BOSTON – Winners of five in a row, the No. 9 Northeastern men's hockey team looks to stay hot this weekend when the Huskies battle Boston College in a home-and-home set, beginning Friday night at Conte Forum. The teams will then return to Matthews Arena for the series finale on Saturday. Both game times are set for 7 p.m.
Northeastern currently sits in a tie for third place in the Hockey East standings with three league games to play. Four points separate the No. 2 through No. 6 teams in the standings as the battle for home ice heats up, and the Huskies can finish anywhere from first to seventh in the final Hockey East standings.
Saturday Ticket Package
Catch a hockey doubleheader on Saturday as the No. 3 women's hockey team hosts Vermont in Game Two of the Hockey East Quarterfinals at 2 p.m. before the men's team takes the ice against Boston College at 7 p.m. Northeastern is currently offering a ticket package for $20 that is good for one ticket to both games on Saturday night. Visit
NUHuskies.com/tickets for more details.
Crunch time
With just three league games remaining, things are tightening up in the Hockey East standings with just four points separating the No. 2 through No. 6 seeds in the league standings.
Northeastern is currently tied for third in the standings. The top four seeds will host a best-of-three quarterfinal series in March.
Since 2014-15, Northeastern is 23-7-1 (.758) in conference games in February and March as the Huskies look to get hot down the stretch yet again.
Leader in the clubhouse
Defenseman
Jeremy Davies leads the team with 31 points (eight goals, 23 assists) this season, and is eighth in the NCAA among defensemen with 1.03 points per game.
Last weekend, he became the first Northeastern defenseman since Dan McGillis in 1994-95 and 1995-96 to record 30 points in consecutive seasons. If Davies finishes the season leading the team in scoring, he'd be the first defenseman since Jim Fahey in 2001-02 to do so.
Road warriors
Northeastern is 13-4-0 away from home this season, a .765 winning percentage that is the third highest in the NCAA. NU is outscoring opponents 57-32 on the road, which is tied for the sixth lowest goals against total in the country. The PK is also operating at 90.2% away from home.
Since 2002-03, the Huskies have only reached double-digit wins away from home three other times: 2015-16 (12), 2013-14 (12), 2008-09 (13).
All five of Northeastern's shutouts this season have also come on the road.
All they do is win
Northeastern enters Friday with 21 wins on the season. It's the first time in team history that NU has won at least 20 games in consecutive seasons. The Huskies are one of seven teams in the NCAA with at least 21 wins this season.
A win on Friday would give NU 14 victories in conference play for the second straight year, and just the fourth time in program history.
Powering up
Northeastern is 20th in the NCAA on the power play (24-of-122; 19.7%) this season, but has been heating up as of late. In the last six games, the Huskies are 7-of-20 (35%) on the man advantage, which is second in the nation in that span.
In conference play, Northeastern is operating at 23.8% (20-of-84) on the power play, good for third in Hockey East.
PK prowess
Northeastern's only averaging 8.8 penalty minutes per game this season, but when they go on the PK opponents have had a tough time scoring. NU is 12th in the NCAA with an 85.1% success rate on the penalty kill. The Huskies have also scored six shorthanded goals this season, the most since 2013-14 and tied for the sixth most in the NCAA this season.
Ironman
Captain
Eric Williams is one of the most seasoned Huskies on the roster. Williams has yet to miss a game, playing in 148 straight games, the third most among all returning players in the NCAA.
He broke the program record for consecutive games on Feb. 16, previously held by Roger Holeczy (1996-00) and Jason Guerriero (2001-05).
Williams has been on the ice for 84 victories during his career, the most of any player in team history.
Williams is on pace to break the program record for career games played (Wade MacLeod, 149), and could do it as early as Saturday night.
Huskies for Hobey
Defenseman
Jeremy Davies and goaltender
Cayden Primeau have been nominated for the Hobey Baker award, which is awarded annually to the top player in NCAA Division I men's hockey.
Northeastern is looking to become the just the third school to win the award in consecutive seasons after
Adam Gaudette was named the Hobey Baker Award winner in 2018.
Primeau goaltending
Cayden Primeau is back in goal for the Huskies after returning from the World Junior Championships. He is 19-8-1 in 28 starts this year. His 19 victories are tied for fourth in the NCAA, his .928 save percentage is eighth and his four shutouts are tied for sixth in the country. His 19 victories are also already tied for fourth on Northeastern's single-season goaltending wins list.
The win at Maine on Jan. 11 was the 30th of his young career. Only two other goaltenders in team history have won at least 30 games in their first two collegiate seasons:
Ryan Ruck (38) and Bruce Racine (30). After just 60 starts, Primeau is already sixth in career wins (38), and is third on Northeastern's all-time shutouts list (eight).
Mr. Bright Lights
Freshman
Tyler Madden is also back after a strong performance at the WJC. Madden is tied for sixth among NCAA rookies with 25 points (10 goals, 15 assists this season). He has 16 points in his last 17 games (6-10--16), including a season-high four-point performance (one goal, three assist) at Merrimack on Dec. 8.
The Deerfield Beach, Fla. native is a three-time Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Week this season, and was named a semifinalist for the Walter Brown Award on Feb. 4, given annually to the best American-born player in New England.
Earlier this year, he became the first NU rookie since Scott Selig (2000) to start his career with goals in three straight games.
Tenacious D
It's been tough to score on the Huskies recently. NU has allowed two goals or fewer in 13 of the last 19 games, including a streak of seven straight games for the first time in team history. Northeastern is tied for sixth in the NCAA with a 1.89 goals against per game average in that span.
Lock down defense
The Huskies, who are tied for third in Hockey East and 10th in the NCAA with 2.13 goals against per game, have some of the best defensemen in the nation on their roster this season, led by 2018 First Team All-American
Jeremy Davies. Davies is currently seventh in the nation in points from defensemen with eight goals and 23 assists and eighth in points per game among blueliners (1.03).
Davies has 21 points (5-16--21) in his last 20 games.
Davies is also one of six returning players who were named First Team All-Americans last season: Matthew Galajda (Cornell), Adam Fox (Harvard), Cale Morris (Notre Dame), Scott Perunovich (Minnesota Duluth), Jimmy Schuldt (St. Cloud State).
Davies is joined by
Ryan Shea, a trustworthy defenseman who is a key component of the penalty killing unit that is clicking at 85.1%. Shea's already tied for 38th in the NCAA with 53 blocks this year, which is fifth in Hockey East, including a game-high five on Dec. 28 vs. RPI.
In addition, Northeastern's five shutouts this season are the most since the 2013-14 season. It's just the sixth time in team history that the Huskies have recorded at least five shutouts.
Hitting his stride
Senior
Lincoln Griffin has five goals in his last five games, and nine points (5-4--9) in that span. Overall, he's seventh on the team with 19 points (seven goals, 12 assists) this season, which either ties or sets new career bests.
