Ryan Leonard had been hoping for a bigger role on Boston College’s penalty kill. When his moment arrived, he delivered.

Before the season started, Boston College sophomore Ryan Leonard talked about the areas he wanted to improve on. One of his goals this season was to see more time on the penalty kill for the second-ranked Eagles.

That wish has come true, and he delivered for BC on Saturday night against No. 13 Western Michigan, and that’s where the men’s college hockey weekend review begins.

· After falling in a 2-0 hole in the first period, BC managed to claw its way back and pulled even when Sudbury native Teddy Stiga scored his first collegiate goal one minute into the third.

But the Eagles found themselves on the penalty kill with less than three minutes remaining after a tripping call. Enter Leonard, who had been held off the scoresheet despite firing nine shots to that point.

As the penalty was winding down, the Amherst native stole the puck at the blue line and dished it to Gabe Perreault, who sent it back to a cutting Leonard for the easy score with 53.6 seconds left. He added an empty-netter seconds later as the Eagles came away with a 4-2 win to improve to 3-1.

“You see all the time, a lot of really offensive players, they understand what the other team is trying to do, and they can disrupt that,” said BC coach Greg Brown. “Ryan probably could have played PK last year too, but we had a lot of depth at the penalty kill. He’s obviously one of our key guys on the power play, but now, as a veteran, he’ll see more ice on the PK. He made a great read there and was able to turn the tide very quickly.”

· BC tinkered with the lines for Saturday night’s matchup, splitting up Perreault and Leonard for the first period. Leonard was joined by Stiga on the left wing and junior Oskar Jellvik at center. Perreault skated on a line centered by freshman James Hagens, with sophomore Will Vote at right wing.

Down two goals after 20 minutes, Perreault and Leonard were together again to start the second period, with Hagens at center. Jellvik centered a line with fellow Bruins draft pick Andre Gasseau and Stiga. It was a reunion of sorts for Jellvik and Gasseau. The duo formed BC’s second line last season, along with Cutter Gauthier.

“It was more that we didn’t start well, not that those lines didn’t start well,” said Brown. “It was more to just try and find a little spark.

“When they’re not together, we have maybe more balance, and sometimes that looks good. In practice, both lines have really gelled, but maybe not yet. . . . We’ll keep experimenting until we find the right combinations.”

· Western Michigan, which dropped to 3-1, has made the tournament in each of of Pat Ferschweiler’s three seasons as coach, and figures to be in the mix again this year. The Broncos’ bench boss was impressed by what he saw from the Eagles.

“That’s a dangerous, dangerous team,” said Ferschweiler. “We learned that winning’s real hard, and winning takes 60 minutes. It was maybe a little bit too much for us tonight. That’s OK. We’ll be better at it next time.”

· Both Boston University and New Hampshire were on the wrong end of one-sided losses to open the weekend, but bounced back to salvage splits on the road.

BU traveled to North Dakota for a pair of games with the Fighting Hawks. It was a rough start for the Terriers on Friday, who fell behind 5-0 in the first period en route to a 7-2 loss. BU responded with a 4-3 win the next night. Devin Kaplan’s snipe with 7:32 remaining gave the Terriers the lead for good. The junior kept the puck on a 2-on-1 breakaway and beat former Northeastern goalie T.J. Semptimphelter glove side.

Senior Mathieu Caron, who allowed four goals on six shots before being pulled in the opener, was back in net Saturday and responded with 29 saves as the Terriers improved to 4-1.

· UNH opened its series at No. 10 Quinnipiac by dropping an 8-2 decision Friday night. The Wildcats showed resilience in Saturdays’ rematch, taking a 3-2 win at M&T Bank Arena to snap Quinnipiac’s streak of 39 games without a home regulation loss.

· No. 6 Maine managed to do something it had not been able to pull off in more than 12 years when it defeated Northeastern, 4-1, on Friday. It marked the first win for the Black Bears at Matthews Arena since Feb. 25, 2012, snapping an 0-14-2 streak.

· NU jumped out to a 2-0 lead Saturday, but the Black Bears rallied to send the game into overtime and took the shootout. Cam Lund had a goal each night, giving him four in his last four games.

· Providence coach Nate Leaman got win No. 400 as a Division 1 head coach when the Friars defeated Vermont, 3-2, in overtime Friday. The Catamounts were seconds away from getting a split, holding a 4-3 lead in the final minute Saturday, but Providence captain Nick Poisson scored with 25.4 seconds remaining to send the game into overtime. The 13th-ranked Friars won the shootout to take 5 of 6 points.

· UConn took 4of 6 points from UMass. The Huskies rebounded from Friday’s shootout loss at Amherst that saw the Minutemen tie the game on Aydar Suniev’s goal with 17 seconds left in regulation. Junior Jake Percival had a pair of goals for UConn in the 3-2 win at Storrs on Saturday.

· UMass Lowell has opened the season by winning four of its first five after knocking off Merrimack, 6-3 on Saturday. Senior Owen Cole had a goal and three assists for the River Hawks.