CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. - No. 1 Boston College fired 59 shots on goal and Spencer Knight registered his eighth career shutout as the Eagles shut out Maine 3-0 on Saturday at Kelley Rink to sweep the weekend series.
BC won its fourth straight and pushed its record to 15-3-1 overall to retain a slim lead over BU for first place in the Hockey East standings according to the HEPI. The Black Bears fell to 2-9-1 following the loss.
Knight's shutout was his third this season as the netminder improved to 14-1-1 (.906) between the pipes with 24 saves. His best stop of the night came point blank on a centering feed to Dawson Bruneski in the second period.
The sophomore moved into a tie with Jack Fitzgerald '25 and Matti Kaltiainen '05 for fourth place on the program's all-time shutout list.
Boston College put a season-high 23 shots on goal during the first period and only allowed five at the other end. In the middle frame, the Eagles killed off a major penalty against Harrison Roy that included a full two minutes of 5-on-3 for the Black Bears.
Patrick Giles finally broke the deadlock with his third of the year on a netfront scramble with six and a half minutes left in the second.
In the third, Alex Newhook and Colby Ambrosio scored just 33 seconds apart to put the game away. Newhook picked up his second power play goal in as many nights and closed the game with seven shots on goal.
Marc McLaughlin collected a pair of assists and finished the weekend with four points. McLaughlin is now tied for the team-lead in points (22) with Matt Boldy, who posted his team-high 14th assist of the year and had a game-high nine shots.
Drew Helleson extended his career-high point streak to six games with an assist on Giles' game-winner.
SCORING SUMMARY
2nd 13:30, BC (1-0) | Helleson and McLaughlin both got a piece of a loose puck at the edge of the Maine crease before Giles buried a shot from the right doorstep through traffic to break the deadlock.
3rd 10:51, BC (2-0) | Boldy and McLaughlin exchanged passes in the right corner and the latter picked out Newhook in the slot as the sophomore ripped a shot against the grain glove side.
3rd 11:24, BC (3-0) | Nikita Nesterenko's backhand from the edge of the crease was denied, but the puck trickled out to Ambrosio near the right post and he spun it home to extend the lead.
UP NEXT
Hockey East will announce its weekly schedule on Tuesday.
