Game-day information: Game 29 at Massachusetts
When	Friday, Feb. 12, 8:30 p.m.
Where	Amherst, Mass.  |  Mullins Center  |  Directions
Broadcast and stats	TELEVISION: ASN/NESN - Clearances Live Stats  |  Audio  |  Tickets
Notes and yearbook	Game Notes  |  2015-16 Yearbook
Promotions	n/a
Social media	@GoNUmhockey  facebook.com/GoNUmhockey instagram.com/GoNUathletics  Use #GoNU

BOSTON -- With just three weeks remaining in the regular season, Northeastern will look to create some separation in the league standings when the Huskies travel to Amherst, Mass. for a Friday puck drop with UMass. Northeastern is unbeaten in 10 of its last 11 games (8-1-2) tied for the second highest winning percentage in the nation in that span (.818), and enters Friday's game in a four-way tie for sixth place in the league standings with 12 points. NU hasn't lost a conference game since Dec. 6.
 
The all-time series with the Minutemen
Northeastern and Massachusetts will be meeting for the 85th in program history on Friday, with NU holding a 47-27-10 edge in the all-time series. The Huskies have also held the upper hand in recent years, winning seven of the last 10 meetings. The Mullins Center has been kind to Northeastern recently. Since 2010, the Huskies are 8-1-1 when playing in Amherst, outscoring the Minutemen 41-26 in those games.
 
Scouting Massachusetts
After starting the year hot with a 4-0-1 mark in its first five games, the Minutemen battled through a two-month stretch in which they went 3-17-3 before getting back in the win column on Tuesday at American International, topping the Yellow Jackets in overtime, 4-3. Overall, Massachusetts is 8-17-4 on the season and 2-12-4 in Hockey East. As a team UMass is averaging 2.55 goals per game, which is eighth in the league, and surrendering 4.00 goals per game (t-58th in the nation).
 
Shane Walsh has been the sparkplug up front for UMass this season, and leads the team with 16 goals on the year. He's also tied with Ray Pigozzi (eight goals, 18 assists) for the team-lead with 26 points. Dennis Kravchenko, meanwhile, is third on the team with 23 points (10 goals, 13 assists), and is tied for fourth in the nation in career points among sophomore (56).
 
Freshman Nick Renyard has appeared in 22 games this season in goal for the Minutemen, posting a 5-12-4 record along with a 3.67 goals against average and .896 save percentage. He's started in 19 of the team's 29 games this year.
 
Streaking
Northeastern is unbeaten in 10 of its last 11 games (8-1-2). Before the Feb. 1 loss to Boston University, NU's six-game winning streak was tied for the longest winning streak in the nation and tied for the sixth longest unbeaten streak in team history.
 
During NU's unbeaten streak, the Huskies outscored its opponents by more than two goals per game. It's 3.88 goals per game ranked in a tie for eighth in the nation in that span, while its 1.62 goals against per game is tied for fourth.
 
In the last 11 games, the Huskies are averaging 3.55 goals per game and allowing just 1.73, and is outscoring its opponents by 20 goals overall.
 
Special teams
During Northeastern's recent run of success, its performance on special teams has been the difference. On the power play, the Huskies started the year 11-of-79 (13.9%) in the first 17 games of the season, which ranked 47th in the nation in that span. In the 11 games, since, the power play unit is operating at a 25% clip (10-of-40), which is tied for eighth in the country.
 
The penalty killing, meanwhile, has responded with some of its best hockey of the year. It allowed 14 power play goals (45-of-59; 76.3%) in the first 17 games, ranked 52nd of 60 teams. Over the last 11 games, though, the PK unit has surrended only five goals (34-of-39; 87.2%), which is 14th in the country.
 
On the road again
The Huskies have been logging some serious windshield time this season. NU has visited Minneapolis (1,392 miles each way), South Bend (893 miles each way), Belfast (nearly 3,000 miles each way), and Canton (364 miles), among others, since October.
 
Northeastern will conclude the regular season having traveled 12,488 miles, according to the New England Hockey Journal, after trips to New Hampshire, Merrimack, UMass Lowell, UMass and UConn to end the regular season.
 
Stiff scheduling
Northeastern has played a ranked team 16 times this season, and 15 times in the last 21 games. The Huskies currently rank 10th in the nation, and second in Hockey East, according to USCHO.com's KRACH rankings.
 
Guess who's back, back again
Jan. 22 marked the return of senior captain Kevin Roy, who had missed 12 games with an upper body injury. Roy returned to the lineup and logged an assist and a +2 rating in his first game in more than two months.
 
