With the Beanpot behind the four Boston-based clubs, it’s almost all conference play for the remainder of the regular season in all of Hockey East, ECAC Hockey, and Atlantic Hockey. The races in all three leagues remain tight, but this weekend’s action could help figure some things out.
In Hockey East, the top four teams will be facing off in series as first-place Massachusetts begins a home-and-home series with Boston College in Amherst and Providence begins a set with UMass Lowell on Friday night. Boston University and UConn meet in a home-and-home of their own, while Northeastern looks to move on from its second straight ‘Pot title when hosting Vermont and Merrimack has a pair of home games against Maine.
ECAC action sees Brown and Yale hosting a pair of New York foes, Harvard and Dartmouth heading to the North Country, and Quinnipiac making the quick trip to the Capital District. The Bobcats sit in second place but there is only a five-point gap from there to seventh place.
The lone non-conference series remaining for any New England club this season comes this weekend as American International brings its Atlantic Hockey-leading record to Arizona State for two games. The Yellow Jackets’ rivals will be busy in league play as Bentley finishes a series at Niagara, Sacred Heart hosts RIT for a pair, and Holy Cross hosts Robert Morris.
HOCKEY EAST
Boston College (10-14-3, 9-5-3) vs. Massachusetts (21-6, 13-4)
Friday, 7 p.m. at Mullins Center, Amherst, Mass.
Saturday, 8 p.m. at Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, Mass.
What to watch for: BC has only one more home game following Saturday and its season-ending Hockey East stretch isn’t easy, featuring visits to Maine, Northeastern, and Providence. The Eagles sit three points behind second-place UMass Lowell entering this series against the league’s top club to which they haven’t lost in more than seven years. Perhaps they’re catching UMass at the right time? The Minutemen still have a potent offense at 3.78 goals per game but are 3-3 in their last six games. Something’s got to give.
Fun fact: BC junior David Cotton has a team-leading eight multi-point games this season after posting a goal and an assist against Northeastern in the Beanpot last Monday.
Providence (16-9-5, 9-7-2) vs. UMass Lowell (17-8-2, 11-4-2)
Friday, 7:15 p.m. at Tsongas Center, Lowell, Mass.
Saturday, 7 p.m. at Schneider Arena, Providence, R.I.
What to watch for: The River Hawks can separate even further from the Hockey East pack, including the fourth-place Friars, with a strong showing in following up last weekend’s consecutive shutouts against BC and UMass. Senior Christoffer Hernberg and junior Tyler Wall look to continue making it tough on a Providence club that has only scored once in each of its last four games, though junior Brandon Duhaime has points on three of those goals.
Fun fact: UMass Lowell junior Nick Marin scored his first goal in just over a year in last Friday’s win over BC. The Shrewsbury, Mass., native had not lit the lamp since Feb. 6, 2018 at American International.
Vermont (12-14-2, 5-11-2) at Northeastern (17-9-1, 9-7-1)
Friday/Saturday, 7 p.m. at Matthews Arena, Boston
What to watch for: Northeastern’s only wins over the last six games came en route to its second consecutive Beanpot title, but the Huskies will have to bring their focus back to Hockey East play quickly as a pesky Vermont team comes to town with a 4-1-1 record in its most recent six-game span. Catamount junior Stefanos Lekkas has not had much trouble shutting down opposing offenses with a .958 save percentage on three 30-save efforts in that time.
Fun fact: Since 2014-15, Northeastern is 19-7-1 in Hockey East games played during the month of February.
Boston University (10-14-3, 8-7-2) vs. Connecticut (9-17-2, 4-12-2)
Friday, 7 p.m. at XL Center, Hartford, Conn.
Saturday, 7 p.m. at Agganis Arena, Boston
What to watch for: The Terriers and Huskies play a home-and-home series in their first meeting since November at the Friendship Four in Belfast, Northern Ireland. BU has lost five straight games for its longest skid in five years and remained without senior Bobo Carpenter (North Reading, Mass.) due to injury. UConn has won back-to-back Hockey East games to move into 10th in the standings, though rising two spots and into postseason contention with six games left is a real tough ask.
Fun fact: BU senior Ryan Cloonan (East Longmeadow, Mass.) has scored two of his six career goals this season and has points in seven of his last 11 games.
Maine (11-14-3, 7-8-3) at Merrimack (7-20-1, 4-14)
Friday/Saturday, 7 p.m. at Lawler Rink, North Andover, Mass.
What to watch for: Merrimack sits in the Hockey East cellar but returning home for the first time since Jan. 18 has to be welcomed as it looks to at least finish the season strong and put the memory of being outscored by a 20-6 count over its last five games. Maine holds down eighth in the standings after defeating UMass and Providence within its last five games, and it’s no surprise to see juniors Mitchell Fossier and Chase Pearson each with three goals in that time.
Fun fact: Five of Merrimack’s top seven scorers this season remain juniors, though freshman Chase Gresock has scored 10 of his 19 points in the last seven games.
ECAC HOCKEY
Cornell (15-6-2, 11-3-2)/Colgate (8-18-2, 5-9-2) at Brown (10-10-3, 7-6-3)/Yale (11-9-3, 9-6-1)
Friday/Saturday, 7 p.m. at Meehan Auditorium, Providence, R.I.
