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Boston College Hockey vs. Boston University, 1/15-1/16: Final Thoughts and Predictions

The ancient rivalry is renewed and it's a crucial test for both teams

Dustin Satloff for BC Interruption

There was a lot of doom and gloom in this space at this time last week. The Eagles were riding a three game losing streak and were without Thatcher Demko, staring down the barrel of a home and home with the defending national champions. All BC managed to do after that was score 11 goals in two games against one of the nation's very best defensive teams, going 1-0-1 on the weekend and looking good doing so.

That's revived hopes with the first BC/BU clash of the season now on deck. BU is playing as well as anyone in the country right now, with recent wins over top title contenders Quinnipiac and Harvard under their belt. Will they stay hot against the Eagles, or can BC post another strong weekend?

atbc logoFriday, January 15, 2016; 6:00 PM; Conte Forum; Boston, Mass.
bc logoatSaturday, January 16, 2016; 7:00 PM; Agganis Arena; Boston, Mass.

THE MATCHUP

bc logo
Record 14-4-2 (7-1-2 HEA) 11-6-3 (5-3-2 HEA)
Pairwise 10th 9th
KRACH 9th 10th
Team Offense #4 (4.15 G/GM) #9 (3.55 G/GM)
Team Defense #6 (1.90 GA/GM) #32 (2.85 GA/GM)
Streak T1 W3

Storylines

  • Who's in goal?: As of late Thursday night, we're not sure yet who will be in net for BC this weekend. Thatcher Demko has returned to practice, but there's no confirmation that he's ready to return from the "upper body injury" that kept him out of action against Providence. Ian Milosz performed admirably against the Friars last weekend and BC will likely feel thankful that Milosz is a capable backup should Demko not be ready to go, but obviously having the Eagles' #1 goalie available would be a huge boost to the team going up against BU.
  • Third period team: Last year, BU won 18 straight games that they led going in to the third period. The first time all year they didn't lock down a third period lead was against Providence in the national championship game (womp womp). BU also had a number of third period comeback victories last year after slow starts. This trend has continued in 15/16. BU has been outscored by its opponents 19-13 in the first period and 20-19 in the second period, but is outscoring opponents 39-18 in the third period and overtime. That's obviously pretty absurd, and adds a layer of fear to the fact that the Eagles have had a series of third period breakdowns this year.
  • Power play turning a corner?: A lament all season long—and most of last season, too—has been BC's lackluster power play. Last week, BC scored five power play goals plus an additional goal on a delayed penalty. Was that a fluke or has BC finally turned it around with the man advantage? BC/BU series tend to get chippy and have plenty of penalties called so special teams will be critical.
Inspirational Game Day GIF

#CATPREDICTIONS: By the cats of the Gifford Cat Shelter

Bubba is a super friendly guy who loves people and cuddling. As a cat he's not too found of terriers, so he was pretty quick to pick BC to win both games. Bubba is predicting a 4-1 BC win at Conte and a 3-1 BC win at BU.

bubba 1

bubba 2

You can visit Bubba and friends at The Gifford Cat Shelter, located right across from BC at 30 Undine Road in Brighton. Founded in 1884, it is the oldest no kill and cageless shelter in the U.S. More information is available at
http://www.giffordcatshelter.org/.

In addition, don't forget to support the #MeowsternBias Beanpot fundraiser, raising money for the shelter. $10 feeds a shelter cat for a month! For details on the fundraiser click here.

Predictions Contest

Joe and Laura were the only two to predict a BC win last Friday night (Ye of little faith) so they each made a power move toward the top of the list. Laura also predicted a tie on Saturday so she's now just one point behind first place Grant. Scoring rules if you'd like to play along at home:

Predict the correct winner: 1 point
Get the margin of victory right: 2 points
Nail the correct final score: 3 points

Name Predictions GPS: Points
Grant Salzano BC 4-1
BC 3-2

Coming to you LIVE from scenic Connecticut 20
Joe Gravellese

BU 4-2
BC 6-1

Watching from OO tonight and the lion's den tomorrow night 19
Laura Berestecki Tie 4-4
BC 5-3

At Conte Forum as always 19
Arthur Bailin BC 4-3
BC 5-3
Slowly losing ground to the pack, let's hope he's right about this weekend's series

14
AJ Black
BC 35 BU 
BC 74 BU 

Still right there in the running for first place so let's see if his score prediction works out
19
John Fidler BC 5-4
BC 4-3

15
Brave the Cat/ The Gifford Cats

BC 4-1
BC 3-1

Meow

18
New "Dan Rubin" Guy BC 3-2
BU 4-3


16
Caleb Childers

7
Kwani Lunis

0
Bridget Klish


0




Staff Prediction Summary:
BC (13) BU (2) Tie (1)

Fan Prediction Standings after last week:

JPDot 19 points
bostoncollegenyr 16 points

princisb 15 points
airforce987 18 points
pjpj23 13 points
cam_dezak 11 points
seobe 8 points
mig1168 6 points
95dougie95 7 points
we are bc 5 points
bcmike22 6 points
b0mberman 4 point
bcmurt09 4 points
tommykay 4 points
totheheights 2 points
bceagles66 2 points
rmbc81 1 point
spillerhighlife 1 point
eagles2015 2 point
eagleeye9184 1 point

Leave your thoughts and predictions on the series below. Will BC put forth another strong weekend and pass by BU in the Pairwise or will the Terriers continue their surge?