BOSTON -- Winners of three straight, the No. 8/8 Northeastern men's hockey team will look to go into the holiday break on a positive note when the Huskies visit Merrimack on Saturday afternoon. A win Saturday would pull the Huskies even with Boston College for first place in the Hockey East standings and give NU nine league wins, the most before the holiday break since joining the conference in 1984-85.
The all-time series with Merrimack
Northeastern has an edge over Merrimack in their all-time series with a record of 56-42-10. The Huskies are riding a six-game winning streak against the Warriors that dates back to Jan. 22, 2016 when NU beat MC 5-2 at Lawler Rink. In four of their last six wins over Merrimack, the Huskies have scored four goals or more.
NU has a chance to post its first seven-game win streak over the Warriors for the first time since they rattled off six straight against Merrimack from Feb. 3, 1971 to Feb. 18, 1978. Two weeks ago,
Cayden Primeau backstopped NU to a pair of 3-1 victories against Merrimack in a home-and-home set.
Scouting the Warriors
The Warriors carry a 4-9-3 mark overall into Saturday's game, including a 2-6-1 record in Hockey East play that has them 10th in the conference standings. After a pair of losses to Northeastern two weeks ago, Merrimack responded with a 4-1 win against Army behind three assists from Jared Kolquist before picking up a 4-3 win on the road at New Hampshire on Sunday for its first league win since the end of October.
The Warriors have six different players who have recorded at least 10 points or more midway through the season, led by Jace Hennig (six goals, eight assists), Brett Seney (four goals, 10 assists) and Kolquist (three goals, 11 assists) at 14 points apiece. In the cage, Craig Patano has started nine of the last 10 games, posting a 2.55 goals against average and .908 save percentage.
Gaud Is Good
Junior
Adam Gaudette is tied for eighth in the nation in scoring (23 points) and tied for 11th in goals (11). His nine multi-point games are also tied for the most in college hockey.
On Nov. 28, Gaudette became the 51st player in team history to reach 100 career points, and just the 22nd to accomplish the feat in three seasons or less. He's the fifth Husky in the last three seasons (Kevin Roy, Zach Aston-Reese, John Stevens,
Dylan Sikura) to accomplish the feat. No Husky had done it in three seasons or fewer since Kevin Roy during his All-American season in 2014-15.
Gaudette's done damage when it matters most. He's either scored or assisted on 11 of Northeastern's last 18 game winning goals (six goals, five assists), dating back to last season, including six of the team's 10 wins this year (four goals, two assists). His four GWG are tied for the most in the nation.
He's Sik
Senior
Dylan Sikura is tied for third among active players in the nation with 114 career points, and became the 50th player in team history to reach 100 career points on Oct. 20.
What's most impressive about Sikura is his steady progression throughout his career at Northeastern. He went from a seven-point in 25-game freshman campaign to 28 points as a sophomore before a breakout 57-point junior season. Seventy-nine of Sikura's 114 career points (69%) have come in his last 52 games (1.52 points per game).
Sikura is currently tied for 12th in the nation with 22 points (nine goals, 13 assists) in just 14 games this season, which made him the only player in college hockey since 2012-13 to record a multi-point effort in each of his team's first six games, and one of two players in the nation to reach 14 points in that span since 2012-13.
Dynamic duo
Junior
Adam Gaudette and senior
Dylan Sikura and have picked up right where they left off a season ago, recording 23 and 22 points apiece, respectively, through the team's first 16 games. Dating back to 1999, they are the only Huskies to record four straight multi-point games to open the year.
They make Northeastern the first team to have a pair of skaters with three straight multi-point games to start the season since Cornell (John McCarron and Joel Lowry) in 2013-14. In the last six seasons, only five players in the nation have recorded multi-point efforts in their teams' first four games.
In the 76 games that the two have played on the same line, Gaudette and Sikura have combined for 173 points (Gaudete: 39-43-82; Sikura: 33-58-91), leading NU to a 43-24-9 record in those games.
Poll position
After collecting its first victory at Boston College in nearly a decade last Saturday, the Northeastern men's hockey team is now ranked eighth in this week's USCHO.com poll, its highest ranking since 2009. The Huskies are also ranked No. 8 in the USA Today / USA Hockey Magazine poll.
During that 2008-09 season, when the Huskies reached the NCAA tournament, Northeastern climbed as high as No. 3 in the USCHO poll (four times; last on Feb. 9, 2009) and No. 2 in the USA Today poll (Feb. 2, 2009).
Double digit W's
Northeastern picked up its 10th win of the season last weekend, and is one of 15 teams in the NCAA to have already reached double digit victories. It's also just the sixth time in program history that the Huskies have 10 wins before Jan. 1, and first time since 2008-09.
