; the Eagles are realistically well on their way to a #1 seed in the Hockey East Tournament, and are just as realistically the favorites to win the conference and earn a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. There was very little doubt that Boston College was the best team in the conference, but they continue to prove it with each outing.

The Eagles return to the ice on Monday night in their Beanpot semifinal against Boston University at the TD Garden.