The final weekend before Thanksgiving will offer New England hockey fans three Hockey East series and three standalone league games, one ECAC Hockey series, and three sets in Atlantic Hockey.
Providence looks to return to its winning ways in a home-and-home pair with Merrimack, while UConn takes on UMass Lowell twice after earning a win during the week at XL Center in its final games before joining Boston University, Yale, and Union at next weekend’s Friendship Four in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The Terriers are at home for two with Maine this week, while Northeastern visits Vermont for a Friday affair and New Hampshire has two road games.
Quinnipiac is the lone New England club in ECAC action as Sacred Heart, Bentley, and AIC all host Atlantic Hockey weekends. Finally, non-conference play brings Arizona State to Harvard for an intriguing series, while UMass visits Holy Cross to kick off the weekend.
HOCKEY EAST
UMass Lowell (4-5-1, 1-3-1) vs. Connecticut (5-4-1, 2-3-1)
Friday, 7:05 p.m. in Hartford, Conn.
Saturday, 5 p.m. in Lowell, Mass.
What to watch for: It’s a short week for the Huskies between a short turnaround during this series and Tuesday’s 3-1 win over Brown. The midweek win in non-conference play featured positives for the Huskies as freshman Jonny Evans scored two goals and Tomas Vomacka earned his second win as the starter in goal. The young River Hawks have struggled for consistency, so perhaps facing a team in a similar position can level the playing field and lead them to back-to-back wins against a team they swept last season.
Fun fact: These two teams have the largest freshmen classes in Hockey East. Rookies have scored eight goals for Lowell and seven for UConn.
Providence (5-3-1, 2-2-0) vs. Merrimack (4-7, 2-3)
Friday, 7 p.m. in North Andover, Mass.
Saturday, 7 p.m. in Providence, R.I.
What to watch for: Merrimack erased the memory of its lopsided Friday night at Bemidji State with a 1-0 win. Now, Providence will look to do the same after dropping a pair of one-goal decisions to UMass last week. Goals have been hard to come by against these clubs as Merrimack’s Craig Pantano (Bridgewater, Mass.) and PC’s Hayden Hawkey have three shutouts apiece, but the Warrior offense has managed just two goals per game.
Fun fact: Providence has had 13 different players score its 28 goals, while 17 have recorded points. Brentwood, N.H., native defenseman Spenser Young has a team-leading four goals.
Maine (3-4-1, 1-2-1) at Boston University (2-4-1, 2-2-1)
Friday, 7:30 p.m./Saturday, 7 p.m. at Agganis Arena
What to watch for: These are two of the three Hockey East clubs that have surrendered three or more goals per game, but the Terriers are 2-0-1 in their last three league games and look to extend the unbeaten run before traveling to Belfast. BU has scored 12 of its 18 goals in that span, but just five scorers have combined for 10 of them. While junior defenseman Dante Fabbro leads BU with six points in three games, Chase Pearson has three goals over Maine’s first four league contests.
Fun fact: BU has three shorthanded goals in its last three games and four in total this season after registering that many all of last year.
Northeastern (6-3-1, 3-1-1) at Vermont (3-5, 1-4)
Friday, 7:05 p.m. in Burlington, Vt.
What to watch for: Northeastern makes the long trip to Vermont for a single game after posting back-to-back comebacks in the third period or beyond last weekend. The Catamounts haven’t scored more than three goals in any of their last seven games of eight this season, but junior Stefanos Lekkas is capable of slowing down any offense — even one that averages 3.5 goals per game — as he ranks ninth in the country with a .935 save percentage.
Fun fact: Vermont is the second-least penalized team in the nation, averaging seven minutes per game, and tops Hockey East with a 53.5 percent rate on faceoffs.
New Hampshire (1-5-2, 1-2-1) at Boston College (3-5, 3-1)/Massachusetts (8-1, 5-0)
Friday, 7 p.m. at Conte Forum
Sunday, 2 p.m. in Amherst, Mass.
What to watch for: The Wildcats are split in their Hockey East action and have tough challenges this weekend, traveling to teams on three- and five-game winning streaks. UNH has gone 1-1-1 in one-goal league games against Vermont, UMass Lowell and Boston University, so it will hope to keep the score close against two teams that haven’t scored fewer than three goals at any point during their respective streaks. In fact, UNH’s Nov. 3 loss to UMass is its only game that was not a tie or decided by a goal.
