Boston College Hockey vs. UNH: Final Thoughts & Predictions

On again, off again. On again, off again. Time to be on again? BC takes on UNH this weekend, a team that has struggled mightily in the early going. It's an opportunity to get back into the winning track. It's an opportunity to catch the Eagles on national television tonight, also, so that's fun.

BC Roster Notes

You have to think that if the team keeps struggling to find offense against good teams, changes in the line combinations may be forthcoming. But for now, there's nothing new to report on that front.

Projected Lines

Destry Straight - Chris Calnan - Adam Gilmour
Zach Sanford - Ryan Fitzgerald - Alex Tuch
Cam Spiro - Michael Sit - Matthew Gaudreau
Quinn Smith - Austin Cangelosi - Brendan Silk

Defensive Pairs

Michael Matheson - Scott Savage
Ian McCoshen - Noah Hanifin
Teddy Doherty - Danny Linell

In Goal

Thatcher Demko

GAME FACTS

Game Time: 8:05 PM Tonight, 7:00 PM Saturday
TV: TONIGHT - NBC Sports Network. Tomorrow - BCEagles.com
Radio: WEEI 850 AM, BCEagles.com

Record: Boston College 7-7-0 (3-4-0 HEA), New Hampshire 4-8-0 (1-4-0 HEA)

Goal Differentials:
BC: 41 GF, 38 GA - +3 GD
UNH: 30 GF, 32 GA -2 GD

Team Rankings (Nationally):

Team Offense: BC #22 (2.93 G/GM)... UNH #32 (2.50 G/GM)
Team Defense: BC #33 (2.71 GA/GM), UNH #29 (2.67 GA/GM)
Shot Differential Per Game:  BC #25 (+2.21 shots/gm), UNH #7 (+6.92 shots/gm)
Power Play:BC #49 (6-for-61), UNH #51 (4-for-44)
Penalty Kill: BC #9 (55-for-61) UNH #13 (40-for-45)

Pairwise: BC #26...UNH #46
KRACH: n/a yet

Last Time Out: UNH has been dormant since a loss to RPI on Tuesday, Nov. 25.

Common Foes: UNH has been swept by Providence and by Lowell. They'e also split with Michigan State, and pounded Colorado College 6-2.

Players to watch: Like BC, UNH has "balanced" scoring, defined in this instance as "not a lot of it." The big returning guys up front are seniors Matt Willows and Grayson Dowling, both of whom are (4-4--8) on the season.

Blast from the Not-Too-Distant Past

So here's Destry Straight scoring on UNH last year in a pretty nice team goal. Noteworthy here is Austin Cangelosi getting one of the assists. Cangelosi also scored in last year's rout over UNH at home. Let's see some Cangelosi involvement tonight, yes?

The Pre-Game Watering Hole

You can go for the more relaxed setting of the Portsmouth Brewery just a 20ish minute drive from the rink—or you can get into the heart of the college town that is Durham by going to Wildcat Pizza. I went to the Whitt back in March of 2006 and watched Johnny Ayers hit a double off of Daisuke Matsuzaka in the Red Sox vs. BC game before going in to watch BC dominate the Wildcats, a dumb memory that I'll probably re-tell every year.

Scoreboard Watching: Out-Of-Town Notes

If, like me, you're hoping BU is due for a little slide, tonight is pretty big in seeing if that will happen. BU makes the always difficult trek to North Andover MDC to take on the Warriors. This would be a pretty big win for BU after two losses to Ivy League foes last week.

It's a weekend full of league games; Northeastern at Providence is one I'll have my eye on tomorrow night. Can Providence cement themselves as being considered in the top 4 in Hockey East right now?

Predictions

Joe Gravellese:

Fri - 2-1 BC
Sat - 5-3 BC

Plain and simple, UNH isn't very good. UConn game excepted, BC has feasted on bad teams this year. They need to keep doing that. Please keep doing that?

Brian Favat:

6-4 BC

New "Dan Rubin" Guy:

I have a bad feeling about it and I don't know why.

Grant Salzano:

3-1 UNH Friday
2-1 BC Saturday

AJ Black:

BCI Prediction Standings

Grant was the "big winner" last week because he picked Minnesota to beat BC by four goals, then predicted a 1-1 tie down in Providence (closeish...closer than most of the others).

STANDINGS

AJ 3
New Guy 1
Brian 1
Grant 1
Joe Grav 0.83
Airforce987 0.5
Enzo 0.33
Beerfart 0.33

Can BC keep pace in the Hockey East standings and with the pairwise bubble by picking up some key wins this week? Will some new names begin to hit the back of the net? Leave your thoughts below.