BC Women’s Hockey vs. #3 Northeastern: Final Thoughts & Predictions

Beanpot!

...Consolation Game.

So, that’s no fun. But today matters a ton for Boston College’s NCAA tournament hopes, and after BC’s loss to Harvard erased much of the progress made over the last month or so, the Eagles must certainly be aware of tonight’s importance.

Not only is BC vs. Northeastern important to give BC a huge RPI boost, but the Beanpot Championship between Boston University and Harvard might actually matter even more. We took a dive into that earlier this morning. But the only thing the Eagles can control tonight is their game against the Huskies.

Let’s get you all caught up.

WHO

No. 3 Northeastern Huskies (21-3-4, 19-2-2 WHEA)
at No. 8 Boston College Eagles (20-10-0, 17-7-0 WHEA)

Boston College has been designated as the home team in this neutral-site matchup.

WHAT

The Beanpot Consolation Game. Yay.

WHERE

Bright-Landry Hockey Center
Boston, MA

WHEN

Tuesday, February 12th, 2019
5:00pm EST

HOW TO WATCH

This year’s Beanpot Consolation and Championship games are both on proper HDTV, with NESNPlus picking up both feeds live. The Championship game between Boston University and Harvard will be on ESPN+, if you don’t have NESN, and on TSN (!), if you live in Canada.

PROJECTIONS

KRACH has the Huskies pretty decently favored, giving Northeastern a 70.18% chance of winning (BC +235 on the money line).

GRaNT thinks things will be a bit closer than that. BCI’s scoring model predicts a 2.91 to 2.41 final — 3-2 or so, or perhaps a tie — which is encouraging.

LAST TIME OUT

Northeastern won a high-scoring affair against Merrimack 6-3 over the weekend against a decent Merrimack team. Prior to that, they tied Boston University in the first round of the Beanpot, losing in the shootout to send them to the consolation game with BC.

Boston College launched New Hampshire into the sun on Friday in their game between Beanpot rounds, putting together their most complete effort of the season in a 7-1 win at Conte Forum.

THIS WEEK’S STORYLINE

Lots of Pairwise implications for both of today’s games. BC shouldn’t be thinking about BU vs. Harvard when they have the Best Team In The East in front of them first, but it might be worth them sticking around after their game to watch the final. A Harvard win would help out BC quite a bit. And needless to say, if BC can take down Northeastern again, it would make for a very big boost in their RPI — which they may need as the regular season enters the final stretch.

BIG QUESTIONS

Will being the designated home team be enough for BC to play like they’re actually at home — which is to say, way better than they play on the road? Will Maddy McArthur come out refreshed and rejuvenated after getting a breather over the weekend? Will Northeastern’s top goaltender Aerin Frankel continue her regression from her early-season otherworldly numbers, after giving up three goals in each of her last two games? Are we looking at another high-scoring bonanza? Can these teams avoid playing to what would probably be a very unsatisfying tie for both squads? Will there be any issues with getting the games played due to today’s snowfall? There had better not...

RANDOM, POSSIBLY INCORRECT FACT FROM NORTHEASTERN’S WIKIPEDIA PAGE

The Northeastern men’s hockey team won the 2018 and 2019 Beanpot beating out Boston University, Boston College, and Harvard.

That cannot possibly be right.

ICE CREAM OF THE WEEK

We do ice cream of the week because hell yeah, ice cream.

Snow Cone

Not ice cream! So sue me!

It’s snowing outside! Very exciting. Go get some snow and pour concentrated Kool-Aid mix over it to make your very own home-made snow cone. Live a little.

Avoid making a yellow one because people will think you’re weird.

GAME TIME SONG OF THE WEEK

Fats Domino — Ain’t That A Shame

The two Beanpot favorites are playing in the consolation game.

PREDICTION

Boy, BC looked good against UNH this weekend, who had been playing really well. Northeastern keeps winning too, though their wins haven’t been as convincing as they were earlier in the year.

So with all that said... Northeastern is #3 in the country for a reason! They’re really good! BC hasn’t earned the right for me to predict a win for them over the Huskies just yet, but I do think they have more than the 29% chance that KRACH gives them.

Let’s go super boring. I think we’re going to see a 3-3 tie in the consolation game. Everyone goes home annoyed. No shootout, because we’re not lame.