BOSTON – Boston College took care of business on Commonwealth Ave before taking the fight to Causeway Street.

The Eagles emerged victorious in the 299^th Battle of Commonwealth Ave., beating rival Boston University 4-1 on Friday night at Agganis Arena.

The Hockey East blood feud served as a dress rehearsal for Monday night’s 73^rd Annual Beanpot Hockey Tournament twin bill on Monday night at the TD Garden.

“You want to have momentum and positive energy,” said BC coach Greg Brown. “We are kind of trending in the right direction.”

No. 13 BC improved to 14-8-1 overall, 10-5-0 in Hockey East and will face Harvard in the opener at 5 p.m. The defending Beanpot champion Terriers fell to 12-13-1, 8-10-0 in Hockey East, and will take on Northeastern in the nightcap (8). No. 9 BU beat No. 1 BC, 4-1, in last year’s Beanpot title game.

“There is not much you can do and you have to give yourself an opportunity Monday to try and get to that next Monday at the right time,” said BU coach Jay Pandolfo, who won two straight Beanpots as a BU player. “I think that is what we have to focus on and if you keep dwelling on what is happening now, that is not going to help us.

“We all know where we are at this point. This is a good opportunity to win a game on Monday and have a chance to play for a championship. But you have to get the job done Monday first and it comes quickly.”

BC freshman goaltender Louka Cloutier was the difference maker in the contest. The reigning Hockey East Rookie of the Week made 33 saves to record his 13^th win.

“He’s been great and his mental attitude has been outstanding whether the momentum is on their side or our side,” said Brown. “When they made a real push Louka was excellent for us.”

The Terriers peppered the BC cage from the opening faceoff with four quality shots, but it was the Eagles that netted the opener at3:28 of the first.

Freshman right wing Oscar Hemming crashed the BU zone and his wrister from the left circle was blocked by BU defenseman Charlie Trethewey. Senior center Andre Gasseau collected the rebound in the slot and flicked a wobbler past Terriers’ goalie Mikhail Yegorov for his fourth of the season. BC hasn’t won the Beanpot since 2016 and Gasseau enters his final tournament with a senior’s sense of urgency and a scorer’s sense of confidence.

“We’ve gone through with a different group every year and obviously this is my last year and I want to win it,” said Gasseau. “You take pride in winning those games and winning those tournaments and we are going to win it this year. I have no doubt.”

BC appeared to go up 2-0 on the power play with 49 seconds on the clock. Pandolfo issued a coach’s challenge on the grounds that the Eagles were offside and the goal was disallowed. Cloutier stymied two BU power plays and several even strength challenges and exited the frame with 15 saves.

BC went up 2-0 on a brilliantly executed 2-on-1 by a pair of Boston Bruins first round draft picks. Center Dean Letourneau forced a neutral zone turnover and broke in down the left side with left wing James Hagens in pursuit on the opposite flank. Letourneau feigned a shot and fed Hagens, who beat Yegorov with a wrist shot top shelf on the glove side for his 12^th of the season.

“They are very good players and they practice hard,” said Brown. “For years you work for those situations and to execute in those situations because you don’t get a ton of two-on-one’s in a college hockey game.

“The fact they got the opportunity and executed on it was huge and you see that in the NHL, that’s what those guys do.”

Letourneau put BC up 3-0 with his 14^th of the season at 16:53 of the second. Bruins draft pick Will Moore collected a loose puck on the end boards and fed Letourneau, who was left unattended in the low slot. Letourneau made a quick flick of the wrist and beat Yegorov to the near post on the stick side. BU exited the middle frame with a 23-13 advantage in shots on goal.

BU averted the shutout on the power play at 37 seconds into the third period. Junior Jack Harvey flipped a wobbler that rolled over Cloutier’s shoulder and into the goal for his ninth of the season.

Opportunity drew me to Boston in 1977. I took a job at an architectural firm in the North End and moved to an apartment in Inman Square in Cambridge. It was such a great place to live — Legal Sea Foods, Ryles, the Inn-Square Men’s Bar, and the S&S Deli were all within a block of my front door. But there was one big problem: I didn’t know a soul in the area and really wanted to make friends outside of work.

Could spending some time at local watering holes be the answer? I decided to take my chances.

One evening I was perched on a barstool at the newly opened Springfield Street Saloon across the street. It was pretty much empty except for another guy sitting several stools away staring at the TV. Both of us were groaning in pain at some pathetic play by the Red Sox and started to chat from a distance. I slid over and introduced myself — or it could have been the other way around, I don’t remember. But most importantly, I met Jeff.

The next night we were both there again. And the next. We became good friends over the course of the summer and best friends not long after that. Jeff was the avid sportsman that I could never become. He took me tuna fishing off Gloucester, and to a sportsman’s club for lessons in marksmanship.

He was a classic extrovert and optimist who was working as a fledgling music promoter. I was a classic introvert hopelessly tied to a desk, quietly sketching designs. But somehow our sense of humor, outlook on life, and respect for each other cemented our friendship. I never expected to meet someone in such a random way and become such close friends. I joined him at Sox games, Pats games — we even went to the Police and J. Geils concerts at the Garden with backstage passes.

The Blizzard of 1978 didn’t put a damper on the fun at Jeff’s apartment. The weeklong Blizzard Party at his place could not be rivaled. He called me one night at 4 a.m., asking if I had any aspirin because Sting, lead singer of the Police, was at his apartment with a headache!

Jeff even found me a new apartment in his building near Harvard Square. He never wanted anything in return, just my company. And I was always there for him.

Over the years, our lives changed quite a bit. We both moved to different towns with our fiancées. Jeff came to my wedding, and after my daughters were born, he became a favorite of theirs as they grew up. He joked with my wife that she could have done much better than me.

From that chance barstool meeting, I talked with my best friend almost every day for over 40 years. Whenever our wives heard us howling on the phone, they knew immediately who was on the line.

A few years ago, Jeff fell ill, and was in the hospital. I sensed this was quite serious and went to visit him against his wishes. He didn’t want me to see him in his declining condition. “Do you remember when . . . ?” was the topic that day. I had to tone down my usual rants, because it hurt him so much when he laughed.

Later, I said goodbye and left the room. As I turned down the corridor, I heard Jeff call out, “I love you, man.” I was going to turn around and go back into the room but didn’t want him to see me crying. That seemed pretty dumb then, and still does. A few weeks later, I got a call from his wife, Joanne, telling me he had passed away.

Five years later, Jeff is still on my speed dial, and I cannot tell you the number of times I have almost called him for his take on the day’s events. Because you just never know.

Mark Bernstein is a writer in Newton Centre. Send comments to magazine@globe.com.

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