The final stops on the road to the Frozen Four in Buffalo, N.Y., come this weekend as six New England programs compete across all four NCAA tournament regions in Manchester, N.H.; Providence, R.I.; Allentown, Pa.; and Fargo, N.D.
Both New England-based brackets feature a pair of teams from the region, though Friday’s opening game of the entire tournament sees two of them squaring off in Manchester. In the Granite State, it will be No. 2 overall seed and Hockey East regular-season champion UMass facing Harvard. Providence makes the short trip downtown to Dunkin’ Donuts Center with the potential for a second-round clash with league rival Northeastern.
While four teams were placed into brackets close to home, the remaining two will have to venture outside of the region for their tournament games.
Quinnipiac meets Arizona State at the Midwest Region in Allentown, Pa., in which defending national champion Minnesota Duluth is the top seed. The Bobcats were not in the NCAA tournament during either of the last two years. Atlantic Hockey champion American International will cap Friday night’s West Regional doubleheader against No. 1 St. Cloud State in Fargo, N.D.
Here is NEHJ’s capsule look at the NCAA games involving New England teams:
NORTHEAST REGIONAL
SNHU Arena — Manchester, N.H.
No. 1 Massachusetts (28-9) vs. No. 4 Harvard (19-10-3)
Friday, 3 p.m. (TV: ESPN2)
What to watch for: The nation’s top two power-play units and two of the three New England defensemen among the Hobey Baker Award finalists ― UMass sophomore Cale Makar (15-31-46) and Harvard junior Adam Fox (9-39-46) ― will face off in an intriguing in-region game to open the entire tournament. Both teams’ goaltending situations were in question this week as Harvard senior Michael Lackey will start after returning from an injury absence in last Friday’s ECAC semifinal and freshman Fille Lindberg would start in a third straight game for the first time in his career should he go for UMass. The Crimson is making its fourth NCAA appearance in five years after a fifth straight trip to the ECAC semis and, for the first time since 2011, takes on a UMass team that hasn’t been to the tournament since 2007.
Fun fact: Fox had one goal and three assists during Harvard’s run to the Frozen Four two seasons ago, while current senior Lewis Zerter-Gossage and junior defenseman John Marino (North Easton, Mass.) both had points over those three games.
No. 2 Clarkson (26-10-2) vs. No. 3 Notre Dame (22-13-3)
Friday, 6:30 p.m. (TV: ESPNU)
Regional Championship
Saturday, 6:30 p.m. (TV: ESPNU)
EAST REGIONAL
Dunkin’ Donuts Center — Providence, R.I.
No. 4 Providence (22-11-6) vs. No. 1 Minnesota State (32-7-2)
Saturday, 1 p.m. (TV: ESPNews)
What to watch for: Expect a low-scoring affair to open Saturday’s action in Providence as the Mavericks enter with the top scoring defense in the country (1.71 goals allowed per game) and will oppose senior Hayden Hawkey and the No. 5 back end (1.97) of the Friars. Hawkey is the lone Hockey East goaltender with a sub-2.00 goals against average but will face the WCHA’s top statistical netminder in Maverick freshman Dryden McKay (1.66, .931). Head coach Nate Leaman’s club is making its sixth straight NCAA appearance with this being the third to commence in downtown Providence, dating back to the national title-winning 2015 season. All-Hockey East First Team forward Josh Wilkins (16-24-40) is one of eight 20-point scorers for a Friar team that is only 1-3-1 against WCHA opponents under Leaman.
Fun fact: Providence has nine NHL draft picks on its roster, the most of any of the 16 teams that qualified for the NCAA tournament.
No. 2 Northeastern (27-10-1) vs. No. 3 Cornell (20-10-4)
Saturday, 4:30 p.m. (TV: ESPNews)
What to watch for: The Huskies are in their second straight NCAA tournament and third in the last four years after sophomore Cayden Primeau had a .966 save percentage and senior Brandon Hawkins had four points last weekend en route to Hockey East playoff wins over Boston University and Boston College last weekend at TD Garden. Jim Madigan is the first coach in Northeastern program history to take three teams to NCAA tournaments as the Huskies won their second league title in four years and advanced to 12-1 in their last 13 games. Cornell lost the ECAC title to Clarkson in overtime but played for its second in three years. Big Red sophomore goaltender Matthew Galajda is doubtful for Saturday after being injured last weekend, though All-Ivy classmate Austin McGrath would be ready if needed.
Fun fact: Northeastern has scored 63 of its 117 away from Matthews Arena, helping them to the nation’s second-best road and neutral record this season at 15-5.
Regional Championship
Sunday, 4 p.m. (TV: ESPN2)
MIDWEST REGIONAL
PPL Center — Allentown, Pa.
No. 1 Minnesota Duluth (25-11-2) vs. No. 4 Bowling Green (25-10-5)
Saturday, 4 p.m. (TV: ESPNU)
No. 2 Quinnipiac (25-9-2) vs. No. 3 Arizona State (21-12-1)
Saturday, 7:30 p.m. (TV: ESPN3)
What to watch for: The Bobcats return to NCAAs after a two-year absence and will take on the newest program in college hockey in first-time tourney participant Arizona State, which North Andover, Mass., native Joey Daccord backstops. The game pits two of the nation’s top goaltenders against one another as Daccord has seven shutouts to share the nation lead with Providence’s Hawkey and Quinnipiac junior Andrew Shortridge is the lone pacesetter in both goals against (1.51) and save percentage (.941). Bobcat senior and Hobey Baker finalist Chase Priskie leads the top defensive scorers in the country, accounting for 17 of the group’s 38 goals and 39 of 147 points. Sophomore leading scorer Odeen Tufto has 42 points, though he was scoreless in four of their last five games, including both playoffs with Brown two weeks ago.
Fun fact: Quinnipiac had not lost back-to-back games all season before being swept in the ECAC quarterfinals, while the losses also brought a 20-year streak of conference postseason series victories to an end.
Regional Championship
Saturday, 6:30 p.m. (TV: ESPNU)
WEST REGIONAL
Scheels Arena — Fargo, N.D.
No. 2 Denver (22-11-5) vs. No. 3 Ohio State (20-10-5)
Friday, 4 p.m. (TV: ESPNU)
No. 4 American International (22-16-1) vs. No. 1 St. Cloud State (30-5-3)
Friday, 7:30 p.m. (TV: ESPN3)
What to watch for: All six of AIC’s non-conference games this season came against NCAA teams (Providence, UMass, Quinnipiac, and Arizona State), but Friday’s nightcap in Fargo will present the first-time Atlantic Hockey champions with their toughest test of the season in the nation’s top-ranked team and one that is first nationally with a plus-1.89 goal margin. AHC Coach of the Year Eric Lang’s club won a pair of 3-2 games in overtime against Robert Morris and Niagara last weekend to clinch its first-ever championship and has the entire tournament’s second-leading scorer among forwards in junior Blake Christensen (16-30-46) guiding an offense that will have to work hard to generate opportunities as St. Cloud allows only 24.68 shots per game and has a nation-leading .829 win percentage.
Fun fact: AIC graduate forward Ryan Papa played in 74 games at St. Cloud State to begin his career, though he played in only one game last season due to injury. In addition, last year’s Yellow Jacket captain Bryant Christian hails from Moorhead, Minn., which is on the immediate other side of the border from Fargo.
Regional Championship
Saturday, 9 p.m. (TV: ESPNU)
