STORYLINES

• Boston University drew first blood in this year’s Battle of Comm. Ave with a 2-1 victory on Friday night at Agganis Arena. BU withstood a third period surge by the Eagles, playing conservatively and preserving a lead they built during a strong stretch early in the second. Jake Oettinger was also tested a few times in the third period but always looked in control, backstopping BU to the win.
• The loss dropped BC to 14th in the PairWise rankings, which would be the last at-large team in if the season ended today.
• Since this is the final game of the hockey weekend, we know exactly what the PWR will look like depending on the result: A BC win moves the Eagles up to 13th, with BU still in 4th; a BU win moves them up to 3rd, while BC drops to 15th; a tie keeps things as they are now.
• The ever-growing Quest for a Full BC Lineup continues for another day: as Colin White returnred to the lineup, Graham McPhee was out with an injury. No word right now on McPhee’s status to return; hopefully he’ll be able to play, as he was starting to find his groove a little bit before going down.
• Friday night’s officiating crew let the two teams play in a tense and physical game - a welcome change that encouraged a quick, hard-hitting pace. BC and BU combined for just six power plays. We’ll see if Hockey East assigns the same officiating crew, or if a new pair is chosen - and if this game is officiated more closely.

GAME DETAILS

Teams:

#4 Boston University (13-5-2, 6-2-2 Hockey East) at

#14 Boston College (14-8-2, 9-2-1 Hockey East)

Date: Monday, January 16, 2017

Time: 7:00 PM ET

Venue: Conte Forum, Boston, MA

How to Watch on TV: NESN and the American Sports Network are covering the game. Find a full list of ASN affiliates outside of New England on their website.

How to stream the game online: ASN will stream the game online, subject to local blackout

How to Listen: WEEI 850 AM, WZBC 90.3 FM, or BCEagles.com

Following Along on Twitter: Follow @BCInterruption, @joegrav, @salzano14, @laurbear90 and @arthurbailin for hockey coverage.

STATS

GOALS PER GAME: BC 3.29, BU 3.25
GOALS AGAINST AVERAGE: BC 2.33, BU 2.15
SHOTS PER GAME: BC 32.75, BU 29.95
SHOTS AGAINST PER GAME: BC 29.67, BU 29.00
POWER PLAY: BC 17.7%, BU 18.1%
PENALTY KILL: BC 82.1%, BU 89.7%
CORSI% (ALL SITUATIONS): BC 53.3%, BU 50.1%
CORSI% (EVEN STRENGTH): BC 54.8%, BU 52.2%

CAT PREDICTIONS

Mimi was wrong on Friday night by predicting a BC win, but she’s kept the faith and is picking the Eagles for a home victory as well:

Visit Mimi and friends at the Gifford Cat Shelter, the nation’s oldest cageless, no-kill shelter, located near BC on Undine Road in Brighton. Make a new friend before tonight’s game!

FINAL THOUGHTS

• This is my last BC hockey game preview for BC Interruption. It’s been real. I’ve enjoyed writing these every week. I’d like to thank the Gifford Cats for making predictions (even when they embarrassed us humans by winning last year’s prediction contest), JPDot for being someone who seems to read and comment on this post every week, and College Hockey Inc for making a whole bunch of interesting stats available online.
• The students are basically back as classes begin tomorrow. Based on the ticket map online they’ve blocked off all three student sections. Hopefully they show up. Friday night’s game at Agganis was great, but the atmosphere was really disappointing compared to previous years. Though this was a loss, I love watching these highlights as this was maybe the last time Conte really felt electric — let’s make it sound like this again tonight:

• Speaking of the crowd, it looks like it’ll be the biggest crowd of the year, but it doesn’t look like a sellout barring an impressive walkup - something that was formerly unthinkable. Yes, I am going to keep complaining about the schedule. Over the last three years, this game has been played on break, on a Friday at 6 PM, and now, on a Monday night. I know attendance has sort of been down in general, but I have no doubt that a 7 PM Friday night start with students in session would be an automatic sellout. Let’s fix this, Hockey East.