AROUND HOCKEY EAST: No. 2 Providence and No. 4 UMass Lowell will square off at 5 p. m. at TD Garden while No. 1 Boston College will battle No. 6 Northeastern at 8 p.m. for the chance to advance to the Hockey East championship game. The winners earn the right to compete for the Lamoriello Trophy and the 2016 Hockey East Tournament title Saturday (March 19) at 7 p.m. ... Overall, Boston College boasts a 6-1-0 record against Northeastern in the postseason, including a 2-0 mark in the semifinals (1987, 2011). During the regular season, the Eagles took three of four points from the Huskies, as the squads skated to a 3-3 stalemate Dec. 5, 2015 before BC took a 4-3 decision the next day ... Historically, the Friars and River Hawks have played each other nine times previously in the postseason, with UMass Lowell owning a 5-3-1 record including a victory in the only semifinal meeting in 2013. In two regular season tilts during the 2015-16 campaign, Providence and UMass Lowell split a home-and-home series, Jan. 22-23 ... Across New England, the New England Sports Network will produce and air the Hockey East championship weekend from TD Garden once again. The first semifinal game, Providence vs. UMass Lowell, will be shown on NESN in its entirety beginning at 5 p.m., while the second semifinal, Boston College vs. Northeastern, begins at 8 p.m. on NESN and NESNplus before moving exclusively to NESNplus at 9 p.m. The title game is set to be played at 7 p.m. Saturday night and shown on NESN. Across the country, NBCSN will also air all three games as part of over eight hours of coverage of the tournament on the weekend. Tickets for the 2016 Hockey East Championship Tournament at the TD Garden are on sale now at the TD Garden Box Office. Tickets can also be purchased on line at www.ticketmaster.com or by calling Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000.
C.J. Smith, UML (So., F; Des Moines, Iowa) Racked up four points (2g, 2a) for the River Hawks in a pair of wins over Boston University to help UML return to the Hockey East semifinals for the fourth straight year.
Kevin Roy, NU (Sr., F; Lac-Beauport, Que.) Netted two goals and added two assists to bring his postseason total to eight points in just four games, helping the Huskies to the Hockey East semifinals for the first time since 2011.
JD Dudek, BC (Fr., F; Auburn, N.H.) scored the game-tying goal at 10:30 of the third period to force overtime against Vermont in a decisive game three in the Hockey East Quarterfinals. It was the rookie's first career tally, setting up the Eagles for an overtime win and return to the TD Garden for the semifinals.
Kevin Boyle, UML (Sr., G; Manalapan, N.J.) stopped 57 of 59 shots in a two-game sweep of BU, including a 24-save shutout Saturday, setting the single-season school record for shutouts.
Nick Ellis, PC (Jr., G; Millersville, Md.) Backstopped the Friars into the Hockey East semifinals for the fourth time in five years with a pair of wins over Merrimack, posting 0.50 GAA/.978 SV% numbers on the weekend, kicking out 45 of 46 shots.
HOCKEY EAST WEEKLY TOP PERFORMERS
Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson, BU (Fr., F; Stockholm, Sweden) Opened the scoring for the Terriers at UMass Lowell with his 10th marker on the year. He also won 62.2 percent of faceoffs taken on the weekend.
Ryan Ruck, NU (Fr., G; Coto de Caza, Calif.) Collected two wins last weekend to move to 4-0 in the playoffs to backbone Northeastern into the final weekend of Hockey East play at TD Garden.
Colton Saucerman, NU (Sr., D; Colorado Springs, Colo.) Tied a career high with three points (1g, 2a) to help Northeastern clinch a series sweep at Notre Dame.