There is a winter storm coming to New England this weekend, but there’s also some pretty important college hockey.
The home-and-home series between UMass and Northeastern highlights the weekend slate and could go a long way to determining the shape of Hockey East race entering the final stretch of the season. Those two teams are separated by a point at the top of the standings and open the weekend with a Friday night game in Amherst that will be televised on NESN.
In addition, UMass Lowell hosts Vermont in a pair of weekend games, while New Hampshire hits the road twice and Boston College and Boston University both host single league contests over the next four days.
In the ECAC, Harvard and Dartmouth head to Central New York, while the North Country duo of Clarkson and St. Lawrence visit Brown and Yale while trending in opposite directions. Atlantic Hockey action includes home series for Bentley and Sacred Heart, while first-place American International completes its pair with Holy Cross.
HOCKEY EAST
Northeastern (14-4-1, 8-2-1) vs. Massachusetts (17-3, 9-1)
Friday, 7 p.m. at Mullins Center, Amherst, Mass.
What to watch for: The top two teams in Hockey East play their only two meetings of the season during this home-and-home series. Northeastern looks to make the small jump to the top of the standings while taking on the nation’s No. 1 team for the first time since 2015; the teams enter this weekend separated by a single point in the league race, 18-17. The Minutemen and Huskies boast the top offenses (3.85, 3.58) and defenses in Hockey East (1.90, 2.00) in the league, as well as two top goaltenders in sophomores Matt Murray and Cayden Primeau.
Fun fact: Northeastern’s 14-4-1 record marks the best 19-game start in program history. Entering Friday, the Huskies have also won six straight games away from home.
Vermont (8-11-1, 1-8-1) at UMass Lowell (11-8-1, 5-4-1)
Friday, 7:15 p.m./Saturday, 7 p.m. at Tsongas Center, Lowell, Mass.
What to watch for: Last weekend’s 3-0, 4-1 sweep at Colgate gave the River Hawks their first three-game winning streak of the season after being denied twice before. Lowell now plays its first Hockey East home game in over a month against a Catamount club that has lost three straight after a four-game losing skid in non-league play. Beating Vermont junior Stefanos Lekkas has been a challenge all season, but he allowed eight goals in a two-game span for the first time in last weekend’s 1-4, 1-5 sweep at UMass.
Fun fact: East Lyme, Conn., native Ryan Dmowski has scored five goals this season, four of which tied the game or gave UMass Lowell the lead.
New Hampshire (7-8-6, 3-5-3) at Merrimack (7-15-1, 4-9)/Maine (8-11-2, 4-5-2)
Friday, 7:30 p.m. at J. Thom Lawler Rink, North Andover, Mass.
Monday, 2 p.m. at Alfond Arena, Orono, Maine
What to watch for: These teams are playing strong hockey as of late, so the Wildcats could see a bit of a challenge to their recent 5-1-1 run over which junior Liam Blackburn and freshman Angus Crookshank are tied for the Hockey East lead with 11 points each. Merrimack has won three straight after a four-point week from freshman Chase Gresock, while Maine improved to 3-2 in its last five with Wednesday’s 7-2 win at Boston College. Seven different Black Bears found the back of the net in Chestnut Hill.
Fun fact: UNH and Merrimack have played in a combined 17 one-goal games this season. Thirteen of UNH’s 21 games this season have either been decided by one goal or tied.
Providence (13-6-4, 6-4-1) at Boston College (7-11-2, 7-3-2)
Saturday, 4 p.m. at Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, Mass.
What to watch for: The Eagles will look to bounce back from allowing seven goals for the third time this season against a Providence team that exploded in the first period of its Tuesday game against crosstown foe Brown to snap a three-game winless streak. One of those three games without a win was last Friday’s 4-2 contest in Chestnut Hill. For BC, Wednesday’s loss to Maine marked junior goaltender Ryan Edquist’s first start since November and ended with the lopsided result for the team’s second straight loss after a nine-game unbeaten Hockey East run.
Fun fact: Providence has scored 3.75 goals per game on the road this year, tying Bowling Green for the national lead in that category.
Merrimack at Boston University (8-8-3, 7-5-2)
Monday, 4 p.m. at Agganis Arena, Boston
What to watch for: The Terriers host ECAC foe Quinnipiac on Saturday before resuming league play on Martin Luther King Jr. Day against Merrimack after the Warriors host New Hampshire in a clash of Hockey East teams separated by only one point. BU is 4-0-1 in its last five games and freshman Joel Farabee has six points in that span, but the Scarlet and White will be looking to avenge a 4-0 loss to Merrimack in the Oct. 20 league opener in North Andover.
Fun fact: Merrimack juniors have accounted for 64 of the team’s 127 points. Five of the team’s top seven scorers are third-year collegians.
ECAC HOCKEY
Harvard (7-5-3, 4-4-2)/Dartmouth (6-8-2, 5-3-1) at Cornell (9-5-1, 5-2-1)/Colgate (6-12-2, 3-3-2)
Friday/Saturday, 7 p.m. at Lynah Rink, Ithaca, N.Y.
