By: Neil Simmons | Follow me on Twitter / X: @NSimmz
The college hockey regular season is starting to wind down, and the races for conference titles and NCAA tournament bids are heating up. Several Bruins prospects are playing their best hockey at the right time, scoring in bunches to lead their teams to statement wins over the weekend, while others are beginning to get healthy and back into the lineup:
James Hagens (C/LW/RW) – Boston College – Hagens played a vital role in BC’s weekend series win over UConn, scoring a hat trick on Friday night before adding an assist on Saturday’s overtime winner. He scored each of the Eagles’ first three goals in the 5-2 victory, twice on the power play, and capped it with his 20th goal of the year before the end of the second period.
Hagens is currently riding a nine-game point streak (9-6-15) with five multi-point efforts in that stretch and leads all of Hockey East in scoring with 20-18-38 in 28 games. His white-hot play since the new year has also forced his way into the Hobey Baker conversation, with his candidacy gaining more momentum every week.
Dean Letourneau (C) – Boston College – Letourneau torched UConn on special teams, racking up three of his four points on the man advantage. Two of his three assists on Friday night came with the Huskies down a man, including both of Hagens’ power play goals, and then he scored one of his own on Saturday.
Keeping pace with Hagens, Letourneau is up to 18-15-33 in 30 games, tied for second in Hockey East in goalscoring and points behind his Eagle teammate. His production on special teams has been a major factor in his sophomore breakout, as he leads BC with seven power-play goals.
Andre Gasseau (C) – Boston College – Gasseau shone as a distributor in the Eagles’ weekend series, with all four of his points coming as assists. He picked up secondary helpers on each of Hagens’ first two goals, the second coming off his faceoff win, and the only assist on Landan Resendes’ third-period dagger.
He then created the overtime winner on Saturday, driving the rush from his own end into the UConn crease before finding Lukas Gustafsson unmarked to secure the extra point. Since returning from injury last month, Gasseau has racked up 5-11-16 in 12 games.
Will Zellers (RW) – North Dakota – Zellers emphatically snapped a mini-scoring drought on Friday night, posting two goals and an assist as the Fighting Hawks rallied from two goals down to salvage a point against visiting St Cloud State.
His assist to Josh Zakreski opened the scoring two minutes into the game, then he added a goal of his own before the end of the first period. He then capped off the comeback with under two minutes to play, and the goalie pulled to force overtime. Now with 16-10-26 in 31 games, Zellers remains one of the most potent goalscoring freshmen in the country.
Looking Ahead:
Beckett Hendrickson will open the weekend early when Minnesota heads to Michigan for two games starting on Thursday night. Casper Nassen and Miami head to Omaha for a weekend series with a chance to gain some ground in seeding for the NCHC conference tournament. Zellers and North Dakota have a huge road series against Cole Spicer and Western Michigan. NoDak leads the Broncos by five points atop the conference, and could clinch the regular season title with a series win and some help from Arizona State against Denver.
Back east, the Battle of Comm Ave will be renewed again, as Hagens, Gasseau, Letourneau, Will Moore, and Kristian Kostadinski will face Jonathan Morello and Boston University for the first time since the Beanpot championship game. Despite already facing each other twice this season, this weekend will be BC and BU’s first home-and-home series of the year.
Providence College hosts New Hampshire on Friday night to open a home-and-home with a nine-point lead atop the Hockey East standings. Philip Svedeback remains out for the Friars, with no immediate timeline yet available on his return from injury.
Fresh off his return to the Quinnipiac lineup, Chris Pelosi and Elliott Groenewold will hit the road for Dartmouth and Harvard to wrap up their regular season. Friday night’s game will be especially significant, as the Bobcats lead Dartmouth by four points atop the ECAC and could clinch a fifth consecutive Cleary Cup as conference regular-season champions.
Mason Langenbrunner and the Crimson will host Princeton on Friday night before facing the Bobcats on Saturday. Ryan Walsh and the Big Red will host St Lawrence and Clarkson.
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