BOSTON -- With just five Hockey East games remaining, conference points are at a premium for the Northeastern men's hockey team, which hosts Massachusetts on Friday night at Matthews Arena.
Friday's promotions
Friday night is Red Out Night at Matthews Arena. Red jersey t-shirts for students will be available at the student entrance to Matthews Arena, while supplies last.
The all-time series with Massachusetts
The Huskies and the Minutemen will square off for the 88th time in program history on Friday night as the Huskies look to extend its five-game winning streak against Massachusetts. Overall, Northeastern owns a 50-27-10 record over UMass. A win would give the Huskies their six straight against the Minutemen, which has not been done since 1996.
Scouting the Minutemen
UMass currently sits in 12th place in Hockey East with a 2-13-1 record, and 5-21-2 record overall as they look to bounce back after dropping its last nine contests.
UMass is led by senior forward Steven Iacobellis, who has a line of 7-10-17 on the season, including a season-high two goals against the Huskies on Jan. 31 at the Mullins Center. Sophomore Austin Plevy is close behind with 14 points on five goals and nine assists.
In net, Ryan Wischow has lead the way with a .903 save percentage and a 3.04 goals against average. The freshman goaltender is coming off a strong season with the Fargo Force of the USHL.
Recapping Monday's loss against Harvard
Sophomore
Adam Gaudette scored two goals and senior
Zach Aston-Reese tallied three assists, but the Northeastern men's hockey team (11-12-5) was unable to complete a third-period rally in a 4-3 setback against No. 4 Harvard (16-5-2) in the Beanpot semifinals Monday at TD Garden.
After a slow start, the game opened up in the third period as the teams combined for five goals in a span of 11 minutes. Harvard netted the first three goals of the frame to go up 4-1 with just over eight minutes to play, before the Huskies roared back to pull within one on Gaudette's second goal of the night with 1:33 remaining.
Northeastern was unable to find an equalizer, however, as Harvard netminder Merrick Madsen stopped 27 shots, including 15 in the third period, to backstop the Crimson to the Beanpot final for the first time since 2008.
Junior
Nolan Stevens chipped in a goal and an assist in his first game since Oct. 22, while junior
Garret Cockerill added a pair of helpers. Goaltender
Ryan Ruck made a number of important stops throughout the night and finished with 25 saves.
Hobey hopefuls
Zach Aston-Reese and
Dylan Sikura, two of the highest scorers in the nation this season, have been named as candidates for the prestigious Hobey Baker Award, given annually to the top player in NCAA Division I men's ice hockey.
Fans will have the opportunity to let their voices be heard during the Hobey Baker fan vote, which opened on Wednesday and runs through March 5. To cast your vote for either player, visit HobeyBaker.com/vote. Fans can vote once per day on all devices.
Aston-Reese, Gaudette nominated for Walter Brown
Adam Gaudette and
Zach Aston-Reese have been named finalists for the Walter Brown Award, an honor bestowed upon the best American-born men's college hockey player in New England each season.
Aston-Reese was named a semifinalist last season as a junior and his strong senior season has earned him another nomination for the prestigious award in 2017. Gaudette, meanwhile is a first-time nominee for the award and has caught the attention of the college hockey world with his play this season.
The oldest nationally recognized college hockey honor, the Walter Brown Award will be given out for the 65th time this year. Five Huskies have won the award since it's been handed out including Ray Picard (1953), R.J. Cavanaugh (1956), Art Chisholm (1960), Chuck Marshall (1982) and Jim Fahey (2002).
Stevens named candidate for Senior CLASS Award
Captain
John Stevens has been named a candidate for the Senior CLASS (Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School) award, an honor given to senior student-athletes who excel in competition, community, character, and in the classroom.
"John is the epitome of what a captain is about in the characteristics he possesses," said head coach
Jim Madigan. "He's a quiet leader, and at times quiet leaders are the most effective because they only speak up when there's something important to say. He leads on and off the ice and is always doing the right things. As a person, he has high expectations for himself. He goes about his life trying to be the best he can be and getting better each day as a student, a person and an athlete."
Stevens, a business administration major with a focus in finance, maintains a 3.263 grade point average in the D'Amore-McKim School of Business and was recognized in April as part of the Huntington 100, a group of Husky students who promote the school's ideals through exceptional academic performance.
Approaching the half century mark
Zach Aston-Reese is three points away from becoming just the 20th player in program history to record 50 points in a season. The feat hasn't been accomplished since Harry Mews during the 1989-90 season.