Friday/Saturday, 7 p.m. at Class of 1965 Arena, Hamilton, N.Y.
What to watch for: The Crimson and Big Red meet for the third time in a season for the first time ever to kick off this New York weekend, then Harvard ventures over to the Raiders hoping for similar results as a 6-1 win in November. Cornell is 4-0-1 in its last five after sweeping upstart Arizona State. The weekend will also be an opportunity for the two New England clubs to continue building momentum as Dartmouth thrashed Princeton for Adrian Clark’s second shutout of the season, 5-0, on the same night as Michael Lackey’s career-high 46 saves in a 2-1 win at Quinnipiac.
Fun fact: Dartmouth freshman Drew O’Connor scored a power-play goal and assisted on senior Carl Hesler’s (Boxborough, Mass.) during the Princeton win, posting his fourth multi-point game of the season.
Clarkson (14-6, 5-3)/St. Lawrence (3-16-1, 1-6-1) at Yale (8-5-3, 6-2-1)/Brown (5-8-3, 2-4-3)
Friday/Saturday, 7 p.m. at Ingalls Rink, New Haven, Conn.
Friday/Saturday, 7 p.m. at Meehan Auditorium, Providence, R.I.
What to watch for: Yale hasn’t seen ECAC action in its last five games and now turns its attention to making up a two-point difference on rival Quinnipiac with three games in hand entering the weekend. The Bulldogs, 1-2-1 in their last four games, beat both North Country foes last month and first welcomes a Clarkson team that has won six in a row. Brown had won three straight before losing the Mayor’s Cup to Providence, though freshman Tristan Crozier scored his first goal since Nov. 10 and fourth of the season.
Fun fact: Fifteen different Yale skaters logged points during the five-game stretch of non-conference play. Junior Robbie DeMontis scored three goals.
ATLANTIC HOCKEY
RIT (10-8-2, 8-6-2) at Bentley (7-11-2, 6-7-1)
Friday/Saturday, 7:05 p.m. at Bentley Arena, Waltham, Mass.
What to watch for: The Tigers are in Massachusetts for the second straight weekend, returning after scoring nine goals in a sweep of first-place American International to run their unbeaten streak to five games. RIT was not the only Atlantic team to sweep its last season as the Falcons did so at Robert Morris behind a two-goal, two-assist effort from second-year leading scorer Luke Santerno and .938 goaltending from junior Aidan Pelino.
Fun fact: Bentley has swept each of its last three series against the Tigers in Rochester but been swept in the last two weekends at home. This weekend marks their only meetings for the second straight season.
American International (11-11-1, 11-7-1) at Holy Cross (4-13-3, 4-9-2)
Saturday, 7:05 p.m. at Hart Center, Worcester, Mass.
What to watch for: Two of New England’s Atlantic Hockey teams complete a home-and-home series in Worcester after the Yellow Jackets extended their first-place advantage to three points with Thursday’s 2-0 shutout in their second game in three days. AIC scored the only goals it needed in the first period and junior Zackarias Skog made 26 saves for his third shutout of the season, breaking the Crusaders’ stretch of four straight games with at least three goals.
Fun fact: AIC would match its second-highest win total for a single Division 1 season if it jumps above the overall .500 mark on Saturday.
Air Force (11-8-3, 9-5-2) at Sacred Heart (5-12-2, 5-8-1)
Saturday, 2:05 p.m. at Webster Bank Arena, Bridgeport, Conn.
Sunday, 4:05 p.m. at Ingalls Rink, New Haven, Conn.
What to watch for: The Falcons will be hungry for a win after consecutive 2-2 ties with rival Army West Point last weekend as it takes on a Pioneer crew looking to break a four-game losing streak that has come since handing RIT a sweep on the road last month. For SHU, Brooks School product Vito Bavaro is one of three players with two goals and two assists each over the last four games, including a 2-1 loss to AIC earlier in the week.
Fun fact: Sacred Heart gained five points in four meetings with the Falcons last season, winning a pair of 2-1 games to end the season series. Current sophomore Matt Tugnutt scored in overtime to decide the final contest.
NON-CONFERENCE
Quinnipiac (16-5-1) at Boston University
Saturday, 5 p.m. at Agganis Arena, Boston
What to watch for: The Bobcats hit the road for their first of two final non-conference games after going 1-2-1 over a four-game ECAC stretch that included last Saturday’s 2-1 loss to Harvard. The stretch begins in Boston before Holy Cross visits Hamden for a Tuesday affair. Meeting in this rematch of BU’s overtime win on Oct. 8, 2017 will be two of New England’s top offensive defensemen in the Terriers’ Dante Fabbro and Quinnipiac’s Chase Priskie, the former who leads his team in scoring with 17 points and four in the last two games.
Fun fact: BU transfer Brandon Fortunato has not scored a goal since Nov. 2 at Harvard, but the senior defenseman has logged five assists in his last four games and is tied for second among all ECAC players with 18 helpers on the season.
