Men’s Hockey Preview: BC Welcomes in Michigan State

By: Anthony Iati

The Boston College Eagles will look to extend their winning streak to eight games on Friday night at 7:00 pm, when they welcome in the Spartans of Michigan State to Kelley Rink. You can listen to the broadcast on WZBC Newton 90.3 FM in the Boston area or here. I will have the play-by-play call alongside Chris Noyes and Chase Schuab. Friday night’s home tilt is BC’s only game between the November 8 victory over Maine and the November 21 matchup at the University of New Hampshire. The Eagles and Spartans will each be well rested when the puck drops on the Heights.

Led by junior goaltender Thatcher Demko, BC is off to a historically hot start, with six shutouts in the past seven games. To put this figure in context, Demko has allowed only six goals thus far. He is already just two shutouts shy of matching Cory Schneider’s school record for a single season—and it’s only mid-November. You can read more about Demko’s brilliance tomorrow in the second edition of Light the Lamp, Scott Geyman’s weekly BC hockey blog.

On Friday, Thatcher Demko’s Eagles will look to stonewall Travis Walsh’s Spartans for the second consecutive year.

In addition to the defensive dominance of the Eagles, the team has found ways to put pucks in the net at the other end of the ice, averaging four goals per game this season. That production has come from all areas of the team, from first-line stars to fourth-line grinders to defensemen. Junior Ryan Fitzgerald, a Boston Bruins prospect, notched his team-leading fifth of the season in Sunday’s 2-0 victory over Maine, while junior winger Matty Gaudreau is currently riding a five-game point streak. On Friday night against Michigan State, the Eagles will be without their senior captain, defenseman Teddy Doherty, as he is amidst a 7-10 day absence due to a shoulder injury. Doherty, too, has contributed to the scoring surge for BC, with four goals, two assists and a +3 rating. Look for freshman forwards Colin White (12 points) and Miles Wood (10) to continue to pick up the offensive slack in his absence Friday night.

While Michigan State’s three-game winning streak is paled in comparison with BC’s seven-game streak, the Spartans come into Chestnut Hill rolling off of a weekend sweep of the New Hampshire Wildcats. Head coach Tom Anastos’s crew posted 12 goals in the two victories in East Lansing. Their top line is highlighted by junior left winger Mackenzie MacEachern, a St. Louis Blues prospect, and freshman right winger Mason Appleton, a Winnipeg Jets draft pick this past summer. Leading the team in goals (5) and points (10) thus far, however, has been JT Steinglein, a second line winger.

Senior Jake Hildebrand has started every game in goal for the Spartans. Expect that to be the case on Friday night, as the No. 2 ranked Eagles consistently face opponents’ best lineups. In eight games, Hildebrand has four wins, two shutouts, a stellar 2.12 Goals Against Average (GAA), and a .925 save percentage. MSU’s top defensive pairing, seniors Travis Walsh and John Draeger have done a solid job protecting him.

Michigan State will be looking to avenge last season’s 3-2 home loss to BC at Munn Arena. Almost a year ago to the day, the then-No. 8 Eagles tallied two first period goals and hung on to defeat the Spartans. This year’s visitors, however, have dominated the all-time series with BC by a count of 16-8-1. That total includes MSU’s thrilling win over BC in the 2007 national championship game, in which current Detroit Red Wing Justin Abdelkader broke the hearts of Eagles fans with the winning goal in the final minute. On Friday night at Kelley Rink, though, we could see a different outcome. Even if Thatcher Demko returns to Planet Earth and yields a goal or two, BC’s freshmen forwards have shown enough offensive firepower to put a few pucks behind Hildebrand. In a test of the Eagles’ depth against a Big Ten contender, the pick here is Boston College 3 – Michigan State 1. Enjoy the game!