BOSTON --Â It's crunch time for the No. 9/9 Northeastern men's ice hockey team, which returns home for three of its final four regular season games at Matthews Arena, beginning on Friday night against No. 17/15 Maine at 7 p.m.
The two squads are separated by just one point in the Hockey East standings as they meet for the first time this season. The Black Bears currently sit in a tie for third place with New Hampshire at 20 points while the Huskies are nipping at their heels in fifth with 19 points (9-6-1).
This weekend, Northeastern will be participating in eighth annual Hockey East Skating Strides weekend. NU will be wearing pink jerseys that are available for bidding on an online auction all weekend long.
Redshirt junior
Clay Witt has burst onto the scene in his first season as the Huskies' starting netminder, earning the start in 18 of Northeastern's last 19 games, including each of the last 11. The Brandon, Fla. native, a Walter Brown Award semifinalist, leads the nation with a .943 save percentage, and has made at least 30 saves 17 times this season, including each of the last three games.
Witt's 15 victories this season are tied for sixth on the Northeastern single-season record list, while his four shutouts are tied for third in the NU record books, one shy of tying the school record, and are tied for third in the country this season.
Sophomore forward
Kevin Roy has been the go-to point producer for NU in 2013-14, leading the team with 16 goals and 20 assists. Roy is one of 21 players in the nation with at least 35 points this season, and one of eight with at least 15 goals and 20 assists.
Roy recorded his ninth multi-point game of the season last weekend at UMass. The Huskies are 16-5-3 when he records a point, and 10-1-1 when he scores a goal.
Mike Szmatula leads all Northeastern rookies with 32 points (11 goals, 21 assists). He is fourth in the nation in rookie scoring with 1.07 points per game, and is one of just three freshmen in the country with at least 30 points. He is also the first Husky freshman to record at least 10 goals and 20 assists since Wade MacLeod (14-21-35) in 2007-08.
A win against Maine would …
• Be Northeastern's 892nd victory all-time, and 271st Hockey East win.
• Guarantee the Huskies a winning season for the first time since 2008-09.
• Give Northeastern 10 conference wins for the first time since 2010-11.
• Give NU 18 wins on the season, tied for the eighth most in program history.
Skating Strides weekend
NU will participate in the eighth annual Hockey East Skating Strides program on Feb. 21. The men's team will be wearing commemorative jerseys, made possible at Coca Cola, which will be auctioned off during the weekend.
The women's ice hockey team had their annual Skating Strides program on Jan. 24 and their commemorative pink jerseys will also be auctioned off throughout the weekend.
Entering its eighth season, the Hockey East Skating Strides program has raised nearly $230,000 for various breast cancer charities, including a record $45,215 total in 2012. At the same time, the program has garnered interest in the sport, all across the conference, with increased attendance at, and awareness of, the women's ice hockey programs at all eight member institutions.
The all-time series with the Black Bears
Northeastern trails 38-55-18 in the all-time series with the Black Bears in a matchup that dates back to 1977. Friday's game will be the first of two meetings this weekend, with their last meeting coming in the 2012-13 season finale. The Huskies walked away with a 4-4 draw after sending the game to overtime, but the tie wasn't enough to keep their postseason bid alive.
The Huskies will look to improve on their 1-6-3 record in their last ten meetings with Maine after posting an 0-1-2 mark against the Black Bears during the 2012-2013 campaign.
A look at Maine
No. 17 Maine enters Friday's matchup after picking up four wins in their last five games, capped with a two-win weekend against Merrimack on Feb. 14-15. The Black Bears now hold a 15-10-3 overall record on the season and have gone 9-5-2 in Hockey East play. While Maine owns a stellar 12-1 record at home, they enter Matthews Arena with a 1-9-2 mark when playing on the road this season.
Sophomore forward Devin Shore leads Maine in goals, assists, and points after posting 35 points on the season (12 goals, 23 assists). Defenseman Ben Hutton is Maine's second leading scorer with 11 goals and 12 assists, good for 23 points on the season. Hutton's 11 goals rank him first in the nation in goals scored by a defensemen.
In goal, senior netminder Martin Ouellette has seen 27 starts for the Black Bears, posting a 14-10-3 record and a .933 save percentage on the season. His 2.03 goals against average ranks third among all Hockey East goaltenders.
Last time out
Northeastern scored five of the game's first six goals before surviving a late Massachusetts rally to hang on for a 5-4 victory on Saturday at the Mullins Center.
Five different Huskies scored for the Huskies, including
Tanner Pond's first collegiate goal, while
Kevin Roy,
Adam Reid,
Ryan Belonger and
Zach Aston-Reese also scored for NU. Redshirt junior netminder
Clay Witt made more than 30 saves for the third straight game, turning aside 32 shots.
Michael Pereira and Conor Sheary both recorded a goal and an assist for the Minutemen, while Steve Mastalerz made 16 stops in goal. UMass outshot NU 36-21, while both squads went 0-of-4 on the power play and UMass won 29-of- 57 draws.
Success through 30
The Huskies picked up their 17th victory of the season on Saturday night at UMass, giving them a record of 17-10-3 through 30 games this season. NU's 17 victories are tied for the fifth most wins through 30 games in program history, and marks the first time since the 2008-09 season that Northeastern has won at least 17 of its first 30 contests.
NU's 17 wins this season are also tied for 10th on the Northeastern record list for most wins in a season.
Ch-Ch-Changes
After being held to a single goal in two games, head coach
Jim Madigan shuffled the Northeastern lineup on Saturday at UMass, splitting up the line of
Kevin Roy,
John Stevens and
Braden Pimm, who had been grouped together in 21 straight games, and 26-of-29 games overall.
The result? Northeastern potted five goals for the seventh time this season, and second time against a conference opponent. NU received goals from three of its four lines, including one apiece from
Tanner Pond and
Ryan Belonger, who hadn't scored in a combined 42 games entering Saturday.
Aston-Reese's Pieces
Freshman winger
Zach Aston-Reese logged his fourth-multi point game of the season last weekend with the eventual game-winning goal and an assist. The Staten Island, N.Y. native is tied for fifth on the team with 15 points (five goals, 10 assists), with all but one of his points coming in NU wins (9-1-1).
Poll position
The Huskies moved up three spots in this week's USCHO.com Division I Men's Poll to No. 9 in the nation, their highest ranking of the season. It's also their highest ranking since the end of the 2008-09 season, when they were ranked sixth in the country after finishing the year 25-12-4.
The Huskies are also one of eight Hockey East squads either ranked or receiving votes.
Northeastern has been ranked in each of the last 11 USCHO.com polls, and has been either ranked or receiving votes for 18 straight weeks dating back to Oct. 14, 2013. The Huskies are also No. 9 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine top 15 poll this week.
Killing it on the PK
Despite being 11th in the country and first in Hockey East with 14.9 penalty minutes per game, the Northeastern penalty killing unit has stepped up its play in the second half of the season. In the last 18 games, NU has killed off 70-of-78 penalties (89.7%), which is second in the country in that span.
In addition, the Huskies haven't allowed a power play goal in their last four games, going 15-of-15 in that stretch. The last time NU went four games without allowing a power play goal was Feb. 8-19, 2010.
The last time Northeastern was perfect on the PK in five straight games was Jan. 6-26, 2007 when they held their opponent scoreless on the man advantage in six consecutive contests.
Offensive explosion
The Feb. 3 win against Harvard saw the Huskies score at least six goals for the fourth time this season. It's the first time since the 1997-98 season that NU has recorded at least six goals in four games. Northeastern opened the season with a 9-1 win against Alabama-Huntsville before also accomplishing the feat at St. Lawrence on Oct. 25 (W, 6-3), at Dartmouth on Dec. 30 (T, 8-8) and vs. Harvard on Feb. 3 (W, 6-0).
Overall, NU tied for 14th in the nation with 97 goals this season (third in Hockey East), while its 3.23 goals per game is tied for 13th in the country.
Quality, not quantity
Northeastern is averaging 29.8 shots on goal per game this season, which is 35th in the nation, while allowing 35.7 (fifth most in the nation). Among teams with at least 15 victories this season, the Huskies have the largest shot differential (-177), and shots per game differential (-5.9) in the country. NU's .109 shooting percentage, however, is 10th in the nation. NU has been held under 30 shots on goal in 16 games this season. The Huskies are 9-6-1 in those games.
Head of the class
The Northeastern rookie class has tallied 34 goals and 77 assists in 30 games this season, which is third in the nation in points for a freshman class. Eight different NU rookies have tallied a point this season. Freshman
Mike Szmatula is second on the team with 32 points this season (11 goals, 21 assists), and is fourth in the nation in rookie scoring with 1.07 points per game. He is also one of just three rookies to have at least 30 points this season.Â
If Szmatula finishes the year first on the team in scoring, it would mark the third straight season that a freshman has led NU in scoring (
Ludwig Karlsson in 2011-12,
Kevin Roy in 2012-13).
Four Huskies have tallied at least 15 points this season (Szmatula, 11-21-32; Hedges, 8-14-22; Stevens, 5-13-18; Aston-Reese, 5-10-15), making NU one of two schools in the nation (Boston College) to have four rookies with at least 15 points. The NU rookies have also tallied nine game-winning goals this season, the most in the nation.
