The season is still young for the Boston College men’s hockey team, but thus far it hasn’t gotten any better for coach Jerry York and his No. 4 Eagles than Saturday night’s trouble-free 4-1 victory over Northeastern at Matthews Arena.

“This is the best 60-minute hockey game we’ve played all year,” the 11-year coach said. “We were solid in all three zones. From the goalie to the defense to the forwards, we competed very, very hard.”

The loss was the Huskies’ third in their last four games, as they dropped two straight to No. 6 University of New Hampshire two weekends ago. A 4-3 loss in Durham, N.H. was followed by a 7-4 decision the following night at Matthews. Only a 5-1 wallop of Merrimack College last Tuesday in North Andover prevented an 0-4 skid.

Against BC (6-2-2, 3-0-2 Hockey East), the Huskies (6-6-1, 3-3-0) were able to maintain a 2-1 deficit after two periods of play, but the Eagles responded with two early goals in the third period to put the final touches on a strong win.

The Huskies were 0-for-6 in their power play opportunities, while BC’s defense shut down any strong NU offensive rushes. Eagle freshman net minder Cory Schneider, a first-round draft pick of the Vancouver Canucks last year, stopped 29 shots in a strong performance.

“For the most part, I think BC’s the best team we’ve played this year,” said NU coach Bruce Crowder. “I think we turned it over way too many times against a team of that caliber to win. It was 2-1 going into the third and we coughed a couple times in our own zone and one pass later, it’s in the net.”

Only 3:31 into the third period, Eagles senior left-winger Ned Havern found sophomore center Brian Boyle in the slot from behind the net. A fast, onetimer allowed for a 3-1 BC lead.

Then, just under four minutes later, freshman Dan Bertram controlled the puck behind the net, and found a wide-open junior center Stephen Gionta in front of the net. Gionta had time to steady the puck and fire a shot up past Husky goalie Keni Gibson (34 saves) for the three-goal difference. “It was a great effort all the way around,” Gionta said. “All four of our lines and starting with our goalie Cory Schneider. He had a terrific game. Right through our lineup, our D and Ryan Shannon, Dave Spina and Chris Collins — they continue to work hard and lead our team.”

In the first period, the Eagles scored two, while also shooting a pair of piercing shots off the post.

“Loud posts, too. Bang, off the pipe,” York said. “We were good at killing penalties. We generated more offense than we have recently and that’s been a big theme of ours, to make the other goaltender work and try to light some red lights there. We’ve been talking about generating more speed with our offense. It’s easy to talk about, hard to do. To move pucks quicker and skate quicker with the puck.”

Ryan Murphy opened the scoring in the game for both teams nine minutes into the first period. The senior right-winger stayed with the puck to the right post near Gibson, and fired a shot past the senior goalie.

Then 12:32 into the period, Spina gave the Eagles a 2-0 lead after Collins gave him a direct pass to the left corner, where he waited alone to lift a shot into the net.

As an NU penalty ended in the first period, Eagle forward Patrick Eaves and defenseman Andrew Alberts hit successive screaming shots off the pipes.

“The first period tonight we were kind of a little bit in awe, watching them skate around,” Crowder said. “We gave them way too much room and they really kind of took it to us. I thought we rebounded with a pretty good second period.”

NU scored the lone goal for both teams in the second frame, when senior defenseman Donny Grover stayed with the puck after Mike Morris lost it in a collision inside the BC blue line. His initial backhand denied, Grover tried again and stuffed it past Schneider with :53.5 left in the period. “The guys have showed us that if we come to play, we can play with anybody,” Crowder said. “The thing that was discouraging for us as a staff, was what we did in the first period. We didn’t come to play. That’s something that we can’t have happen. [BC’s] a good hockey team. We learn from playing good hockey teams. We’re a better team now having played them and we know what we need to work on.”

Against Merrimack (1-7-0, 3-9-1) at Lawler Arena last Tuesday night, the Huskies jumped out to a 3-0 lead after one period led by smart, accurate passing from captain Jason Guerriero.

Joe Santilli scored the first NU goal, rebounding in a failed Guerriero wrist shot just 41 seconds into the matchup. Then at 11:10, defenseman Steve Birnstill scored a power play goal from the slot on a pass from Guerriero.

The scoring did not end, as Guerriero staged a perfect shot for Brian Swiniarski from the left faceoff circle. The shot went off the crossbar and in for the 3-0 lead.

Merrimack scored a goal of their own in the second and benefited from the substitution of Jim Healey in net for Frank McLaughlin. Healey made 17 saves, helping the momentum shift a bit in the Warriors’ favor in the second and into the third.

“That has been our toughest period,” Swiniarski said of the third period. “That was our biggest problem, the last couple of games, we had a third period meltdown. Coming into the game, we knew it would be a big period for us, especially with a two-goal lead. They kind of had the momentum after the second period. We knew we had to bear down.”

Jared Mudryk scored one while Swiniarski had his second as NU ensured the victory in the last period. NU stayed close with the UNH Wildcats (8-3-2, 5-1-1) on Nov. 19 at the Wittemore Center, but could not keep up with a speedy offense as UNH took the first of two straight matchups 4-3. Sean Collins had a goal and an assist for UNH in the win.

On Nov. 20, NU hosted UNH at Matthews and carried a 4-3 lead into the third, led by three unanswered goals and an empty netter. The Wildcats gained their second straight win, 7-4.

GAME NOTES: Junior forward Mike Morris returned against BC after missing four games. His assist gave him a line of 5-9-14 in nine games … The Huskies return to action in Burlington, Vt. on Saturday at 7 p.m. when they face the University of Vermont