Boston College 6, Merrimack 1: Arnold’s Hat Trick Powers Eagles
By Joe Micik
#2 Boston College hockey’s high-flying streak kept going during Friday night’s Beanpot tune-up.
The Eagles remained unbeaten over 14 straight games with their 6-1 victory over the Merrimack Warriors in Hockey East action.
With the win, Boston College improved to 21-4-3 (13-1-1) on the season, and coupled with UMass-Lowell’s tie, the Eagles now have a nine-point lead in the conference with five games to play.
Johnny Gaudreau’s point streak was extended very early in the game; the junior notched the primary assist on the first Eagles goal. Gaudreau has scored in 23 consecutive games.
The star of the night, however, was Bill Arnold, who picked up a hat trick on three different situations of goals: shorthanded, even-strength, and power-play.
Goal Sequence
[BC] Bill Arnold (SH) (1:18 1st; Gaudreau, Matheson): BC 1, MC 0
[BC] Bill Arnold (14:03 1st; Gaudreau, Hayes): BC 2, MC 0
[BC] Patrick Brown (6:22 2nd; Fitzgerald, Cangelosi): BC 3, MC 0
[BC] Adam Gilmour (PP) (6:00 3rd; Savage, Doherty): BC 4, MC 0
[BC] Bill Arnold (PP, HT) (10:46 3rd; Gaudreau, Matheson): BC 5, MC 0
[BC] Brendan Silk (PP) (14:44 3rd; Doherty, Linell): BC 6, MC 0
[MC] Chris LeBlanc (15:46 3rd; Mansfield, Gustafsson): BC 6, MC 1
Both teams took seven penalties, but the Eagles ended up scoring four special teams goals, including one shorthanded score and three power play goals, all in the third period.
Thatcher Demko was not tested particularly strongly, but the freshman still put together a solid game. He did face a few premium opportunities from Merrimack, a team that came into the game averaging less than two goals per contest and had been outscored in conference play by more than two to one. On one breakway opportunity in the second period, Demko stoned the Merrimack shooter.
Boston College was clearly the better team on the ice on Friday night, which should come as no surprise given the stature of each team at present. The Eagles certainly were not looking ahead to their next game, which will be a fun one on Monday night at the TD Garden.