SOUTH BEND, Ind. - Freshman Ryan Leonard scored twice in the first period and No. 2 Boston College never looked back, earning a dominant 6-1 non-conference victory over No. 18 Notre Dame on Black Friday at Compton Family Ice Arena.
The Eagles won their third straight and improved to 10-2-1 (4-1-1 HEA) following the second 6-1 victory in their last three trips to South Bend. The Fighting Irish dropped to 7-5-2 (3-1-2 B1G).
Leonard and his rookie linemates Gabe Perreault (1-2-3) and Will Smith (0-3-3) combined for eight points on the night. Perreault extended his point streak to 11 games, while Smith and Leonard pushed their streaks to seven games.
Oskar Jellvik posted a multi-point game with a goal and an assist, while Cutter Gauthier and Eamon Powell each registered two assists to give BC six players with multiple points. Sophomore Andre Gasseau netted his fifth goal of the season and freshman defenseman Drew Fortescue scored his third.
Celebrating his birthday on Friday, freshman netminder Jacob Fowler was 1:35 away from securing his second straight shutout. He stopped 29 of the 30 Irish shots he faced and improved to 10-2-1.
Leonard took a pair of passes from Perreault at 3:44 and 15:59 of the first period and beat Ryan Bischel glove side from each faceoff circle, putting the Eagles ahead for good.
Fortescue extended the lead to three 5:37 into the second, taking a feed from Powell and skating down the slot before ripping a low shot inside the left post. The assist for Powell on the play was the senior captain's 50th career point.
Smith found Perreault open on the weak side during a 5-on-3 power play at the 9:01 mark for a 4-0 cushion, and Aidan Hreschuk whipped a centering pass to Jellvik near the crease for a tap-in goal at 11:55.
Gasseau capped off the BC scoring 4:24 into the third period on a blind, backhand pass from Jellvik below the goal line to the left post.
BC out-shot Notre Dame 39-30, including a 21-5 edge in the second period, and killed off all four Irish power plays. Gauthier led all players with seven shots on goal.
Boston College will try to make it four straight wins at No. 20 Harvard on Sunday afternoon at the Bright-Landry Center with faceoff set for 1 p.m. The game will air live on ESPN+ and TSN+ in Canada.
