CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Boston College senior right winger Brian Gionta couldn’t decide which stick blade to use before Saturday night’s 7-2 Hockey East win over the University of Maine. So he sought help.

“I kept going back and forth between two blades so I let [senior right wing] Mike Lephart pick one for me,” said Gionta.

Lephart made the right decision.

Gionta set a Hockey East record by scoring five first-period goals as he converted every shot he attempted.

“I don’t think I’ve scored five goals in a game since squirts [10-11 year-olds],” said Gionta. “But it takes a whole team effort to make this possible.

“This is a huge thrill but a better one would be to win a national championship this year,” added Gionta, a two-time finalist for the Hobey Baker Award, given to college hockey’s best player.

Gionta now has 13 goals and six assists in 16 games against the Black Bears.

“That has to be the best performance I’ve ever seen. He just carried us on his shoulders,” said BC senior defenseman Bobby Allen.

Maine junior goalie Matt Yeats, who was victimized for all five goals and was replaced by Mike Morrison for the second time in the game at the outset of the second period, tipped his hat to Gionta.

“He was awesome. He’s a great goal scorer. He made me look silly,” said Yeats.

League leader BC is now 19-6-1 overall, 12-3-1 in league play and seven points ahead of New Hampshire, which was swept by Boston University over the weekend.

Fifth-place Maine fell to 10-9-6 and 5-6-4 and is just three points ahead of ninth-place Merrimack.

Rochester, N.Y., native Gionta, who tied David Emma’s all-time BC goal-scoring mark of 112, opened the scoring at the 7:57 mark of the first period.

Freshman linemates Ben Eaves and Tony Voce set up the goal as Voce gathered in a loose puck in the high slot and knocked it to Eaves, whose quick cross-ice pass found Gionta staring at an empty net from 12 feet out.

His next goal came 2:24 later and was a shorthanded beauty.

Chuck Kobasew flipped the puck down the ice and Gionta was the first one on it as Maine freshman defenseman Francis Nault skated all the way across the ice in a desperate attempt to disrupt him.

But he couldn’t get there on time and Gionta singed the twine with a rising wrist shot to the glove [short] side from the bottom of the right circle.

Maine coach Shawn Walsh replaced Yeats with Morrison for one minute before re-inserting Yeats. Gionta’s shorthander came on BC’s fourth shot of the period to Maine’s nine.

Gionta’s next two goals came on the power play.

He first jumped on the rebound of his own tip-in attempt and slid the puck past Yeats from the low slot for the first one. He then was fed a nifty little pass by Ales Dolinar before he sliced from left to right and deposited the puck past the helpless Yeats.

He capped the remarkable period with a 14-foot snap shot from the left circle off a two-on-one with 1.1 seconds left.

“I had been playing well but everything fell apart tonight,” said Yeats. “I feel like I let the team down.”

Walsh called Yeats’ performance “terrible. He wasn’t ready to play. But it’s his first poor game in a while.”

Maine senior defenseman and co-captain A.J. Begg said, “We didn’t help our goalies out at all. This was frustrating and embarrassing.”

Kobasew (power play) and Krys Kolanos (4-on-4) made it 7-0 at the expense of Morrison in the second period before the Bears received consolation goals on one-timers from Nault and Michael Schutte (power play).

Walsh praised Gionta. “He’s a credit to college hockey. He has been a warrior for four years.

“I’m just glad we only face him one more time, unless we finish eighth [and play BC in a best-of-three quarterfinal],” Walsh said.

Scott Clemmensen made 28 saves for BC. Maine outshot the Eagles 30-25 while being held to two goals or less for the 15th time.

Eagles 7, Black Bears 2

Maine (10-9-6) 0 1 1 ? 2

Boston College (19-6-1) 5 2 0 ? 7

First period ? 1. BC, Gionta 18 (Eaves, Voce), 7:57; 2. BC, Gionta 19 (Kobasew), 10:21 (sh); 3. BC, Gionta 20 (Orpik, Scuderi), 14:37 (pp); 4. BC, Gionta 21 (Dolinar, Lephart), 17:23 (pp); 5. BC. Gionta 22 (Giuliano), 19:58. Penalties: BC, Allen, holding, 4:02; BC, Orpik, delay of game, 9:25; Maine, Begg, roughing, 14:29; Maine, Nault, holding, 16:55; BC, Dziama, roughing, 17:47.

Second period ? 6. BC, Kobasew 15 (Kolanos, Giuliano), 1:43 (pp); 7. BC, Kolanos (Voce), 10:27; 8. Maine, Nault 2 (Heisten, Reimann), 13:56. Penalties: Maine, Donovan, slashing, :44; Maine, Loya, roughing, 5:32; BC, Dziama, high sticking, 7:50; Maine, Reimann, hooking, 9:06; BC, Gionta, hooking, 9:54; BC, Orpik, hitting from behind, 14:50; Maine, Heisten, slashing, 18:55; BC, Kobasew, slashing, 18:55.

Third period ? 9. Maine, Schutte 4 (Kariya, Trattnig), 11:29 (pp). Penalties: BC, Kolanos, interference, 1:08; BC, Lephart, interference, 9:56; Maine, Begg, interference, 15:07; BC, Forrest, slashing, 16:50; Maine, Heisten, slashing, 18:18; BC, Scuderi, slashing, 18:18; BC, Peterson, roughing, 19:19.

Shots on goal: Maine 13-12-5?30; BC 11-10-4?25

Goaltenders: Maine, Yeats (11 shots-6 saves); Morrison (14-12, 10:21-11:21 of 1st, 0:00 of 2nd); BC, Clemmensen, 30-28)

Power-play Opportunities: Maine 1-10; BC 3-6

High-percentage scoring chances: Maine 6-8-2?16; BC 7-9-2?18

Attendance: 7,770 (sellout)