Out of the gates
Northeastern is off to a 8-3-0 record in conference play midway through the conference slate, the best start to league play since 2008-09. It took 20 games for the Huskies to reach eight league wins in each of the last two seasons.
How you start is how you go ...
Northeastern is outscoring opponents 21-6 in the first period this season, and it's +15 first period goal differential is the best in the nation.
... But it's how you finish
Northeastern has been a tough team to defeat when the Huskies lead after two periods. Since 2013-14, NU is 64-9-3 (.862) when the Huskies have the lead through 40 minutes of play.
Power up
The Northeastern power play has developed into one of the most lethal units in the nation in the last three years. NU led the nation with 55 power play strikes in 2016-17, tied for the most in team history. Northeastern has also led the nation with the power play goals over the last two (94) and three (128) seasons.
Junior
Adam Gaudette broke the school record for power play goals in a season (16) last year, and currently leads all active players in the NCAA with 27 career goals on the man advantage. He's four PPG away from tying the school record, held by J.F. Aube and Rod Isbister.
The Huskies, who draw an average of 4.81 power play per game, are second in the NCAA with 22 conversions this season.
Picking their spots
Despite being in the middle of the pack in the nation in shots on goal per game (30.38; 24th in the NCAA), the Huskies hit their target more often than not with an 11.9% shooting percentage that ranks fourth in the country.
Adam Gaudette leads the team with a 22% shot percentage and leads the nation and is sixth in the NCAA among players with at least 50 shots on goal.
Captain Comeback
Captain
Nolan Stevens is tied for third on the team with 15 points (nine goals, six assists), and has goals in six of his last 10 games. Since returning from injury last February, Stevens has points in 18 of his last 27 games (16 goals, 16 assists).
Help me, help you
Sophomore
Jeremy Davies already has 15 points through the two months of the season, which is tied for 11th in the nation among defensemen. His 0.94 points per game this season are sixth among defensemen nationally. If Davies leads the team in assists this season, it'll be the first time since Steve Birnstill in 2006-07 that a blueliner has led the team in helpers.
Prime'd for success
Freshman
Cayden Primeau has acclimated himself to the college game, earning starts in nine of Northeastern's 16 games and posting a 6-3-1 mark with a 2.06 goals against average. After a 6-4 loss to Quinnipiac on Oct. 21, Primeau has bounced back in a big way.
Since then, Primeau is fourth in the nation with a 1.72 goals against average and .939 save percentage, highlighted by a season-high 33 save effort against No. 12/11 Boston University on Nov. 10.
Recapping Saturday's win at Boston College
Dylan Sikura's four-point night and a 4-of-8 showing on the power play set the tone for Northeastern in its first win at No. 14 Boston College since 2008 with a 5-2 victory at Conte Forum.
The Huskies scored the game's first five goals, including three PPG in the first period from
Jeremy Davies, Sikura and
Adam Gaudette (one goal, two assists) to take a 3-0 lead through 20 minutes.
Trevor Owens scored his first of the season early in the second before Sikura potted his second of the night, also on the power play, before the Eagles chipped away with goals from Michael Kim and Christopher Brown to make it 5-2 after two. The Eagles continued to press into the third period, but freshman
Cayden Primeau (26 saves) and the Northeastern defense kept BC at bay to secure the win.
BC outshot the Huskies 28-27 in the game and went 1-of-5 on the power play.
NU mourns the loss of George Makris
George P. Makris, who gave more than half a century of service to Northeastern University as a student-athlete, fundraiser and philanthropist, passed away on Dec. 3. He was 96.
As a student-athlete, Makris earned three varsity letters for the Huskies in football, ice hockey and baseball in a career that was split by World War II.
After retiring from Electrolux in 1970, Makris returned to his alma mater. At first, he focused his efforts to the Varsity Club as president in 1975 and then as treasurer. His devotion to the University was evident and, in 1977, Makris became the first Director of Athletic Development.
He was inducted into the Varsity Club Hall of Fame in 1983 for his accomplishments in football and for his achievements as the university's director of athletic development.
Former coach Ben Smith inducted to U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame
Former Northeastern men's hockey and three-time United States Olympic Women's Hockey head coach Ben Smith has been selected to the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame, USA Hockey announced on June 19. He was inducted on Dec. 13 in Boston.
Smith was the head coach of the United States Olympic Women's Ice Hockey team in 1998, 2002 and 2006, leading Team USA to the first-ever gold medal in women's hockey at the 1998 Winter Olympic Games.
Smith served as head coach on Huntington Avenue for five seasons, going 70-92-18, highlighted by a 19-13-7 campaign in 1993-94 that culminated in a NCAA tournament appearance.
The road ahead
Northeastern will have two weeks off as the Huskies will go their separate ways for the holiday break. NU will be back in action on Dec. 30 when the Huskies host AIC at Matthews Arena.
