BOSTON – The No. 12/11 Northeastern men's hockey team heads back on the road this weekend as the Huskies head to Alfond Arena for a two-game set at Maine, beginning on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. Northeastern is 7-1-0 away from Matthews Arena this season, an .875 winning percentage that is the second highest in the nation. The Huskies have allowed an NCAA low 11 goals away from home.
The Huskies currently sit in a tie for third in the Hockey East standings, with just three points separating the No. 1 through No. 6 spots with 15 conference games remaining.
Primeau and Madden win silver medal at WJC
Northeastern's
Tyler Madden,
Cayden Primeau and coach
Jerry Keefe helped the United States National Junior Team to the silver medal at the 2019 IIHF World Junior Championships following a 3-2 loss to Finland in the gold medal game. It marked the first time in team history that Northeastern had two players named to the final United States National Junior Team roster.
Primeau emerged as the team's starting goaltender during the tournament, going 4-0-0-1 (W-OTW-OTL-L) with a 1.61 GAA and .937 save percentage. Madden had three goals and one assist, including a power play goal and a game-winning goal.
Both players were named the U.S. Player of the Game at one point during the tournament, while Coach Keefe oversaw the PP unit that finished second with a 25.93% (7-of-27) success rate.
All-time series with Maine
Northeastern and Maine will square off for the first time this season, with Maine holding a 57-47-19 advantage in the all-time series. It's been Northeastern, though, with the upper hand in recent years, winning seven of the last eight meetings including both games last year.
Out of the gates in Hockey East
Northeastern is off to a 6-2-1 start in conference play this season, its best since the 1984-85 season (7-1-0). The Huskies are outscoring their opponents by 1.67 goals per game and operating at 85% on the penalty kill vs. league foes.
Road warriors
Northeastern is 7-1-0 away from home this season, an .875 winning percentage that is the second highest in the NCAA. NU is outscoring opponents 28-11 on the road, which is the lowest goals against total in the country. The PK is also operating at better than 91% away from home.
PK prowess
Northeastern's only averaging 9.4 penalty minutes per game this season, but when they go on the PK opponents have had a tough time scoring. NU is tied for 11th in the NCAA with an 85.7% success rate on the penalty kill, including a 94.7% clip (18-of-19) in the last seven games.
Primeau goaltending
Cayden Primeau is back in goal for the Huskies this weekend after returning from the World Junior Championships. He is 10-3-1 in 14 starts this year.
The win vs. UMass Lowell on Nov. 10 marked the 25th of his young career. Only five goaltenders in team history have won at least 25 games into their first two collegiate seasons:
Ryan Ruck (38), Bruce Racine (30), Marc Robitaille (28), Chris Rawlings (27) and Brad Thiessen (27).
After just 48 starts, Primeau is already ninth in career wins (29), and in sole possession of fourth on Northeastern's all-time shutouts list (six).
His 369 saves this season are tied for 28th in the NCAA, while his 10 victories are tied for eighth and his two shutouts tied for 12th in the country.
Maddening
Freshman
Tyler Madden also makes his return to the Huskies' lineup after a strong performance at the WJC. Madden is tied for ninth among NCAA rookies with 15 points (six goals, nine assists this season). Prior to leaving with Team USA, he had four points in his last three games, including a season-high four-point performance (one goal, three assist) at Merrimack on Dec. 8.
The Deerfield Beach, Fla. native is a two-time Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Week selection this season.
Tenacious D
It's been tough to score on the Huskies recently. NU has allowed two goals or fewer in five straight games, and is leading the NCAA with a 1.20 goals against per game average in that span.