Dylan Sikura is hot on his heels, only four away from 50 points. The last time Northeastern had two players with 50 points was during the 1985-86 season when Jay Heinbuck and Rod Isbister tallied 70 and 56 points, respectively.
And should
Adam Gaudette reach 50? Only twice in the 85 years of Northeastern hockey have the Huskies had three players record at least 50 points in a season (1974-75 and 1975-76). The last time it happened: Jim Martel (66), Dave Sherlock (61) and Charlie Huck (51) during the 1975-76 season.
In select company
Zach Aston-Reese's electric 2016-17 season is something rarely seen on Huntington Avenue. His 47 points are already more than 42 Huskies' leading scorers reached in an entire season in previous years, and the most points in a season since Jason Guerriero (48) in 2004-05.
Over the last five seasons in college hockey, only 12 Division I players have reached 40 points in their first 25 games. In addition, Aston-Reese is the only player to score 21 goals in his first 21 games over the last five years.
ZAR climbing up the ranks
Senior assistant captain
Zach Aston-Reese has been one of Northeastern's go-to players during his career on Huntington Avenue. He has 22 career power play goals, which is the second most in the nation among active players, while his 12 game-winning goals are tied for third in the country.
Overall, Aston-Reese has 132 points (57 goals, 75 assists) in 135 career games, which ranks fourth in career scoring among active skaters nationally. He also became the 25th player in team history to reach 125 points earlier this season, and is currently tied for 24th in career scoring at Northeastern.
Aston-Reese is the quickest Husky to reach 30 points in season (18 games) in the last 20 years.
40/40 Club
Zach Aston-Reese reached the 40-point plateau for the second straight season on Jan. 21. Since the 1956-57 season, only 17 Huskies have scored at least 40 points in consecutive seasons. His performance this season has also given the Huskies a 40-point scorer in four straight seasons for the first time since 1991-92.
His assist on Jan. 31 at UMass marked the 32nd time in program history that a Husky has scored 20 goals and record 20 assists in a season.
Streaking
Zach Aston-Reese (16 goals, 11 assists) had an 11-game point streak snapped on Jan. 20, the longest such streak for any Northeastern skater this season and also the longest streak of his collegiate career.
Dylan Sikura had his nine-game point streak (eight goals, 10 assists) snapped two weeks ago, which was the longest of his career. He has points in 15 of his last 17 games, and 23-of-28 overall this season.
Filling the net
Zach Aston-Reese has been scoring goals at an alarming rate this season, and is either tied for or has the outright lead among all skaters in the nation in total goals (22), hat tricks (two) and second period goals (11)
His 22 goals are already the most for a Husky since Wade MacLeod in 2010-11, while his 11 power play goals are the most for a Husky since J.F. Aube scored 13 in 1994-94. The school record for power play goals in a season is 14, held by Rod Isbister in 1984-85.
He is also one shorthanded marker away from tying the school record of four shorties in a season, held by Bryan Esner (2006-07) and Randy Bucyk (1982-83).
He is also one of just seven Huskies to score 20 in a season since 2000:
•
Zach Aston-Reese (21) in 2016-17
•
Nolan Stevens (20) in 2015-16
• Braden Pimm (20) in 2013-14
• Wade MacLeod (22) in 2010-11
• Ryan Ginand (20) in 2008-09
• Chris Lynch (20) in 2001-02
• Mike Ryan (24) in 2001-02
40/40/40 Club
While
Zach Aston-Reese and
Dylan Sikura have given the Huskies a pair of 40-point scorers for the second time in as many seasons, having three skaters reach 40 points is much rarer.
Enter
Adam Gaudette. His 19 goals and 24 assists give Northeastern three 40-point scorers for just the 12th time in program history, and first since the 1993-94 season (Mike Taylor, Jordon Shields, J.F. Aube).
Talented triumvirate
Zach Aston-Reese (22 goals, 25 assists),
Dylan Sikura (17 goals, 29 assists) and
Adam Gaudette (19 goals, 24 assists) are all enjoying breakouts seasons, ranking in the top-six in the nation in scoring.
Aston-Reese had hat tricks in consecutive games on Dec. 18 and Dec. 30, and is one of two players in the nation (T.J. Moore, Holy Cross) to record a hat trick in two straight games, and one of only six players in the country with multiple hat tricks this season.
The trio makes Northeastern the only team in the nation to have at least three skaters with 40 points or more. The three have also combined to make up half of the Huskies' total scoring this season.
Sikura named Warrior Player of the Month
For the first time in his career, junior
Dylan Sikura has been named the Warrior Player of the Month. Sikura was tied for first in the nation with 15 points in eight games during January on six goals and nine assists.
His 1.88 points per game average led the country, as well as his eight points on the power play. Sikura closed the month with five-straight multi-point games, including three three-point nights, the most in the nation during January.
It just comes natural
Dylan Sikura is tied for fourth in the country with 46 points this season, and tied for second in the nation with 29 assists in his first 28 games.
He's one assist away from becoming the 25th player in team history to record 30 assists in a season, and first since Jason Guerriero in 2004-05.
The Aurora, Ontario native has at least one point in 23 of the team's 28 games this season. His 17 goals and 46 points in just 28 games are already more than his total from all of last season (36 games).
On Jan. 27 at UMass Lowell, he scored three goals in the final 7:19 of regulation to lead the Huskies to a come-from-behind win, becoming the first Husky since Cody Ferriero on Dec. 29, 2012 at Harvard to score three goals in a period. The only other time it's happened since in the last 12 years was on Nov. 4, 2005 (Ryan Ginand vs. New Hampshire).
Sikura's third period performance was also the first natural hat trick for a Husky since
Kevin Roy against Connecticut on Feb. 13, 2015. It's the fourth time that's happened since 2012 (Cody Ferriero, twice; Jan. 27, 2012 at Vermont and Dec. 29, 2012 at Harvard).
Good Gaud
Sophomore
Adam Gaudette has been one of the top players in the nation this season, recording 19 goals and 24 assists in his first 27 games. It took him 41 games to reach 30 points last season. The Braintree, Mass. native had a five-game goal scoring streak earlier this season, the longest of his career.
Most of Gaudette's damage this season has been done at home, where he's recorded 25 of his 41 points (10 goals, 15 assists). It's tied for the third highest home point total in the nation this season.
The straw that stirs the drink
While
Zach Aston-Reese,
Dylan Sikura and
Adam Gaudette have received most of the praise for their work in 2016-17, it's been the under the radar play of captain
John Stevens that has resulted in much of their success. Stevens provides the defensive work that allows the Huskies to transition up ice and has a strong ability to maintain puck possession in the attacking zone to distribute the puck to his linemates for scoring chances.
Stevens is averaging one point per game in a season that forced him to miss six games due to an upper body injury. He's also approaching 100 career points, and has 24 goals and 72 assists in 131 career games. Stevens has also reached that total without ever having recorded a multi-goal game in his collegiate career.
If he were to reach the century mark, it would be the first time since 2010-11 (Wade MacLeod and Tyler McNeely) that two Huskies reached 100 points in the same season.
Power up
NU is averaging 5.61 power play opportunities per game this season, tied for the second highest in the nation, and have cashed in 43 times, the most in the country.
Their two power play strikes last Friday night gave Northeastern at least 40 goals on the man advantage for the first time since the 2001-02 season.
Northeastern has also recorded at last one power play tally in the last 17 games.
Eleven different Huskies have found the back of the net on the man advantage, including a team-high 12 from
Adam Gaudette, tied for the most in the nation, as well as 11 from
Zach Aston-Reese.
The 23 combined PPG between the two are equal to or more than 28 teams have total this season.
Cockerill keeping up
Junior
Garret Cockerill plays in all situations for Northeastern, and is one of the team leaders in time on ice per game. This year, though, the Brighton, Mich. native has continued to chip in at the offensive end of the ice, and is fourth on the team with 27 points (six goals, 21 assists), a new career high and the most points for a Northeastern defenseman since Jim Fahey in 2001-02.
His 0.96 points per game are fourth in the nation, and second in Hockey East, among defensemen.
Get in front of it
A contributing factor to Northeastern's low shots against total has been the shot blocking abilities of the skaters in front of their own net. NU has blocked 432 shots in 28 games, a 15.43 average that ranks sixth in the nation.
Garret Cockerill, meanwhile, leads the team with 62 blocks and an average of 2.21 that is 16th in the country and second in Hockey East. He had a career-high six blocks against New Hampshire at Fenway Park on Jan. 14.
Tough after two
Opponents who find themselves down to the Huskies through two periods of play haven't fared well in recent years. Over the last four seasons, Northeastern is 50-4-3 (.904) when leading after 40 minutes, including a 8-1-0 mark in 2016-17.