Friday/Saturday, 7 p.m. at Ingalls Rink, New Haven, Conn.
What to watch for: Yale and Brown, who are two points apart in the middle of the ECAC standings, spend this weekend at home taking on teams in opposite places. Cornell is atop the league, while Colgate finds itself seven points behind the fifth-place Bulldogs. The Bears went 4-1 in five straight games on the road with junior Brent Beaudoin (Londonderry, N.H.) logging points in four of them. Yale split with the two clubs in November and looks to jump back up the ladder after losing twice last weekend.
Fun fact: Brown has won eight of its last 11 games after a 1-6-1 start to the season.
Harvard (13-7-3, 9-5-2)/Dartmouth (8-12-3, 7-7-2) at St. Lawrence (4-23-1, 2-13-1)/Clarkson (19-9, 10-6)
Friday/Saturday, 7 p.m. at Appleton Arena, Canton, N.Y.
Friday/Saturday, 7 p.m. at Cheel Arena, Potsdam, N.Y.
What to watch for: The Crimson swept these two teams during a home series a few weeks ago and has the upper hand in both going to the road with a 3-1 mark since, while the Big Green took care of business against SLU but since gone 0-2-1. For Harvard, the Clarkson series will be most crucial as it is 4-1-1 in its last six games of that series and the two sides are tied for third in the ECAC standings.
Fun fact: Dartmouth junior Adrian Clark has started 13 straight games in goal, four of the last five of which have been against ranked foes.
Quinnipiac (21-6-1, 10-5-1) at Union (14-9-5, 7-8-1)/Rensselaer (8-17-3, 5-9-2)
Friday, 7 p.m. at Messa Rink, Schenectady, N.Y.
Saturday, 7 p.m. at Houston Field House, Troy, N.Y.
What to watch for: Quinnipiac looks to bounce back from a loss for the first time since Jan. 12 against Harvard after falling to another regional rival in Brown last Saturday. It will have to do so on the road in New York’s Capital District as Rand Pecknold coaches in his 900th game on Friday. Union has split four ECAC series in a row after losing to the Crimson and beating Dartmouth last weekend, but RPI carries a four-game unbeaten streak (1-0-3) into the series.
Fun fact: Bobcat sophomore Odeen Tufto has scored points in four straight games since the beginning of February after being held without one in three straight games.
ATLANTIC HOCKEY
Bentley (15-11-3, 14-7-2) at Niagara (10-17-3, 9-12-3)
Friday, 7:05 p.m. at Dwyer Arena, Niagara Univ., N.Y.
What to watch for: The Falcons extended their nation-long unbeaten streak to 12 games and program-record winning streak to eight with a 3-1 triumph in this series opener on Thursday. Junior Aidan Pelino came up with a 31-save effort in the goal, while Jonathan Desbiens scored for the ninth consecutive game. Bentley can move within three points of first place and idle American International if it caps a third straight sweep in league play.
Fun fact: Bentley had not allowed more than three goals in any game during its unbeaten streak until last Saturday’s 6-4 win over Canisius.
RIT (13-12-3, 11-8-3) at Sacred Heart (12-13-3, 11-9-2)
Friday, 11:05 a.m./Saturday, 2:05 p.m. at Webster Bank Arena, Bridgeport, Conn.
What to watch for: Sacred Heart has won five in a row and seven of nine after sweeping consecutive road series from Robert Morris and Niagara. The Pioneers now begin their final homestand of the season against the Tigers who need three points to match second-place Bentley and can only earn a split of the season series after being swept by SHU in December.
Fun fact: Pioneer sophomore Matt Tugnutt has scored goals in his last two games after a seven-game scoring drought, placing him second on the team with seven lamplighters on the season.
Robert Morris (9-18-1, 8-13-1) at Holy Cross (7-17-4, 7-12-3)
Friday, 7:05 p.m./Saturday, 5:05 p.m. at Hart Center, Worcester, Mass.
What to watch for: The Crusaders are playing their best hockey of the season right now with a 3-1-1 mark over the last five games and look to continue that trend against the team with which they are tied for ninth place. Holy Cross freshman Erik Gordon already has a shutout to his name this season against Robert Morris, which has slipped in the standings after five straight losses and nine in 10 games.
Fun fact: Every skater on the Crusader roster has recorded at least one point this season. Nineteen have scored goals.
NON-CONFERENCE
American International (17-12-1) at Arizona State (19-10-1)
Friday/Saturday, 9:05 p.m. at Oceanside Ice Arena, Tempe, Ariz.
What to watch for: The top team in Atlantic Hockey has only two regular-season games remaining after this non-conference series. AIC will be looking to wrap up a first-place spot when it comes time to meet Sacred Heart in two weeks, but this weekend’s set is a big one for North Andover, Mass., native goalie Joey Daccord and his host Sun Devils as they look to solidify an NCAA bid with their current No. 9 ranking in the PairWise.
Fun fact: The Sun Devils are 4-2 against New England clubs this season, having swept BC in a home series in addition to beating BU and Harvard once each on the road.
