He wasn’t a masked man sitting at the end of the Boston College bench, but he did have a standard-issue black goalie helmet and the will to answer the call if needed.

“Our manager,’’ said a smiling Jerry York, the BC coach, referring to 5-foot-9-inch freshman Van Kula, who suited up for the first time as an Eagle in Monday night’s Beanpot opener.

“It was going to be him or me, so I would have pushed him out there if we needed him.’’

Kula, from Radnor, Pa., did not come to the Heights in the fall with the intention or dream to play for the Eagles. He has been the team manager, one of the trusted hands that all college squads need, but he was a bit more than that for Game 1 of the 64th Beanpot on Monday at TD Garden.

With recent recruit Ian Milosz sidelined by a concussion — a bugaboo among goalies this season for the Eagles — Radnor suited up as backup to Thatcher Demko.

As it turned out, Demko, made it through the night with little trouble, turning away 21 of 23 Crimson shots to back the Eagles to their 3-2 victory and a date in Monday night’s final.

Demko also has seen time on the sideline this season, having suffered a minor concussion just after Christmas.

It was Demko’s injury, and the lack of a suitable backup, that led the Eagles to bring in the 6-7 Milosz as a midseason signee.

Much earlier this season, before even the first game, the Eagles lost their expected backup, freshman Chris Birdsall, also to a concussion.

Quick work

Casey Fitzgerald’s goal for Boston College only 1:35 into the first period, was the fastest Beanpot strike since Bryan Ewing potted one for BU only 1:23 into a 5-3 win over Harvard on Feb. 6, 2006.

BC finds third gear

The Eagles, 18-4-4, remain undefeated (16-0-2) when taking a lead into the third period.

They are also 3-0-1 when faced with a deficit after the first period, as they were (2-1) to the Crimson.

Winter warmer

Senior forward Mike McMurtry had a big hand in the six-game win streak Northeastern brought to the Beanpot. He scored two goals, added seven assists, and earned points in all six.

But freshman goaltender Ryan Ruck had done his part, too, stopping 141 of 150 shots.

Ruck won all six games, improving to 7-9-3. The stretch lowered his goals-against average to 2.47, and upped his save percentage to .906.

By starting Monday’s game against BU, Ruck became the first freshman to start in the Beanpot for the Huskies since Chris Rawlings in 2010.

When Worlds collide

It’s not often that BU schedules a 26-day break between games, but it’s not often that the Huskies send four players to the World Junior Championship. Sophomore Brandon Fortunato and freshman Charlie McAvoy helped Team USA win the bronze medal in Helsinki, while freshman Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson played for Sweden and sophomore Brandon Hickey represented Canada. A BU signee, Chad Krys, also played for Team USA.

The World Juniors ran from Dec. 26-Jan. 5, so BU took an extended break after winning at Quinnipiac Dec. 12. The next time they played was Jan. 7, at Harvard. BU won both games.

Vesey tops nominees

Harvard forward Jimmy Vesey, winner of last year’s Walter Brown Award as the top US-born player in New England, is among 23 Division 1 players named Monday as nominees for this year’s prestigious award.

Vesey, who finished runner-up to Jack Eichel last year for the Hobey Baker Award, is one of three Crimson candidates for this year’s Brown Award. The Eagles led the list with four nominees. BU, UMass-Lowell, UNH, Quinnipiac, and Yale had two nominees apiece.

The winner of the Brown Award, presented by the Gridiron Club of Boston, will be named in March and will receive it at the New England College Hockey Writers’ dinner in April.

Women’s ’Pot on tap

The 38th Women’s Beanpot hits the ice Tuesday at Walter Brown Arena.

Top-ranked Boston College (27-0) takes on Harvard (12-8-1) in the opener at 5 p.m. Boston University (17-9-2) plays Northeastern (23-4-1) at 8 p.m. The championship will be Feb. 9.

The Eagles, trying to match the program’s longest undefeated streak (28 games), have the second-longest winning streak in NCAA history.

BC does not lack for star power: Alex Carpenter (32 goals, 61 points) is second in the nation in scoring and teammate Haley Skarupa (22 goals, 51 points) is fourth.

Kevin Paul Dupont can be reached at kevin.dupont @globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeKPD.