Boston College Men’s Hockey v. Northeastern: Final Thoughts and Predictions

After a rough weekend against New Hampshire, Boston College returns to the ice to take on one of its toughest opponents on the year, the Northeastern Huskies.

Breaking down the series

1. Limiting offense: Northeastern will likely be the toughest offensive test BC will face this year. The Huskies are a team that excels offensively at even strength with 50.5% of goals scored at even strength going to the huskies, good for 12th in the nation, and when the Huskies shoot, it finds twine frequently, good for seventh in the nation with a few teams ahead of them getting the benefit of inflated states due to lack of games played due to COVID (looking at you BU). To be clear, BC is also up there, but an offensive slugfest is right where the Huskies want to be, and a strong game from the blue line would undoubtedly be welcomed.
2. Limiting possession: One way the Eagles can reduce offensive chances is through maintained puck possession. Northeastern is about an above average team at even strength when it comes to possession (20th in Corsi For %) while BC is more towards the below average category. Cutting off the air supply would be helpful.
3. Contain Zach Solow: I realize I said “stop the Husky offense” about three different ways now but. Yeah. Limit Solow.
4. One quick thing, Jim Madigan was identified as a close contact of someone who tested positive with COVID-19. Our thoughts are with him as we hope he remains a negative case and he has a smooth and painless isolation. For those of you who haven’t gone through a COVID isolation yet (how?), it sucks.

Random, Possibly Incorrect fact from Northeastern’s Wikipedia Page

Northeastern was founded as The Evening Institute for Younger Men at the Huntington YMCA.

Barley and Hops Based Alcoholic Beverage of the Game

My girlfriend swears by the this beer, and while it didn’t start out as my go-to, it has very quickly become one of my favorites. It’s everything a winter beer ought to be.

Excitement Level:

9/10. Hey, we’re not getting the Beanpot this year, Harvard cancelled its season and who even knows when BU is going to get out of COVID protocols? This might be the closest we get to a city matchup, how can that not fill you with excitement?

Prediction:

Both of these games are going to an offensive slugfest. I forsee a split.

BC 6 NU 4 Fri

NU 5 BC 4 Sat