Boston College 6 - Dartmouth 1

Burlington, Vt. -- If there was any doubt, the Boston College men's hockey team showed again Wednesday why it is one of the best teams in the nation. Showing versatility in virtually every facet of the game, the Eagles roared past Dartmouth, 6-1, in the opener of the Sheraton/Howard Bank Hockey Classic, held at UVM's Gutterson Field House.

After an exciting first period that saw BC outshoot Dartmouth, 12-10, en route to a tenuous 1-0 advantage, the Eagles (9-5-0, 5-4-0 Hockey East) exploded for three goals in a five-minute span of the middle frame to take control of the game. Junior Brian Gionta recorded a hat trick to lead the Eagles, who narrowly missed their third consecutive shutout.

With Dartmouth trailing, 6-0, in the late stages of the third period, sophomore Frank Nardella connected on a power play for his third goal of the season. The loss, Dartmouth's third in three tries against a Hockey East opponent, dropped the Big Green to 2-6-3 overall (1-2-3 ECAC).

"I thought our kids played hard," said Dartmouth head coach Bob Gaudet. "But we played a very good hockey team. They've been knocking on the door of the national championship for the past two years, and I thought they had their 'A' game tonight."

With rookie Nick Boucher out with the flu, senior Eric Almon started between the pipes for the Big Green. Appearing for the first time since Thanksgiving Weekend, the veteran barely had a chance to make a good impression.

He was hammered with 39 BC shots (Dartmouth took 24), many of which were point-blank one-timers. Almon, the starter at the beginning of the season, saw his record fall to 0-4-1 on the season.

For the most part, however, he was not to blame. The Eagles, an NCAA Final Four team for two years running, showed why they are a Top 10 program once again this season. Led by the talented first line of Jeff Farkas (10g-14a-24 pts), Blake Bellefeuille (6-12-18) and Gionta (8-9-17), BC punishes its opponents with dozens of quality scoring chances.

Such was the case yesterday afternoon. Highlighted by Gionta, that line combined for three goals, more than enough as the Eagles finished the day 3-for-7 on the power play en route to the easy victory. Tim Kelleher, a freshman, earned the win in net.

"Their number one line is pretty dominating," Gaudet said. "Physically and skill-wise, they provide a big lift for that team. They're fast, so they generate a lot of offense."

Said BC head coach Jerry York: "We have good goal scorers, so we're going to score a lot of goals. The key to our success will be to keep the other team off the board, so I was very pleased with our defensive effort."

Less than a minute after Gionta gave the Eagles a 3-0 lead, sophomore Jeff Giuliano added to the advantage with a one-timer of his own. That capped BC's three-goal outburst early in the third period, but the Eagles weren't done.

Early in the third period, defenseman Mike Mottau connected on a 50-foot line drive from the blueline. Minutes later, junior Mike Lephart took a pass from teammate Krys Kolanos and hit from 10 feet to make it 6-0.

Nardella's goal, the first allowed by BC since a 4-2 win over Northeastern on Nov. 30, closed out the scoring.

"Our goals-against has been hovering right around zero, one, or two, so I'm pleased with the effort our defense and goaltender gave us today," York said. "I was a little concerned about how we would play right out of the break, but we were fine. I thought we played a good, solid game."

Dartmouth will close its play at the Sheraton/Howard Bank Classic with a game against Ohio State Thursday at 4 p.m. The Buckeyes defeated Vermont, 3-2, Wednesday night.

Big Green notes: Dartmouth is now 0-3-1 this season against schools from the city of Boston. The lone bright spot was a 1-1 tie with rival Harvard on Dec. 17 . . . . The Big Green finished the night 1-for-5 on the power play, bringing the season total to 3-for-50 (six percent) . . . . With an assist on Nardella's goal, Byrne now has a modest two-game point scoring streak.