Not long after Northeastern took a twirl on the TD Garden ice, hoisting high the Beanpot trophy before a delirious (not to mention large) student section for the fifth time in the last six tournaments, the focus of the three Boston-based Hockey East teams shifted to what lies ahead — a sprint to the regular-season finish line and the conference and NCAA tournaments.
Though they enter the final four weekends of the regular season riding the biggest wave of momentum, the Huskies find themselves in the toughest position. At No. 20 in the PairWise as of this writing, Northeastern is firmly on the bubble, and will have to either win the Hockey East tournament or finish the season strong and get a lot of help to earn an at-large bid to the NCAA’s big dance.
The Huskies (13-12-2, 6-11-0 Hockey East) put themselves in a big hole with a just two wins in 10 games to start to the season, but currently ride a six-game winning streak that includes wins over their crosstown rivals, Boston College and Boston University. Northeastern plays a home-and-home series this weekend vs. UMass-Lowell.
The Huskies made it clear, moments after their thrilling 4-3 overtime win over BU in the Beanpot final, that they’re ready to fight.
“We kept receipts at the beginning of the year; we heard all the noise,” said Northeastern junior forward Justin Hryckowian, who notched five points in two Beanpot games and assisted senior forward Gunnarwolfe Fontaine for the overtime winner vs. BU. “We stuck together through it. We’re a resilient group now. We’re kind of jelling at the right time.”
BU (19-8-1, 13-4-1), despite four losses in its last seven games, is in great shape with six to play. The Terriers are third in both the PairWise and the USCHO.com men’s D-I poll, first in the league standings, and feature five of the top ten scorers in the league — Macklin Celebrini (first), Lane Hutson (fifth), Ryan Greene (ninth) and Jeremy Milner and Quinn Hutson (tied 10th).
“I like our team,” BU coach Jay Pandolfo said after the Beanpot championship loss. “Yeah, we had a little bit of a rough patch there, losing three games in five days. We bounced back pretty well. (I) like the way we played tonight. We just ended up on the wrong side of it. (I) think we’re in a good spot.”
All three meetings between the Terriers and Huskies this season have been decided 4-3 in overtime, with Northeastern holding a 2-1 edge.
“Obviously, this time of year is when you want to be playing your best hockey,” Northeastern coach Jerry Keefe said. “(You) need your best players, your best leaders to show up in these big games and lead the way. (It) hasn’t been an easy year. We started out the season 2-7 and we’ve had to keep grinding through it. You gotta give our leadership group credit, because they did not sweat it one ounce this year. They believed in each other and kept focused on getting better every day.”
BC (21-5-1, 13-3-1), which was a 5-0 winner over Harvard (ECAC Hockey) in the Beanpot’s third-place game, is No. 1 both in the PairWise and the USCHO poll. Both BC and BU face ranked opponents this weekend, both of whom will be fighting to bolster their own status in the PairWise and Hockey East standings. The Eagles play home-and-home against UMass (10th PairWise, 11th USCHO) while BU does the same against Providence (11th PairWise, 10th USCHO).
For the fourth straight season, the Hockey East tournament will feature all 11 schools and will be a straight single-elimination affair (previous iterations of the tournament featured only the top eight programs and a best-of-three quarterfinal round). The preliminary round will be held March 13, the quarterfinals are set for March 16, with the semifinal and final March 22-23 at TD Garden.
