BOSTON -- After a high-flying first period at Matthews Arena, the No. 2 Boston College Eagles took out the host Northeastern Huskies with authority, to the tune of a 9-3 victory (31-24 in shots on goal) on Saturday night, to snap a brief two-game losing streak. With their tenth win of the season in Hockey East, the Eagles also improve to 15-5-2 overall, avenging a 5-2 loss to UMass on Friday.
Senior Steven Whitney put a seven on the board for the Eagles just 58 seconds into the stanza as he beat NU senior Bryan Mountain low off the face-off for his second of the game.
At 10:42, the Eagles put up their eighth goal on the first of the year by Quinn Smith. The Fairfield, Conn. native took yet another cross-ice pass on the odd-man rush - this time from fellow sophomore Danny Linell - and found the back of the net. Whitney capped off his first-career hat trick at 11:41 as he skated down the wing and wristed one by Mountain off the feed from sophomore Johnny Gaudreau for his career-high fourth assist of the contest.
Believe it or not, the Eagles lit the lamp nine times just twice in the last three seasons, but for the first time since a 9-5 win at Boston University on Dec. 4, 2010.
Joshua Kummins covers Hockey East for SB Nation. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaKummins.