BOSTON --Â Following a 10-day layoff, the Northeastern men's ice hockey team returns to action on Tuesday night when the Huskies take on Massachusetts in nonconference action at the Mullins Center in the final game before the holiday break.
Â
Recapping the Dec. 6 win at No. 16 Providence
Northeastern received 37 saves from goaltender
Clay Witt, including 17 in the third period alone, en route to a 2-1 victory at No. 16 Providence on Dec. 6 at Schneider Arena.
Â
Colton Saucerman and
Zach Aston-Reese both scored for the Huskies, which was outshot 38-26 in the game. NU was 1-of-3 on the power play and won 33-of-66 faceoffs, while Jon Gillies made 24 stops for the Friars, who were 1-of-4 on the man advantage.
Â
The all-time series with the Minutemen
Northeastern and Massachusetts will be meeting for the 93rd time in program history on Tuesday night, with NU holding a 45-27-10 (.543) edge in the all-time series. UMass knocked off the Huskies in the first meeting between the teams this season with a 3-2 victory at Matthews Arena on Oct. 24.
Â
Tuesday will be the first of two trips to the Mullins Center this season. NU will return to Amherst on Feb. 6 for a Hockey East contest.
Â
Scouting Massachusetts
Massachusetts welcomes the Huskies to the Mullins Center after dropping their last three games, two at the hands of Hockey East foe Notre Dame. The Minutemen are 4-11-0 on the season, including a 1-6-0 mark at home. The team's 2.67 goals scored per game ranks seventh in the league, while their defense is allowing 4.47 goals per game, last in the conference.
Â
At the top of the stat sheet for UMass is redshirt sophomore Frank Vatrano, who has 12 points on seven goals and five assists. His seven goals are tied for seventh in the conference. Along with Vatrano, the Minutemen have received production from Ray Pigozzi and Steven Iacobellis who both have 12 points through 15 games. Pigozzi has scored three goals and collected nine assists, while Iacobellis has chipped in four goals and eight helpers.
Â
In net for UMass has been Henry Dill. The rookie has made 12 starts this season en route to a goals against average of 4.07, a .872 save percentage and a 4-6-0 record. Dill made a season-high 42 stops in his second career start when UMass and NU met earlier this season.
Â
Cutting it close
The Huskies are winners of four of their last six games, with three of those victories coming by one-goal. NU is tied for fourth in the conference with three one-goal wins this season, trailing only Merrimack (six), Providence (five) and Vermont (five). In the last two seasons, Northeastern is 11-6-0 in one-goal games.
Â
Dominance at the dot
After being held to a 45.7% success rate (107-of-234) in the face-off circle in their first four games (55th in the nation), the Huskies have responded with a 56.6% clip (385-of-731) in their last 11 games, which is 11th in the nation in that span.
Â
NU has won more than 50% of its faceoffs in 10 of the last 11 games, including a 68% mark on Nov. 22 against Merrimack in which the Huskies won 49-of-72 draws, the most face-off wins in a game for Northeastern since winning 51 against Niagara on Nov. 5, 2010.
Â
Mike McMurtry leads the nation in face-off percentage (minimum two faceoff attempts per team game) at 73.2%, winning 30-of-41 draws.
Â
Second act
A trio of sophomores have led the charge for the Huskies through the first eight weeks of the season.
Dalen Hedges (three goals, 10 assists) leads the team with 13 points this season, while
Mike Szmatula (four goals, three assists) and
Zach Aston-Reese (two goals, five assists) trail close behind early in the year.
Â
Last season, the now sophomore class was fourth in the nation in rookie scoring with 125 points (42 goals, 83 assists). Four out of the team's top seven scorers last season were freshmen.
Â
Northeastern's grade-A chances
The Huskies may not be finding the net as frequently as they would like through 15 games, but they've made the most of their chances from high percentage areas. Of Northeastern's 28 goals this season, 26 of them have come from the grade-A area (93%).
Â
Streaking
Dalen Hedges carries a five-game point streak (one goal, five assists) into Tuesday night's game. It is the longest point streak of his career after posting a four-game streak (one goals, four assists) earlier this season from Oct. 25 to Nov. 7.
Â
Hot Sauce
Since returning from injury on Nov. 7, junior defenseman
Colton Saucerman has made his presence felt, especially at the offensive end of the ice. The Colorado Springs, Colorado native is tied for second on the team with three goals this season, all of which have come in the last seven games.
Â
All three of Saucerman's goals have also come on the power play this year, making him one of 14 defensemen in the nation with at least three power play goals.
