Maine at Boston College: Pregame Notes and Line Combinations

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. -- Good Sunday afternoon and welcome inside Kelley Rink on the campus of Boston College where the No. 3 Eagles are set to close a Hockey East weekend series with Maine. Faceoff for the only Division 1 game scheduled in the country today is set for 1 p.m.

The Eagles are coming off junior goaltender Thatcher Demko's second consecutive shutout and fifth in the last six games ― a 3-0 win over the Black Bears on Friday night. Demko stopped all 30 shots he faced, including 23 combined over the first two periods, while freshman Colin White and junior Steve Santini notched a goal and an assist apiece.

White's ten points on four goals and six assists, including seven in the last three games, are tied for third-most among freshmen in college hockey this season. The top three rookie scorers in the nation are all from Hockey East schools.

Maine begun the season with ties in three consecutive games against Michigan State, North Dakota, and Union, but it has lost all five games since. Freshman Rob McGovern has proven himself as a capable goaltender as his .933 save percentage ranks third in Hockey East.

Before the series-opening loss to BC, Maine dropped its games to UMass and Princeton at the Capital City Classic in Trenton, N.J. The Black Bears have scored just once in their last two outings and not since Dane Gibson netted his first collegiate goal in a 3-1 loss to the Tigers on Halloween.

Here are today's lines:

BLACK BEARS (0-5-3, 0-1-0)

Nolan Vesey - Steven Swavely - Dane Gibson
Will Merchant - Cam Brown - Blaine Byron
Daniel Perez - Cedric Lacroix - Justin Rai
Brian Morgan - Bill Norman - Brady Campbell

Dan Renouf - Rob Michel
Conor Riley - Keith Muehlbauer
Sam Becker - Mark Hamilton

Rob McGovern
Matt Morris
Sean Romeo

EAGLES (7-1-0, 2-0-0)

Miles Wood - Austin Cangelosi - Chris Calnan
Zach Sanford - Adam Gilmour - Alex Tuch
Matthew Gaudreau - Colin White - Ryan Fitzgerald
Travis Jeke - Christopher Brown - J.D. Dudek

Ian McCoshen - Casey Fitzgerald
Scott Savage - Steve Santini
Josh Couturier - Peter McMullen

Thatcher Demko
Chris Birdsall
Alex Joyce