BOSTON -- The Northeastern women's ice hockey team looks to snap a three-game skid on Sunday afternoon when the Huskies host Providence at 2 p.m. on ESPN3 as part of Hockey East's 7th annual Skating Strides Program.
Sunday will be the first meeting of the season between the two squads, which are separated by just one point in the Hockey East standings. The Friars currently sit in third place with 12 points, while NU is on their heels in fourth place with 11.
The Huskies are coming off their toughest stretch of the season, with each of its last four games coming against opponents ranked in the top-five of both major polls. NU was 1-3-0 during the span, including a 4-3 win at No. 2/2 Clarkson on Jan. 4 in Potsdam, N.Y.
Sophomore forward
Kendall Coyne leads the team with 35 points this season (18 goals, 17 assists), and has posted two points in each of her last two games. Coyne enters the game ranked 10th in the nation in points per game (1.75) and ninth in goals per game (0.90). She is one of only 10 players in the country with at least 35 points this season.
Coyne has been flanked by linemates
Casey Pickett (12 goals, 12 assists) and
Rachel Llanes (eight goals, 14 assists). So far this season, the trio has combined to produce 51% of the team's goals and 43% of the squad's total scoring.
Huskies set for 7th annual Skating Strides
The men's and women's ice hockey teams will participate in the seventh annual Hockey East Skating Strides program on Jan. 19-20 when they take the ice for games at Matthews Arena, presented by Coca Cola. Both teams will be wearing commemorative jerseys that will be auctioned off during the weekend at GoNU.com/skatingstrides.
Admission to Sunday's women's game will be free of charge, and student tickets for the 61st annual men's Beanpot will go on sale at the second intermission for students in attendance.
Following the women's game, the Huskies will host a skate with the team at Matthews. All participants must bring their own skates, and are also asked to make a $5 suggested donation.
Potential milestones
A win on Sunday would be the program's 550th all-time victory since the Huskies reached varsity status in 1980-81. It would also be head coach
Dave Flint's 150th career victory. Flint entered the season 21st among active coaches in career wins and career winning percentage.
The matchup with Providence
NU and Providence meet for the 108th time on Sunday, with the Friars holding a 54-42-11 edge in the all-time series. Since the start of 2011, however, the series has leveled out. The teams are 2-2-1 in the last five meetings, with four games decided by one goal or less. Sunday also represents a rematch of last year's Hockey East quarterfinals, where PC tripped up the Huskies, 2-0, ending NU's season.
The Friars enter this weekend's Skating Strides matchup at Matthews Arena with an 11-9-4 record overall, including a 5-4-2 mark in Hockey East. Sunday will mark the PC's fourth consecutive contest away from Schneider Arena, but the Friars have struggled on foreign ice, going just 5-7-2. PC is unbeaten in its last three games after sweeping RPI in a road series last weekend and knocking off Yale with a 3-2 overtime win Jan. 5.
Senior Nicole Anderson leads the team in scoring with a 13-10-23 clip, good for 34th in the country at 0.96 points per game, while Molly Illikainen ranks fourth among Hockey East freshmen in scoring with eight goals and 17 points. Three Providence players fall within the top 10 in the conference for blocked shots, including rookie Lexi Slattery (t-6th, 35 blocks), Rebecca Morse (9th, 32) and Illikainen (10th, 31).
All three Friar netminders have seen sufficient game time this season, with freshman Sarah Bryant getting the majority of starts and managing a 7-6-3 record with a team-high 2.99 goals against average and the team's lone shutout (Nov. 25 vs. Union). Bryant was named Hockey East Co-Defensive Player of the Week on Monday after allowing just three goals in two games against RPI. Junior Nina Riley leads all Friar goaltenders with a .896 save percentage in seven appearances.
Last time out
Trailing 5-2 with less than three minutes left in regulation, No. 10 Northeastern scored twice in 10 seconds, but could not net the equalizer as No. 5 Boston University (15-3-3, 10-2-1) escaped with a 5-4 victory on Wednesday night at Walter Brown Arena.
The Huskies tied a season-high with three power play goals on the night in a penalty filled battle between the two squads. Sarah Lefort recorded a hat trick to lead the Terriers, who outshot NU 38-22 for the game, went 2-of-6 on the man advantage and won 34-of-58 faceoffs.
Kelsey O'Sullivan made a career-high 17 stops in goal for the Huskies in relief of
Chloe Desjardins (16 saves), while Kerrin Sperry had 18 saves for the Terriers.
Power play explodes at BU
Entering the game 0-of-19 on the man advantage dating back to Dec. 1 at New Hampshire, the Husky power play came alive on Wednesday night at Boston University. NU tied a season-high with three tallies on the man advantage, going 3-of-8 on the night.
Overall, Northeastern is fourth in the nation in power play percentage (20-of-79; 25.3%) and is one of only eight schools in the country with at least 20 power play goals.
NU has received power play goals from nine different players, led by
Kendall Coyne's six (seventh in the nation). Coyne is also third in the league in power play points (6-4-10), trailed closely by
Rachel Llanes in a tie for fourth (4-5-9).
Shouldering the burden
The line of
Kendall Coyne,
Rachel Llanes and
Casey Pickett have carried the torch this season for the Huskies. The trio has produced 43% of Northeastern's total scoring (81-of-188) and 51% of NU's total goals (38-of-75). Coyne leads the teams with 18 goals and 17 assists, while Pickett has 12 goals and 12 helpers and Llanes with eight goals and 14 assists.
Wallace can dish it out
Wednesday night at Walter Brown Arena saw junior
Kelly Wallace assist on the final three NU goals of the game, a new career-high in both helpers and points.
