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Boston College men's hockey (16-7-7, 10-5-6) faces University of New Hampshire (19-7-2, 15-4-2) this weekend for the second and third of three regular-season appearances of the season. UNH currently sits atop the Hockey East with 32 points; BC is second with 26 points, precariously above Providence and Northeastern each with 24.
UNH and BC each have six games left, and this is BC's best opportunity to gain ground on the Wildcats. Both teams have two more home-and-home series after this weekend. BC will play Providence and Northeastern, which are expected to be more difficult than Vermont and Merrimack, who UNH will play. To pass UNH and win the Hockey East regular-season title, BC would need to win at least three games that the Wildcats lose.
BC won three out of the four meetings against the Wildcats last year, including the Hockey East tournament championship. The Eagles have faced the Wildcats once already at the beginning of the season and lost 5-2. They failed to take advantage of power plays, not scoring once in seven opportunities.
BC was also missing some key players including Nathan Gerbe to suspension, and Brock Bradford and Dan Bertram to injuries. Bradford has since sustained another arm injury, but Gerbe and Bertram will both play this weekend.
The importance of having Gerbe, who leads the team in both goals and penalty minutes, on the ice was once again proven last weekend. He picked a 10-minute major toward the end of the game against UMass-Lowell. Missing him hindered BC's ability to come back in a game that they should have been able to win. To win this weekend, and the rest of the season, Gerbe, who is second in the nation for scoring, needs to stay on the ice.
BC is coming off a split series with the River Hawks of UMass-Lowell and Beanpot victories against Boston University and Harvard. The first game against UMass was sluggish and uncharacteristic of the Eagles; the second, they regained their footing and once again looked like the team that had won the Beanpot championship.
UNH is looking to continue its seven-game unbeaten streak, which is the same streak that BC had maintained going into the teams' first meeting in November. Last weekend, the Wildcats tied and then beat Providence in a home-and-home series. Before that, they swept the Black Bears of Maine.
Along with the team's unbeaten streak, Mike Radja, the team's top scorer, has a seven-game scoring streak, totaling 16 points, seven goals, and nine assists. Matt Fornataro, second on the team in goals, has scored in seven of the last eight games.
UNH's goaltender Kevin Regan is chasing BC's Scott Clemmensen's ('01) Hockey East record for career conference wins. Regan currently has 46; Clemmensen's record is 52. Regan would need to win at least seven more games, which would require some play in the Hockey East tournament.
This weekend's home-and-home series is crucial in determining the Hockey East regular-season champion. Providence and Northeastern, although tied for third and only one point behind BC, do not have much of a chance because neither faces UNH again. If BC does not win both games, it will have no chance at winning the conference. If the Eagles sweep UNH, they will have to win one more game than the Wildcats to tie, and another tie or win to be named regular-season champion.
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