Fun fact: Senior and former Malden Catholic star Ara Nazarian (Boxford, Mass.) returns to his home state with goals in back-to-back and three of the last five games.
ECAC
Quinnipiac (7-2, 2-2) at Cornell (4-2, 2-0)/Colgate (2-6-1, 0-1-1)
Friday, 7 p.m. in Ithaca, N.Y.
Saturday, 7 p.m. in Hamilton, N.Y.
What to watch for: The Bobcats have had to settle for back-to-back ECAC splits and now face two teams trending in opposite directions on their first of consecutive road trips. Cornell has won four straight, while Colgate enters the weekend on a seven-game winless streak. Senior Chase Priskie has scored in seven of nine games this season, and more goals from the back should help the Bobcats keep pace with a Big Red club that allows fewer than 22 shots per game. Quinnipiac ranks sixth nationally in that same category.
Fun fact: Quinnipiac defensemen lead the nation with 11 goals, including six on the power play, and 39 points.
ATLANTIC HOCKEY
Air Force (6-4, 6-2) at American International (3-7-1, 3-4-1)
Friday, 2:05 p.m./Saturday, 1:05 p.m. in Springfield, Mass.
What to watch for: The defending Atlantic Hockey champions pay a visit to MassMutual Center after sweeping Bentley to run their winning streak to five games. Air Force has scored four goals in four consecutive games and allowed two or fewer in all five, so the Yellow Jackets will face a stiff test as they look for just their second win in a month on Friday. AIC scored just three times against RIT last weekend, but junior Hugo Reinhardt factored into two of them.
Fun fact: AIC junior Blake Christensen leads Atlantic Hockey with four power-play goals.
Army West Point (5-5-1, 4-3-1) at Bentley (2-6-1, 2-4-1)
Friday, 7:05 p.m./Saturday, 5:05 p.m. in Waltham, Mass.
What to watch for: The Falcons return home after dropping their last two contests at Air Force and now must contend with an Army team that has clicked at 28.3 percent on the power play through 11 games. Sophomore Luke Santerno, who has points in six of his last eight games, will need to help spark an offense that just three times last weekend, while junior Aidan Pelino and the Bentley defense need to come up big as the Black Knights average 7.33 more shots per game than their opponents.
Fun fact: This series opens on Friday, which marks nine months ago to the day after the first-ever game at Bentley Arena was played between the two teams.
Mercyhurst (3-5-2, 1-2-1) at Sacred Heart (2-4-1, 2-2)
Friday/Saturday, 7:05 p.m. in Bridgeport, Conn.
What to watch for: Can home cooking propel the Pioneers to a winning weekend after back-to-back splits in league play? Mercyhurst visits New England for the first time this season with hopes of repeating its March postseason sweep against SHU in Erie, Pa. The Lakers earned a 4-1, non-conference win last Saturday at St. Lawrence behind UMass Lowell transfer goalie Garrett Metcalf, who made 18 stops for his first win with the team.
Fun fact: The Pioneers have averaged just two goals per game through their first seven, but no team has allowed fewer shots on goal (216).
NON-CONFERENCE
Arizona State (9-3) at Harvard (1-2-2, 1-2-2 ECAC)
Friday/Saturday, 7 p.m. at Bright-Landry Hockey Center
What to watch for: ECAC play has been the norm out of the gate, but the Crimson will look to build off Saturday’s 5-2 win at Brown in this set. Included is quite the clash of individual stars as ASU’s Johnny Walker brings his nation-leading 11 goals and 17 points up against Harvard defenseman Adam Fox, whose 2.40 points per game tie for tops in college hockey and quarterback a potent power play.
Fun fact: Crimson defensemen average five points per game, and three of the team’s five scorers play on the blue line in Fox, sophomore Reilly Walsh (Andover, N.H.), and freshman Jack Rathbone (West Roxbury, Mass.).
Massachusetts (8-1, 5-0 HE) at Holy Cross (1-6-1,1-3-1 AHC)
Friday, 7 p.m. in Worcester, Mass.
What to watch for: Before UMass takes on a league challenge in Amherst, they’ll be an hour east in Worcester serving as the Crusaders’ second straight top-5 opponent. Three different Holy Cross skaters, including freshman Matt Barry have three goals, but defense has been the struggle as the Crusaders’ 4.38 goals allowed per game put them ahead of only Omaha at the bottom of the country.
Fun fact: The Minutemen have won 13 of the 17 games played in this all-time series, but Friday marks the first meeting since 2011.
