CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – No. 2 Boston College begins a Hockey East home-and-home series against Merrimack on Friday night at Lawler Rink with faceoff set for 7 p.m. on ESPN+ and WEEI 850 AM. After a day off, the series moves to Kelley Rink on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. live on NESN, ESPN+ and WEEI 850 AM. Limited tickets are available at BCEagles.com or by calling 617-552-GoBC.
SETTING THE SCENE
• Merrimack ended the Eagles' season a year ago with a 1-0 double overtime victory in the Hockey East Quarterfinal at Lawler Rink
• BC has won seven of its last nine games overall and split with Providence last weekend, beating the Friars 7-1 at home on Friday
• The Warriors are 10-10-1 overall (3-7-1 HEA) and have won four of their last five games after splitting with UMass last weekend
SERIES HISTORY
• Friday marks the 111th matchup of the all-time series between the schools
• Boston College holds a 76-27-7 lead in the series against the Warriors
• Merrimack ended the Eagles' 2022-23 season on March 11, 2023 in the Hockey East Quarterfinal with a 1-0 shutout on Mick Messner's winner at 8:20 of double overtime
• BC had a seven-game winning streak against Merrimack snapped in November of 2021 at Kelley Rink; since then, the Warriors have won the last four meetings
• MC swept a home-and-home regular season series in early November of 2022, winning 3-1 in North Andover before beating the Eagles 5-2 at Kelley Rink two days later
• The Eagles are 11-5-0 in their last 16 games against the Warriors over the last six years
CUT TO THE CHASE
• Cutter Gauthier is riding a career-best nine-game point streak with a 6-9-15 scoring line
• He has also put together a career-high five-game assist streak
• Gauthier has scored 14 goals in his first 19 games as the sophomore ranks third in Hockey East and eighth nationally in goals per game (0.