CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. - Top-ranked Boston College erupted for five goals in the second period and cruised to a 7-1 Hockey East victory over No. 9 Providence on Friday night to open the second half of the season in front of nearly 7,500 fans at Kelley Rink.
The Eagles moved to 14-3-1 overall and 7-2-1 in Hockey East, clinching the three-game regular season series against the Friars (10-6-2, 4-4-2 HEA).
Eight different Eagles recorded multi-point nights, including freshman Will Vote who scored his first collegiate goal. Vote was joined by Will Smith (2-0-2), Jamie Armstrong (1-1-2), Cutter Gauthier (1-1-2), Oskar Jellvik (1-1-2), Ryan Leonard (1-1-2), Gabe Perreault (0-2-2) and Andre Gasseau (0-2-2).
Rookie Jacob Fowler picked up his 14th win of the season in net, stopping 31 of the 32 Friar shots he faced.
BC improved to 7-1-1 in its last nine games and to 8-2-0 at home this season. It was the sixth crowd of at least 7,300 fans at Conte Forum.
Boston College took the lead just 35 seconds after the opening faceoff when Gauthier fired a pass into the slot for Gasseau. The winger helped the puck along to Jellvik in the left circle and the sophomore ripped a shot high glove side to beat Philip Svedebäck. The goal was Jellvik's 10th of the season and third in his last two games.
6:40 into the second period, Vote created a turnover behind the PC net and fed a pass in front to Jack Malone. The graduate student touched the puck to the weak side for Armstrong to finish on his backhand for his first goal as an Eagle.
Two minutes later, Smith and Leonard scored just 13 seconds apart to give Boston College a 4-0 cushion. Jellvik fed Gauthier in the high slot for a glove side finish at 10:30 for a 5-0 lead, and Vote tipped a Jacob Bengtsson center point shot inside the right post at 14:06.
Graham Gamache pulled a goal back for Providence in the third period to end Fowler's shutout bid, but Smith had an answer from Leonard and Perreault with 5:01 remaining to cap the scoring.
The teams close the home-and-home series on Saturday night at Schneider Arena on ESPN+ and WEEI 850 AM beginning at 7 p.m.