Also returning to the lineup is senior Dustin Darou, who missed the first 19 games of the season following a lower body injury suffered at the Travis Roy Wiffeball Tournament last summer.
 
Aston-Reese named Walter Brown Award nominee
The Gridiron Club of Greater Boston announced Monday the 23 semifinalists for the 64th Walter Brown Award, presented annually to the best American-born college hockey player in New England. Junior forward Zach Aston-Reese is one of 14 Hockey East players included on the list.
 
The nation's oldest nationally-recognized college hockey honor, the Walter Brown Award was established in 1953 by the members of the 1933 Massachusetts Rangers, the first American team ever to win the World Championship Tournament. Brown coached the Rangers to the title in Prague, Czechoslovakia, that year as the team defeated Canada 2-1 in overtime in the championship game.
 
Aston-Reese leads the Huskies with 25 points (eight goals, 17 assists) in 28 games this season. The Staten Island, New York has points in 11 of his last 15 games (six goals, 10 assists), and has had point streaks of three games or longer on three occasions this season.
 
Perfect January's in the NCAA
Northeastern was one of only three schools in the nation (D-I) to have both its men's and women's hockey teams post unbeaten records during the month of January. The Huskies combined to go 16-0-1 during the month with the women posting a 10-0-0 mark and the men registering a 6-0-1 record. Only Quinnipiac (11-0-4) and Boston College (11-0-3) can also boast unbeaten January's between the men's and women's programs this season.
 
The Ruck stops here
Freshman netminder Ryan Ruck made his collegiate debut on Oct. 17 at Bentley, making six saves in relief of Derick Roy in the third period. Ruck arrived at Northeastern after playing for the Des Moines Buccaneers of the USHL for two seasons, posting a 3.17 goals against average and a .903 save percentage in 33 games in 2014-15. Ruck followed that up with a 21 save effort at Minnesota on Oct. 23, including an early candidate for save of the year, which was the No. 2 play on SportsCenter's Top Plays of the night.
 
The rookie has a 2.36 goals against average and .910 save percentage in 24 games this season, and was named the Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Week following a 26-save performance against Michigan State on Dec. 19, earning his first collegiate victory.
 
Over the last 11 games, Ruck is 8-1-2 with a 1.62 goals against average and .935 save percentage. His .818 winning percentage in his last 11 games is tied for fourth in the nation in that span, and has allowed two goals or fewer in each of his last nine starts.
 
When you're hot, you're hot
Mike McMurtry had a career-long nine-game point streak snapped on Feb. 1, but the senior winger has four goals and 12 assists in his last 11 games. Freshman Adam Gaudette has also been hot of late, and has five goals and 10 assists in his last nine games, including a three-point night against Harvard on Monday.
 
Zach Aston-Reese, meanwhile, has points in 11 of his last 15 games (six goals, 10 assists) and 19 points (eight goals, 12 assists) in his last 19 games.
 
Recapping Monday's win vs. No. 9 Harvard
A three goal first period and a three-point night for Adam Gaudette set the tone for Northeastern on Monday in a 5-1 victory against No. 9/9 Harvard in the Beanpot consolation game. The Huskies jumped out to a 3-0 advantage in the first period thanks to goals from Mike McMurtry, Gaudette and Dylan Sikura, and also received a goal from Zach Aston-Reese in the third period to help NU remain unbeaten in 10 of its last 11 games. Ryan Ruck was strong in goal for Northeastern, turning aside 19 saves to finish the tournament with a .943 save percentage (50 saves on 53 shots).
 
Ryan Donato scored the lone goal for the Crimson, while Michael Lackey made 23 saves in goal. It marked just the third time this season that Jimmy Vesey and Kyle Criscuolo were both kept off the scoresheet.
 
NU outshot Harvard 28-20 for the game and won 34-of-59 face-offs. Northeastern's penalty killing unit held Harvard, which entered the game with the nation's top power play, to an 0-of-3 showing.
 
All tied up
Saturday's 2-2 tie at No. 8 UMass Lowell was Northeastern's fifth tie of the season. That's tied for the fifth most draws in program history and tied for the 12th most in the nation this season. In three of those games (at Notre Dame, at Boston College and at UMass Lowell), the Huskies came from behind in the third period to level the score and earn a point in the league standings.
 
The road ahead
Hockey East play continues for Northeastern next weekend with a home-and-home set with Connecticut, beginning on Friday night at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn. before returning home to Matthews Arena on Saturday. Both game times are set for 7 p.m.