Hockey East Weekend Preview

Here's your Hockey East Weekend Preview, courtesy of hockeyeastonline.com.

Hockey East games dominate the weekend schedule with seven games on the slate, including a home-and-home series between Boston University and New Hampshire, beginning on Friday night at the Whittemore Center in Durham. Maine will also host Boston College for a two-game set at Alfond Arena, while Northeastern and Providence College will play a two-game home-and-home matchup beginning on Friday at Matthews Arena in Boston. No. 4 ranked UMass-Lowell will play a single game this season on Saturday night vs. Merrimack at Tsongas Arena in Lowell.

Boston University leads the all-time series with UNH, 95-42-18 in 155 all-time meetings between the two schools dating back to Feb. 5, 1925. It will mark the first meeting since the two schools met last March in the NCAA Northeast Regional Final in Manchester, N.H., with the Terriers winning that meeting by a 2-1 score. The Wildcats will host their annual “Blue Out” on Friday encouraging fans to wear blue to the game. UNH is 4-1-2 all time against BU at Agganis Arena with its first loss coming last season.

BC and Maine will be looking to get back on the winning track after their most recent losses. The Eagles won the season series last year, 2-1, with BC winning the last two meetings of the year by scores of 6-3 and 4-1. Maine sophomore forward Gustav Nyquist (Malmo, Sweden) ranks fourth in the league in scoring with 13 points (5g,8a). BC junior goalie John Muse (East Falmouth, Mass.) made 53 saves (.930 save%) in the weekend split with Vermont last weekend.

The Friars are coming off a 4-3 win against Brown in the Mayor’s Cup on Tuesday night in Providence, while Northeastern is fresh off a five-goal offensive outburst vs. Maine last Saturday. The Huskies swept the season series with PC last year, as they scored a combined 13 goals (4.33 gpg) in those three contests. The Friars have allowed a league-low five goals in the first period this season. Sophomore forward Matt Bergland (Faribault, Minn.) leads the Friars’ roster in points with nine (6g,3a) and goals.

UMass-Lowell and Merrimack will renew their Merrimack Valley rivalry on Saturday. The River Hawks swept the series last year, but the last two meetings of the year were one goal games, both by a 3-2 score. The game features two of the four schools in Hockey East with at least six overall wins on the season. Rookie Stephane Da Costa (Paris, France) lead the nation among rookies with 1.75 points per game and its also the third best mark overall among all Div. I players.

Massachusetts and Vermont are the only Hockey East teams idle this weekend, they return to action on Tuesday night, Nov. 24 for a game at Gutterson Fieldhouse. The Minutemen downed Yale, 4-3, on Thursday night in New Haven for their league-leading eight win of the season on an overtime goal by junior forward James Marcou (Kings Park, N.Y.). Marcou leads the league in point scoring with 16 points in 10 games. He is only five points shy of becoming the ninth UMass player in school history to achieve the 100 career point mark.