Â
Power play hitting its stride
After starting the season 0-of-18 on the man advantage, the Northeastern power play has emerged in the last eight games, going 9-of-40 (22.5%), which is 12th in the nation and second in Hockey East in that span. NU has received power play tallies from eight different skaters.
Â
Roy enters season in elite company
Winger
Kevin Roy is back in the Red and Black for his junior season on Huntington Avenue. He enters the 2014-15 campaign with 39 goals and 52 assists in 81 career games (1.12 points per game), and is nine points away from becoming the 46th player in program history to reach 100 career points, and 21st player to do it in three seasons or less.
Â
On Sept. 30, Roy was named one of college hockey's ten impact forwards in 2014-15 by USCHO.com. One opposing coach called Roy, "as skilled as any player in the country, especially around the net."
Â
Roy has led the Huskies in scoring in each of the past two seasons, one of eight active players in the nation to have led their squads in scoring in at least two consecutive seasons.
Â
Welcome back Witt
Redshirt senior
Clay Witt made his return to the NU lineup on Nov. 14 at New Hampshire after missing the previous six games with an upper body injury. Witt bounced back by making 27 stops on Nov. 14 before a season-high 35 in a 2-1 win vs. the Wildcats the next evening.
Â
Witt received USCHO.com laurels on Oct. 2 when the Brandon, Florida native was named one of the top ten impact goalies of 2014-15. Witt was tied for second in the nation (.932) last year, and expectations have risen for the netminder in his final year of eligibility. Witt was also named to the Mike Richter Award Watch List on Oct. 3, which is awarded annually to college hockey's top netminder.
Â
"I fully expect him to add on to where he left off last season, to be one of our leaders," said head coach
Jim Madigan, "and be that strong force between the pipes to give our team the confidence that we need each game to go out there and win."
Â
Witt had his strongest game of the season on Dec. 6 at No. 16 Providence, making a season-high 37 saves, including 17 in the third period alone, to lead the Huskies to a 2-1 victory. It was the 26th time in his career that he made at least 30 saves in a game
Â
Paying the price
On Nov. 2 at Quinnipiac, head coach
Jim Madigan said that NU needed to do the little things necessary to win games. Since then, his team has responded by blocking 131 shots (14.56 blocks per game), which is 17th in the nation in that span. Overall, NU is 29th in the country with 203 blocked shots, including a team-high 26 from
Dax Lauwers.
Â
Away from home
Northeastern is in search of its second straight road victory after starting the year 0-6-1 away from Matthews Arena. Last season, the Huskies were 12-9-2 away from home, which was tied for the sixth most victories in the nation.
Â
NU, Michigan State agree to three-sport deal
Northeastern and Michigan State have agreed to a three-sport, home-and-home series in 2015-16, as announced on Dec. 10 by Northeastern Athletics. The Huskies will host the Spartans in men's and women's basketball, as well as men's ice hockey on Dec. 18-19, 2015, before returning the games in East Lansing, Michigan, the following season.
Â
"This is a very exciting opportunity for our athletic department," said
Peter Roby, director of athletics and recreation at Northeastern. "We are thrilled and appreciative of Athletics Director Mark Hollis and our friends at Michigan State for their willingness to bring their teams to Boston and help us create such a fun weekend. We have great respect and admiration for what MSU has accomplished and we look forward to next December."
Â
Witt makes NCAA Top Plays of the Week
After backstopping Northeastern to a 2-1 victory at No. 16 Providence on Dec. 6, redshirt senior
Clay Witt made the NCAA Top Plays of the Week on Dec. 8. Witt had a season-high 37 saves against the Friars, and checked in at No. 4 on the plays of the week with a pair of game-saving stops.
Â
The road ahead
Northeastern will be off for more than two weeks for the holiday break before beginning a three-game homestand on Jan. 2. The Huskies will host St. Lawrence for a pair of games at Matthews Arena on Jan. 2-3 before resuming conference play against Boston College on Jan. 9.
Season tickets, as well as individual game tickets, are available for men's ice hockey and can be purchased by visitingÂ
GoNU.com/tickets. In addition, the student sale for the 2015 Beanpot will take place on Saturday, January 17, 2015 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Matthews Arena lobby. Please contact the Ticket Office by calling 617-373-4700 or emailingÂ
huskytix@neu.edu with any questions.
For complete coverage of Northeastern and Northeastern hockey, follow us on Facebook (
Northeastern andÂ
Northeastern Men's Ice Hockey) and Twitter (
@GoNUathletics andÂ
@GoNUmhockey). Check out exclusive videos onÂ
GoNUxstream and behind-the-scenes content on Instagram (
GoNUathletics).
.