Trifecta approaching triple digits
While 20 different skaters have recorded at least one point this season, three members of the Huskies have shouldered much of the burden in 2013-14.
Kevin Roy (16-20-36),
Mike Szmatula (11-21-32) and
Braden Pimm (16-12-28) have combined to produce 38% of Northeastern's scoring this season.
The trio is also four points away from reaching the 100-point plateau, and would become the first group of Huskies to accomplish the feat since 2010-11 (Wade MacLeod, Tyler McNeely, Steve Silva). This season, seven teams in the nation have three players who have already combined for at least 100 points.
Point men
Three Northeastern defensemen have consistently jumped into the offensive attack this season for the Huskies marking the first time since the 2010-11 season, and third time in the last decade, that NU has had three blueliners with double-digit points.
Colton Saucerman (4-11-15) is tied for 13th in the conference in points per game among defensemen (0.50) while
Matt Benning (3-10-13) and
Josh Manson (3-7-10) have also had strong seasons from the point.
Help me, help you
Mike Szmatula is tied for 20th in the nation with 21 assists this season, and also tied for third in the country in assists among rookie skaters. Szmatula is the first Husky since Wade MacLeod in 2007-08 to record at least 20 helpers in his freshman campaign. Szmatula has recorded multi-assist games six times this season, highlighted by a three-assist night against Alabama-Huntsville on opening night. NU is 10-3-1 this season when he records an assist.
Winner, winner, chicken dinner
Northeastern has had several skaters step up when the team has needed them most in 2013-14, with 11 different players recording game-winning goals for the first time since the 2008-09 season and tied for the sixth most in the country. NU is one of 12 teams in the country to have at least 11 players with game-winners.
Four of freshman
Dalen Hedges' eight goals this season have proven to be game-winners, which is tied for fifth in Hockey East. Hedges is also tied for the rookie lead in game-winning tallies, and bested
Kevin Roy's 2012-13 team-leading total on Monday against Harvard. It's the most game-winning goals for a NU freshman since Jay Schiavo in 1988-89.
In addition,
Zach Aston-Reese's three game-winners make the Huskies the only team in the nation with have two freshmen with at least three game-winning tallies.
At Witt's end
Prior to taking the ice for the Beanpot semifinal on Monday,
Clay Witt was named a semifinalist for the Walter Brown Award, which is given to the top American hockey player in New England. Witt is one of eight Hockey East players and two goaltenders included on the list. The Brandon, Fla. native was also named the 'Stop It' Goaltender of the Month after leading NU to a 5-2-0 mark in January. He posted a 1.87 goals against average and .950 save percentage during the month, made at least 35 saves in three games and recorded one shutout.
Witt has appeared in 25 games for the Huskies so far this season, posting a 15-8-2 record and a .943 save percentage that leads the nation. His 2.07 goals against average, meanwhile, is fourth in the league and 11th in the country. He is now tied for sixth on the NU single-season record list for wins in a season (15). His four shutouts are tied for third in the country, second in Hockey East, and tied for third on the NU record list with Brad Thiessen (2006-07), one shy of tying the school record.
30/30
Sophomore forward
Kevin Roy reached the 30-point plateau for the second straight season on Jan. 18 against Vermont. The Lac-Beauport, Quebec native leads the team with 16 goals and 20 assists, and is the first Husky since Wade MacLeod (2009-10, 2010-11) to log at least 30 points in consecutive seasons.
Should Roy finish the season as the team's leading scorer, it would mark the 18th time in program history that a player has led the team in scoring in consecutive seasons, and the first to do it in his first two seasons with the team since Les Chaisson in 1970-71 and 1971-72.
On Nov. 22, Roy became the 56th player in program history to record at least 50 points in their first two seasons in college hockey, and first since Wade MacLeod and Tyler McNeely in 2008-09. NU is 16-5-3 when he tallies a point, and 10-1-1 when he scores.
Against the best
Northeastern hasn't been afraid to take on the nation's top teams this season, having squared off against anked opponents in seven of its last 10 games. So far this season, the Huskies are 6-5-1 against teams ranked in the top-20 of the USCHO.com poll. All of those games have come against teams from Hockey East.
Get in front of it
Dax Lauwers leads the team with 61 blocked shots this season, which is fourth in the league and tied for 16th in the nation, highlighted by a season-high eight blocks against Providence on Dec. 6.
Cardiac canines
NU has made a habit of doing their damage in the third period this season, scoring 36 of its 97 goals in the final 20 minutes of play. NU is tied for 11th in the country in third period goals. NU has also made use of pulling the goaltender this year, and lead the nation with five goals with the extra attacker, highlighted by two at Dartmouth on Dec. 30 to force overtime.
