Don’t let the numbers fool you.

After last night’s 3-2 win over Boston College in the Beanpot championship game, the Boston University men’s hockey team has won 27 of the 54 Beanpots played – exactly half.

But that statistic is a little misleading. The Terriers’ historic dominance over Boston’s classic college hockey tournament has been anything but partial.

“It’s a certain attitude that you carry in the Beanpot,” said BU goalie John Curry. “Heading into the games, it’s just a different feeling. It’s an extra confidence.”

Last night, in front of 17,565 at the TD Banknorth Garden, the context and characters were different, but it was the same old story. This time, the star was MVP Peter MacArthur, who broke a 2-2 tie by taking a baseball swing at a fluttering rebound and hitting it out of the park midway through the third period, sending the No. 5 Terriers to their third win in four games this year against the No. 4 Eagles, their 11th straight win overall and their 10th Beanpot title in 12 years.

BU now has more than twice the number of Beanpots as BC (13), and has handed the highly touted Eagles almost half of their seven losses this season.

“I thought BU played better than us tonight, and they won the game,” said BC coach Jerry York. “They just took control of the game in the second period.”

While MacArthur provided the glitz with a pretty first-period rush for an assist and the electric game-winner, it was a stifling defensive effort by the Terriers (18-8-2) that was the difference. BU allowed the Eagles (19-7-2) only 11 shots on goal in the second and third periods combined, outshooting BC, 36-20 and, with a one-goal game on the line in the closing minutes, clutching onto a territorial edge they held nearly throughout.

“The fact that we held them to 20 shots – and it might not have even been 20 shots – is unbelievable,” Curry said of a BC team that averages 33 shots a game. “We stopped them in the neutral zone most of the time, and they didn’t even spend a lot of time in our zone.”

The bulk of BC’s time on the attack came in a first period when both teams looked nervous feeling each other out early.

The game opened up 10 minutes in when the Terriers found themselves with a minute-long two-man advantage, after Dan Spang drew a penalty and Brandon Yip was held up on the ensuing power play. BU looked impressive on the power play, but Eberly Trophy-winner Cory Schneider was even better, robbing David Van der Gulik and then getting a bit of help from the left post on Kenny Roche’s backhander.

“I thought that Boston College played extremely well in the first period,” said BU coach Jack Parker, who won his 19th Beanpot in 33 tries as head coach. “We played kind of tentative, I thought.”

That was most apparent after the power play, when the Eagles took momentum from their gritty penalty kill and immediately put the pressure back on the Terriers. It only took them seven seconds to take the first lead once they got their first power play a few minutes later, as captain Peter Harrold streaked down the right side and moved to his backhand trying to slide it under the diving Curry.

The goalie made the initial save, but BU freshman defenseman Matt Gilroy slightly bumped into Curry’s blocker with his skate, jarring the puck loose just enough for it to barely slide across the goal line with 2:32 to play in the period.

Brian Boyle could have doubled the lead and put BU in hot water 30 seconds later off a great feed from Stephen Gionta, but Curry athletically swept his pads across the crease just in time.

“John Curry has emerged as a very dominant goaltender,” York said, “and that’s helped their club.”

But come the second, the Terriers hardly needed Curry. Their stifling defense began to show, as BU outshot the Eagles, 13-5, and took a distinct territorial edge. BU killed three Eagle power plays in the period, each time efficiently denying BC even a good look at a goal.

“The second period was one of our best periods of college hockey in a long, long time,” Parker said. “It has to be that good to hold BC to the number of shots we held them to.”

They also converted twice to take the lead, each time off an impressive rush by a quick forward. First, Pete MacArthur’s mad dash up the right side included a behind-the-back move to get by Tim Kunes and get a shot on Schneider. Boomer Ewing was there to flip home MacArthur’s rebound.

“If I messed that up, I would have probably been on the bench for the rest of the game,” MacArthur said. “Not all goals are fancy. I think 80 percent of the goals in the NHL are scored right now in front off of rebounds.”

Jason Lawrence started and finished his own rush about five minutes later, halfway through the period. He picked up a loose puck at the red line and skated in, trying to center it to one of his linemates. The puck bounced around the slot, then caromed back to Lawrence, who one-timed it between Schneider’s legs to give BU the lead.

For a while, it looked like the Terriers’ wouldn’t need any more goals to capture No. 27, but things didn’t go as planned in the third. Van der Gulik twice limped off to the locker room with a knee injury as his teammates fought on defensively.

The Eagles still only had six shots on goal in the third, but one was able to sneak by Curry. The goal was officially credited to Gionta, but it looked like Boyle deflected Gionta’s centering pass in for the tie six minutes into the period.

Just 23 seconds later, though, Boyle took down Jason Lawrence with a shot to his head, giving BU a power play. MacArthur needed 31 seconds to get the lead – and win – back for BU.

“I thought that kind of just took the wind right out of their sails,” Parker said. “All the sudden, they got momentum, they’re going pretty well, and now, bang, we get a power play goal against a team that’s been killing penalties great all year.”

BU did most everything great last night, and though BC might have gotten a few more bounces than the Terriers, BU still played well enough to win.

Of course, the Terriers almost always win the Beanpot. But with last night’s victory giving BU the program’s longest winning streak since the 1977-78 season, these Terriers are looking at the Beanpot as merely the first step to a triple crown that defines the very best BU teams.

The Beanpot. The Hockey East title. The national championship.

“That was one of the first things I was thinking about when people were asking me questions,” Curry said. “We’re gonna enjoy this, but we have some big things in store for this year, I hope.”