It’s the penultimate weekend of the Hockey East men’s regular season, and intriguing matchups abound as teams jockey for position for the postseason tournament.
Of particular interest is the race to finish in the top five and earn a first-round bye, with the top four securing home ice for the quarterfinals. Just 3 points separate teams Nos. 4 through 7. UMass (18-12-0, 11-9-0) and Northeastern (15-15-1, 10-11-0) are tied for fourth, 2 points ahead of Maine (16-12-3, 10-10-1), and 3 ahead of Boston University (14-15-2, 10-11-0).
The Minutemen have a game in hand on all three, and will open a home-and-home series with third-place UConn (17-9-4, 11-7-2) at Storrs on Friday. The matchup also has implications beyond the league standings. After getting swept by Boston College, UConn dipped to 14th in the NPI, the system used to seed and select the 16-team field for the NCAA Tournament. At 19th, UMass is on the outside looking in.
“I circled this weekend a while ago, just how we were trending,” said UMass coach Greg Carvel. “If one of these two teams sweeps this weekend, it’s going to have a huge impact on everything. A split will probably keep us where we’re at, but if one team can sweep the other, it’s going to have a huge impact on their standings and NCAA Tournament.”
UMass is coming off a split with New Hampshire in which it was without the services of leading scorer Jack Musa (14 goals, 17 assists). The junior was out with the flu but will be back this weekend, although the bug was still making its way through the team this week.
▪ Maine and Northeastern enter this weekend’s series coming off sweeps to move ahead of BU. The Black Bears took two from Merrimack at home, while Northeastern won a pair at UMass Lowell. The Huskies have been without leading scorer Dylan Hryckowian for most of February, but the junior is now considered day-to-day with an upper-body injury, and could be available for this weekend.
Maine captain Brandon Holt is tied for first among defenseman nationally with 24 assists, and tied for third in points with 29.
Friday’s game will be at Cross Insurance Arena in Portland, while Saturday’s game will be at Tsongas Center.
▪ It may seem strange to not mention this weekend’s BC-BU series until this point, but that’s not to downplay the significance of this matchup. The Eagles (19-10-1, 13-7-0) moved into second place with the sweep of UConn, and more importantly, are 12th in the NPI.
The home-and-home series, which begins Friday at Agganis Arena, will mark the third and fourth meetings between the teams this season. BC took the first two, including a 6-2 win in the Beanpot. Sophomore James Hagens enters the weekend on an eight-game point streak for the Eagles.
BU coach Jay Pandolfo liked the way his team started in the first two matchups, but would like to see more consistency when the teams meet again.
“Both first periods in both those games were really good for us,” said Pandolfo. “It’s just the consistency in our game, making sure you know who you’re on the ice against. Their top players have hurt us in the two games we played against them, so we’ve got to have some awareness there.
“I think it’s more play the same way from start to finish. There’s going to be mistakes over the course of the game, but don’t get away from your game. I think that’s the message.”
▪ Providence (21-8-2, 16-4-1) is in first place, 9 points ahead of BC, entering this weekend’s home-and-home series with UNH. The Friars, sitting sixth in the NPI, can clinch at least a share of the regular-season title this weekend. They have never finished first outright.
▪ Merrimack (15-15-1, 8-12-1) fell to eighth place after dropping three in a row, but the Warriors close the season with three home games, beginning this weekend with two against Vermont.
▪ The top two teams in the ECAC will meet Friday night when Quinnipiac (25-6-3, 16-3-1) travels to Dartmouth (18-7-3, 12-5-3). The Bobcats are seventh in the NPI and could clinch their sixth consecutive Cleary Cup with a road win. Dartmouth sits 4 points back in the league standings and is 11th in the NPI. A victory would not only keep the Big Green in contention for the league crown, but inches them closer to locking up a spot in the NCAA Tournament. Quinnipiac won the first time the teams met, handing the Big Green a 5-3 loss on Jan. 3.
▪ After going winless in a four-game road swing, Harvard (13-13-2, 10-9-1) returns home to close out the regular season. The Crimson managed just 2 points over the last two weekends and dropped to fifth place, but fourth place and a first-round bye in the conference tournament is still within reach. They will need a win over Princeton, which sits 3 points ahead, on Friday, before closing out with Quinnipiac on Saturday.
▪ Bentley should get a hero’s welcome when it closes out the regular season at home with a pair of games against Air Force after clinching the Atlantic Hockey America regular-season crown with a win at RIT. The series will be the first of what Bentley hopes will be a long stretch of games at Bentley Arena after the Falcons secured home ice throughout the conference tournament.
Follow Andrew Mahoney @GlobeMahoney.