Huskies for Hobey
NU's
Kevin Roy and
Clay Witt are two of 68 players nominated for the Hobey Baker Award, which honors an elite NCAA men's ice hockey player who exhibits both athletic talent and strong sportsmanship.
Roy currently leads the team with 36 points (16 goals, 20 assists) and is tied for 18th place nationally among top scoring leaders. He has averaged 1.20 points per game through 30 games so far this season and was named the Warrior Hockey Player of the Week twice (Dec. 23 and Oct. 14) while also earning the title of National Player of the Month in October.
In goal, Witt has backstopped 25 games for the Huskies while posting a 2.07 goals against average and a .943 save percentage, good for first in the nation. He earned the Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week accolade five times this season and has made a total of 859 saves this season (second in the country).
Pimm earns the 'A'
Prior to the Huskies' Citi Frozen Fenway 2014 game against UMass Lowell, NU head coach
Jim Madigan announced that senior
Braden Pimm has been named an assistant captain. Pimm earned the 'A' for his leadership both on an off the ice. Pimm joins captain
Josh Manson and assistant captains
Dax Lauwers and
Adam Reid who will wear letters for Northeastern for the remainder of the season.
Pimm is third on the team with 16 goals and 12 assists this season, which is good for 13th in Hockey East. Nine of Pimm's 16 goals this season have come in special teams situations (seven power play goals, two shorthanded goals), which is tied for the sixth most special teams tallies in the nation.Â
Pimm's seven power play goals, meanwhile, are tied for 12th in the country and tied for tops in Hockey East. Pimm has more than doubled his goal total from a season ago after posting six goals and 11 assists as a junior last season. He's also tied a career-high with 12 helpers this season, matching his total from his sophomore campaign.
Lending a helping hand
Northeastern has tallied 157 assists through 30 games this season, which is tied for 18th in the country and third in Hockey East, sparked by 21 helpers from freshman
Mike Szmatula (tied for 20th in the nation).
Szmatula, who is tied for third in the nation in assists among rookie skaters, has an assist in 14 of the team's 30 games this season, including six games with multi-assist efforts.
Oh brother
Northeastern's 28-man roster features two sets of brothers in Cody and
Nathan Ferriero, as well as Derick and
Kevin Roy. The Huskies are one of just two teams in the nation to have two pairs of brothers on its roster, joining Quinnipiac's Connor and Tim Clifton and Conner and Kellen Jones.
Hello, my name is …
Northeastern houses 12 freshmen (eight forwards, three defensemen, one goaltender) on its 2013-14 roster, which is the most in Hockey East and tied with Sacred Heart for the most rookies in the nation.Â
Nine freshmen have seen playing time so far this season, and have accounted for 34 goals and 77 assists, which is 43.7% of Northeastern's total scoring.
Show dogs
Northeastern has four NHL draft picks on this year's squad. Sophomore
Kevin Roy is NU's highest draft pick after the Anaheim Ducks took him in the fourth round (97th overall) last year. San Jose selected senior
Cody Ferriero in the fifth round (127th) in 2010 while junior
Josh Manson was an Anaheim sixth rounder (160th) in 2011. Newcomer
Matt Benning was selected by the Boston Bruins in the sixth round (175th) at the 2012 Entry Draft.
Poile named General Manager of U.S. Olympic Team
Alumnus David Poile has been named general manager of the 2014 United States Olympic men's hockey team, USA Hockey announced on Jun. 28.
"Being chosen for this position is a tremendous honor," said Poile. "When you get to represent your country, it's a special feeling. I look forward to working with our management team in fulfilling our ultimate goal of bringing home the gold medal."
Poile, currently the general manager of the NHL's Nashville Predators, played three seasons of varsity hockey at Northeastern from 1967 to 1970. He is 26th on the Northeastern all-time scoring list with 118 points, and he still holds the program record for hat tricks with 11. He was inducted into the Northeastern Hall of Fame in 1987.
"We couldn't be more pleased than to have David as our general manager," said Ron DeGregorio president of USA Hockey. "He continues to have a remarkable management career in the National Hockey League and the vast experience and expertise he brings to the table will serve us well in our goal to bring the gold medal back to the United States."
Hang out with the Huskies
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@GoNUathletics, and 'Like' us at
facebook.com/GoNUathletics.
To get live, in-game updates of Northeastern men's hockey, follow
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The road ahead
Northeastern will close out the 2013-14 regular season next weekend when the Huskies take on crosstown rival Boston University, beginning on Friday night at Agganis Arena on NESN at 7 p.m.
The teams will then square off at Matthews Arena on Saturday night at 7 p.m., when NU will honor the 2014 senior class on Senior Night.