Since being paired on a line with
Paige Savage on Dec. 1, Wallace has five points (two goals, three assists) in her last five games, and is fourth on the team with seven goals and seven assists this season.
Hit the road, Jack
After spending most of the first half of the season at home, the Huskies will head out on the road for eight of its final 12 games of the season. NU is 5-2-0 on the road so far this season.
League play heats up
With the exception of Northeastern's two Beanpot games in February, all of NU's remaining regular season games will come against Hockey East foes. The Huskies currently sit in fourth place in the league standings with 11 points, and are looking to secure a top-four seed for the right to host a WHEA quarterfinal game in March.
Killing it on the PK
The Huskies penalty killing is one of the best in the nation, having killed off 71-of-82 shorthanded situations this season. Their 86.6% conversion rate on the PK leads Hockey East and is seventh in the country.
NU had a string of 16 straight successful penalty kills snapped on Nov. 10 against Vermont. The only other power play tallies came against No. 3 Boston University on Oct. 16, at No. 6 Boston College on Nov. 18, vs. UNH on Dec. 2, vs. Dartmouth on Dec. 5 and at No. 2 Clarkson on Jan. 4.
O'Sullivan has career night
Facing a 4-1 deficit midway through the second period, NU turned to
Kelsey O'Sullivan to make her third career appearance between the pipes. O'Sullivan did not disappoint, making a career-high 17 saves as the Huskies attempted to mount a comeback.
The junior netminder has posted a 1.75 goals against average and .944 save percentage in just over 68 minutes of play this season.
Scoring spurts
When the Huskies score, they score in bunches. Northeastern is averaging 3.41 goals per game through 22 contests this season, which is third in WHEA. The Huskies have scored goals less than three minutes apart on several occasions in 2012-13, including two in just 10 seconds at Boston University on Wednesday, and two in 14 seconds on Dec. 1 at New Hampshire.
NU scored four goals in the first period at Syracuse on Oct. 6, marking the first time since Jan. 22, 2012 against UNH that the Huskies netted four in the first. Northeastern's three-goal third period against Union was the first time since Dec. 4, 2011 vs. UNH that NU had three goals in the final period.
The Huskies also potted five goals in the first period alone against Connecticut on Nov. 3, marking the first time since Dec. 3, 2006 against Maine that NU scored five goals in a period.
Poll position
Northeastern dropped down a spot to No. 10 in this week's USCHO Division I Women's Poll. The Huskies have previously been ranked seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th at times during the season, and have been either ranked or receiving votes in each of the past 37 USCHO.com polls, dating back to March 7, 2011.
NU also remained at No. 10 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll this week. Five teams on this season's schedule are also included on the poll, including Harvard, BC, Cornell, BU and Clarkson.
Four or more is best
Northeastern found its most success last season when the Huskies scored in bunches. When NU scored four or more goals in 2011-12, the Huskies were a perfect 12-0-0. Conversely, when the Northeastern offense scored two goals or fewer last season, the Huskies were 4-4-3.
The Huskies have continued the trend this season; NU has scored at least four goals in 11 of the team's 22 games this season, and is 8-2-1 in those games.
Jumping into the offense
Junior defenseman
Maggie DiMasi is tied for seventh on the team, and first among defensemen, with 11 points this season. She tied career highs for goals and points with two goals at New Hampshire on Dec. 1.
DiMasi has seven points in her last eight games (two goals, five assists), and is Northeastern's active leader in career points among defensemen with 36 (nine goals, 27 assists).
Sophomore surge
Kendall Coyne burst onto the scene for the Huskies last season, leading the team in points (45), goals (26), shots (223) and game-winning goals (seven). Her point total was the highest for any Husky player since Hillary Witt in 1999-20 (55 points), while her goals were the highest at NU since 2001-02 (Brooke Whitney; 32).
Coyne has showed no signs of slowing up this season for the Huskies, and has posted 35 points (18 goals, 17 assists) in 20 games. She recorded career-highs in assists (five) and points (six) on Nov. 3 against Connecticut.
A three-time WHEA Player of the Week honoree in 2012-13, Coyne is 10th in the nation in points per game (1.75), ninth in goals per game (0.90), tied for 20th in assists per game (0.85) and tied for fourth in game-winning goals (four).
In her 51 career games, Northeastern is 27-11-3 when she records at least one point and 25-3-1 when she records a positive +/- rating.
Beanpot tickets now on sale
Tickets for the 2013 Women's Beanpot, hosted by Northeastern University at Matthews Arena, are now available for purchase. The tournament, entering its 35th season, features Boston College, Boston University, Harvard and Northeastern in a battle for Boston bragging rights.
The tournament begins with semifinal action on February 5 at 5 p.m. when the Terriers and Crimson facing off before the Eagles and Huskies square off in the nightcap at 8 p.m. The losers of the semifinal contests will meet in the Consolation Game one week later, Feb. 12, at 5 p.m. before the semifinal winners meet in the title game at 8 p.m.
Tickets for the tournament are $5 for adults and $3 for children, and are good for admission to both games on the date printed on the ticket. Students, faculty and staff from the participating schools will be admitted free of charge with a valid school ID. Tickets for groups of 15 people or more will cost $2 each, and must be purchased at least 72 hours in advance. Please contact the Ticket Office at 617-373-4700 or huskytix@neu.edu for more information.
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The road ahead
Northeastern heads out on the road for three straight games, beginning at the Whittemore Center against New Hampshire on Thursday night at 7 p.m. NU will then continue north to Vermont for a 2 p.m. puck drop on Sunday at Gutterson Field House.
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