No. 1 Boston University vs. Merrimack/No. 7 UMass Lowell – Fri. 1/27 at BU; Sat. 1/28 at BU
- Boston University and Merrimack return to action on Friday night after Merrimack upset the Terriers, 3-1, at Lawler Rink on Tuesday. Jared Kolquist (Hermantown, Mich.) played a key support role for the Warriors, recording an assist on each of Merrimack's three goals. The Warrior's power play unit was able to convert twice on its four opportunities, one of which was the game-winning goal from Logan Coomes (Northville, Mich.) at 14:00 in the second period.
- Boston University currently leads Hockey East in goals against average, allowing 2.00 goals per contest. The Terriers also lead the conference in overall penalty kill percentage (87.7) while the River Hawks own the best league penalty kill percentage (91.5).
- BU rookie forward Clayton Keller (Swansea, Ill.) extended his point streak to a conference-leading 11 games Tuesday at Merrimack. The freshman has recorded 18 points (7g, 11a) during the streak.
Northeastern vs. No. 7 UMass Lowell/UMass – Fri. 1/27 at UML; Tue. 1/31 at UMass
- Northeastern and UMass Lowell will face off for the first time this season Friday night. Northeastern is coming off a two-game sweep of Merrimack last weekend, while UMass Lowell looks to rebound after being swept by Providence in a weekend home-and-home.
- Zach Aston Reese (Staten Island, N.Y.) has a piece of the national scoring lead with 41 points (22g,19a) on the year. The senior forward has recorded a point in 12 of Northeastern's previous 13 contests, scoring 27 points on 16 goals and 11 assists in that span.
- UMass Lowell's Joe Gambardella (Staten Island, N.Y./11g, 23a) leads the River Hawks in scoring this season with 11 goals and 23 assists. The senior forward's 34 total points has him in a tie with Northeastern's Adam Gaudette (Braintree, Mass./13g, 21a) for eighth in the country in overall scoring.
- UMass Lowell's rookie goaltender Tyler Wall (Leamington, Ont./2.06 GAA), and Providence's Hayden Hawkey (Parker, Colo./2.27 GAA) are slotted third and fourth among all Hockey East goaltenders in overall goals against average. Meanwhile, the Huskies carry the top overall scoring offense (3.50 GPG) while the River Hawks boast the second-highest overall scoring offense (3.40 GPG).
No. 11 Boston College vs. No. 15 Notre Dame – Sat. 1/28 at BC
- Notre Dame travels to Chestnut Hill this weekend to play the final regular season conference game against Boston College. In the first meeting this season between the two, the Fighting Irish came back from a 2-0 first-period deficit and down the Eagles, 3-2. Anders Bjork (Mequon, Wis.) opened up scoring for the Irish midway through the second period and then netted the short-handed, game-winning goal eight minutes later.
- Saturday's contest will feature a pair of top-three Hockey East goaltenders. Joe Woll (Dardenne Prairie, Mo.) is coming off a career performance against UConn on Tuesday night, stopping 42 shots from the Huskies en-route to a 2-1 Boston College victory. For the Fighting Irish, Cal Peterson (Waterloo, Iowa) has a conference-leading five shutouts this the season, the latest coming in a 3-0 victory over New Hampshire this past Saturday. The two goaltenders sit second and third, respectively, in conference goals against average.
- Despite carrying 13 freshmen on their roster and losing six of their top 10 point-getters from 2015-16, Boston College leads Hockey East in conference scoring. The Eagles this season are finding the back of the net an average of 3.47 times per league contest.
No. 11 Vermont vs. UConn – Fri. 1/28 at UConn
- Friday's matchup will be the series finale between UConn and Vermont this season. Previously, the Catamounts held on to beat the Huskies, 5-4, in Burlington last Friday. Ross Colton (Robbinsville, N.J.) helped to power Vermont's scoring efforts with four assists in the game. The rookie Colton is riding a three-game point streak in which he has scored once and assisted six times.
- Vermont's freshman goaltender Stefanos Lekkas (Elburn, Ill.) leads the conference in total wins (14) and overall winning percentage (.750), with a 14-4-2 record.
- UConn's Tage Thompson (Orange, Conn.) five points (4g, 1a) in his last five games since returning from the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship. The sophomore forward leads the team with 25 points (17g, 8a).
No. 19 Providence vs. New Hampshire – Fri. 1/27, Sat. 1/28 at UNH
- Providence and New Hampshire will meet for the first time this season on Friday. The Friars and Wildcats have met 162 times previously, with New Hampshire owning the series lead with a record of 89-58-15.
- Providence is 7-2-2 in its previous 11 contests, moving up to No. 19 in the national poll this week. The Friars have been out-scoring their opponents, 33-21, in that span.
- Providence's Erik Foley (Mansfield, Mass.) is currently been riding a three-game point streak. In that time, Foley has recorded four points on one goal and three assists.
- New Hampshire's Tyler Kelleher (Longmeadow, Mass.) enters the weekend in a four-way tie for the national scoring lead. The senior forward has recorded 41 points (14g, 27a) to date and his 27 assists are tops in the NCAA. Kelleher's teammate, first-year forward Patrick Grasso (Ankeny, Iowa/15g, 10a), ranks third in the nation amongst freshman skaters with 25 points and leads all Hockey East rookies in the same category.
Maine vs. UMass – Fri. 1/27, Sat. 1/28 at ME
- Maine captain Blaine Byron (Ottawa, Ont.) is riding a four-game point streak entering the weekend, scoring two goals and assisting on three more during that time. Byron's teammate, Cam Brown (Natick, Mass.) had a seven-game point streak snapped this past Saturday against Boston University, during which he scored twice and dished out 13 assists. The senior forward currently leads his team with 27 points (4g, 23a).
- UMass' freshmen are a key source of production for the Minutemen in Greg Carvel's first year at the helm. The rookie class has accounted for 37.5% of the Minutemen's goals this season, while Griff Jeszka (Muskego, Wis.) leads his first-year classmates with 11 points (6g, 5a).