Northeastern at Boston College: Pregame Notes and Line Combinations

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. -- Good evening and welcome inside Conte Forum on the campus of Boston College where tonight the No. 2/3 Eagles host city foe Northeastern in their 226th all-time meeting and the opener of a Hockey East weekend series. Faceoff on this Saturday night is set for 7 p.m.

The Eagles have had a week off since their winning streak to 11 games in their last outing a week ago, a 6-2 win over RIT. Following that result, head coach Jerry York is now just four wins away from becoming the first-ever college hockey coach to reach 1,000 for his career.

Junior Ryan Fitzgerald scored two goals last time out and now leads BC with ten goals. The North Reading, Mass., native's 19 points are just two less than team-leading freshman Colin White, another local from Hanover.

BC has scored at least five goals in seven of its first 13 games and four in a row. In addition, its +3.31 scoring margin is tops in the country. The Eagles are the nation's only team with a positive scoring margin over three goals per game through 13 game this season.

On the flip side, junior Thatcher Demko made nine of his 15 saves in last Saturday's third period and boasts the nation's second-best save percentage at .953.

Northeastern has not won in Chestnut Hill since March 7, 2008, but carries in momentum from last Saturday's 7-1 win over Colgate at the Friendship Four Tournament in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Junior Brendan Collier scored twice in the victory after adding an assist in the previous day's 3-2 overtime loss to UMass Lowell. NU held the Raiders to just 12 shots on goal in its last contest with redshirt junior Derick Roy stopping all nine he faced after the first period.

The Huskies are facing a top-20 nationally ranked team for the eighth time in nine games tonight and have defeated eight such opponents on the road since 2011-12.

Here are tonight's lines:

HUSKIES (2-11-2, 0-7-2)

Nolan Stevens - John Stevens - Zach Aston-Reese
Dylan Sikura - Adam Gaudette - Sam Kurker
Brendan Collier - Mike McMurtry - Ryan Rosenthal
Lincoln Griffin - Tanner Pond - Jason Cotton

Jarrett Fennell - Matt Benning
Colton Saucerman - Eric Williams
Trevor Owens - Garrett Cockerill

Ryan Ruck
Derick Roy
Jake Theut

EAGLES (12-1-0, 5-0-0)

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

Ian McCoshen - Casey Fitzgerald
Teddy Doherty - Steve Santini
Josh Couturier - Scott Savage

Thatcher Demko
Alex Joyce