NCAA Players Making Mark in NHL Play

Former NCAA players have been making their mark in the NHL recently following Friday's trade deadline.

Joel Farabee (Boston University) scored the only goal of the game Saturday night to lift Calgary to a 1-0 win over visiting Montreal. Charlie Coyle (Boston University) assisted on the game-winning goal that same evening in his first appearance with Colorado, as the host Avalanche defeated Toronto, 7-4, while Brady Tkachuk (Boston University) fired home the game-winner in overtime as host Ottawa downed the New York Rangers, 4-3. Cole Koepke (Minnesota-Duluth), a 2019 NCAA champion, tallied twice in Boston's 4-0 win at Tampa Bay, while Zach Hyman (Michigan) did the same for Edmonton in a 5-4 victory over visiting Dallas. 

Adam Fantilli (Michigan), the 2022 Hobey Baker Memorial Award winner, notched his second career NHL hat trick tonight as visiting Columbus routed the Rangers, 7-3. Chris Kreider (Boston College) tallied a shorthanded goal for the home team, while Jonathan Quick (Massachusetts) made 20 stops in goal for the Rangers. Drew Helleson (Boston College) notched the game-winner as Anaheim upended the visiting New York Islanders, 4-1.

Lastly, defenseman Colton Parayko (Alaska Fairbanks) of the St. Louis Blues will be sidelined until mid-April with a knee injury. He has a career-high 15 goals to go with 20 assists for 35 points in 62 outings so far this season.

BC Bows Out of 2022 Hockey East Tournament

Boston College's 100th men's ice hockey season has come to a close.

The Eagles fell at Northeastern, 3-2, in a Hockey East quarterfinal elimination game at Matthews Arena in Boston on Saturday, after spotting the Huskies a three-goal lead in the second period. BC responded with third-period scores from defensemen Drew Helleson (power play) and Marshall Warren, but could get no closer despite outshooting NU, 48-36, on the night, and 25-9 in the final frame.

Gunnarwolfe Fontaine tallied a goal and an assist for the 11th-ranked Huskies, who got 46 saves from goaltender Devon Levi. Eric Dop made 33 saves for BC in his final appearance for the Eagles, who went 1-for-2 on the power play.

BC finishes the 2021-22 campaign at 15-18-5 overall, while top-seeded NU improved to 25-11-1 and will face Connecticut in the conference semifinals at TD Garden in Boston.

No. 1 BC Splits with No. 15 BU in Hockey East

Boston College will likely drop from the top spot in NCAA Division I college hockey polls this week, after splitting a pair of Hockey East contests with longtime rival and 15th-ranked Boston University this weekend.

On Friday, in the first game between the two schools in almost a year, sophomore defenseman Drew Helleson went end-to-end to tuck home a puck with 0.1 seconds remaining in overtime to boost host BC to a 4-3 win over BU at Kelley Rink. Spencer Knight finished with 21 saves for the victorious Eagles, while Ashton Abel made 29 stops for the Terriers.

On Saturday, in the first meeting at BU's venerable Walter Brown Arena since Dec. 2004, due to COVID-19 protocols, it was the host Terriers responding with a 3-1 win. Freshman forward Luke Tuch, brother of former BC and current NHL forward Alex Tuch, scored the last two goals of the game for the Terriers (6-2-1 overall), while freshman netminder Vinny Duplessis made 40 stops in his first-ever appearance for BU. Knight again finished with 21 saves for BC (11-3-1).

BC (.711) and BU (.708) remain in the top two spots in the Hockey East standings by percentage points. The two Commonwealth Avenue/Green Line rivals are scheduled to meet again in late February, in another home-and-home series that will begin at BU and end at BC, barring any COVID-19 delays.

ADDENDUM: BC remained in the No. 1 spot in this week's USCHO.com poll.