Solid Team Performance Fuels Maine Rout

The Boston College men's hockey team came into Friday night's game against Maine with a five-game win streak and an undefeated Hockey East record on the line. The Eagles extended both with a commanding 5-1 victory over the Black Bears in what head coach Jerry York called the team's "most solid game [they've] had for a long time."

 Maine was third in the Hockey East standings, but the Eagles were able to put together a strong team effort across the board that kept them in control from the opening drop of the puck. "I thought we were more on top of our game," York said. "We got some really big efforts out of different people."

The Eagles grabbed both the lead and the momentum 11:33 into the first period on a shorthanded goal by Chris Kreider that was the result of a turnover created on the other end. "We've definitely emphasized that good [defensive] zone play and good neutral zone play leads to chances," Kreider said. "A lot of our guys have taken that to heart."

About two minutes later, Kreider was a part of another scoring play as the Eagles capitalized on a power play of their own. The rapid passing style of York's offense was evident as Kreider passed it across to Bill Arnold who dished to Kevin Hayes for the goal and the 2-0 lead.

The second period was more of the same, with BC piling on three more goals scored by three different Eagles. The Black Bears managed to score a goal as well in the second period, but that turned out to be their only score of the game. York was pleased with the tough defensive effort he saw and the improved rebound control of goaltender Parker Milner.

"Last week pucks were hitting [Milner] and bouncing back into our red-zone area right around the blue paint," York said. "[Tonight], we didn't give up the rebounds we have been giving up, so [Milner] deserves a lot of credit for that improvement in his game."

The defensive effort allowed the Eagles to get high percentage shots on the offensive side of the ice. Despite having only six more shots in the game than the Black Bears, the Eagles were able to score four more goals than their opponent. This high shooting percentage has been evident throughout the season, as the Eagles have totaled 41 goals thus far to their opponents 20 while having just eight more shots total.

Kreider led the offense with three points in the game, but the team got contributions from a variety of players, with eight Eagles recording a point in the contest. Bill Arnold continued his hot streak with both a goal and an assist on the night.

The line of Kreider, Arnold, and Hayes has been a big piece of the Eagle offense so far this season, and York felt that this game in particular was Hayes' best performance of the season. "We get [Hayes] going like that and Arnold has been on fire all year and Kreider has been such a strong player for us," York said. "That has established itself as really a top line and they played that way this evening."

With Arnold and Kreider tied for the team points lead with 14 each, York will continue to lean on this well-oiled machine to produce through the season. Kreider credits some of the line's cohesiveness to the previous experience that Arnold and Hayes have playing together. "[Arnold] and [Hayes] have such great chemistry," Kreider said. "They came from the same school and have played together for a long time so it makes my job really easy to just slide in there, try to win pucks, and get them pucks."

The Eagles did suffer a setback in the form of an injury in the game. Freshman forward Danny Linell hurt his shoulder on his first shift in the game and was not able to return. Brooks Dyroff, who was originally going to play on the third defensive line, moved to Linell's spot on the fourth offensive line. The trainers estimate after initial evaluation that Linell will miss two to three weeks.

Despite the impressive victory, York still sees aspects of his team's game that can be improved. "We have good skill players and they move pucks very well, but now I'm saying let's move them a little bit quicker," he said. It is that speed and puck movement that the Eagles hope will keep them at the top of Hockey East.