CHESTNUT HILL ― Boston College had their postseason prerogatives aligned prior to Saturday’s 6-0 matinee victory over Merrimack on Senior Day at Conte Forum.
The No. 1 Eagles closed out their regular season at 26-6-2 with the most victories in Division 1 and a stellar 18-4-2 finish in Hockey East.
BC clinched its second straight Hockey East regular season crown and 19th overall on Friday night when No. 16 UMass mathematically eliminated second place and No. 5 Maine with a, 5-1, victory at the Mullins Center in Amherst.
BC secured the No. 1 seed in the Hockey East tournament and will host the lowest seed to emerge from Wednesday night’s opening round in the quarterfinals next Saturday night at Conte.
“We felt we did a lot of things well today,” said BC coach Greg Brown. “There was a lot of talk, especially with the way it worked out last night that we were already league champs. But give our leadership group a lot of credit, they really wanted to make sure we didn’t take a step backward.
“We kept our focus high and kept playing the right way. Right from our first shift our older guys did that and the rest of the team followed. We were happy with our intent for the whole game.”
The game against Merrimack was reduced to a formality, but the Eagles engaged the Warriors as if Maine were still in play for the regular season trophy and No. 1 seed. BC also avenged a 5-2 home loss to Merrimack back on Jan. 10.
“Our guys had a great mentality going into the game obviously with playoffs right around the corner,” said BC captain Eamon Powell, a graduate defenseman from Marcellus, N.Y.
“We still feel we have another level we can get to and I felt this was a great test for us to keep amping up for a playoff season. We have high hopes and high expectations to go a long way and we are gearing up for that.”
Sophomore left wing Gabe Perreault, a 2023 New York Rangers first round draft pick, and freshman left wing Teddy Stiga of Sudbury paced the attack with two goals apiece.
Sophomore goaltender Jacob Fowler, a semifinalist for the Mike Richter Award and Montreal Canadiens draft pick, made 27 saves to record his 24th victory and seventh shutout of the season.
“He (Fowler) is as consistent as they come,” said Brown. “When we were loose in the first period he was right there as he has been all year.
“They always want to have that clean slate and get that shutout and it was great he was able to finish that way. The guys in the third period were trying not to give up anything for free and making sure if Merrimack was going to get a chance, they were going to have to earn it.”
The Eagles showed the Warriors they were all in when right wing Ryan Leonard put BC up 1-0 at 7:25 of the first. Powell transitioned freshman center James Hagans on a rush down the left boards. Hagans fed Leonard in the low slot and the Washington Capitals 2023 first round pick ripped a wrister past goalie Nils Wallstrom for his league-leading 29th of the season.
BC went up 2-0 when junior defenseman Lukas Gustafsson made a slick maneuver at the blue line and set up Stiga for an easy redirect from the crease at 12:58.
“One of the things we excelled at was our pace,” said Powell. “We have always been a fast-playing team and that’s what has given us most of our success this season.
“It was great to see the pace we played with because we are going to have some fast physical games against some good games. It was a great matchup to get us going in the playoffs.”
BC went up 3-0 at 9:19 of the second when Powell unleashed Perreault and Leonard on a 2-on-1 break. Perreault, a 2023 New York Rangers first round pick, feigned towards Leonard and fired a wrist shot from the right circle that found the back of the net.
Perreault scored his second of the game and 15th of the season on a rip from the right circle on the power play at 6:32 of the third. Stiga made it 5-0 at 9:07 for his 13th of the season. Senior right-wing Connor Joyce poked in a rebound to make it 6-0 at 15:05.
