The lines are drawn. Somewhere along Route 2, Interstate 190 and certainly along the Massachusetts Turnpike, Commonwealth residents have a choice to make.
After two previous attempts to schedule were thwarted, UMass and UMass-Lowell will finally meet on the rink this weekend. The 16th-ranked River Hawks will visit the Mullins Center at 8 p.m. Friday, then the 10th-ranked Minutemen travel to Tsongas Arena at 7 p.m. Saturday.
“It’s become a real nice thing for the state of Massachusetts that the two state schools are strong teams. People in the state are starting to take sides. Which team are you going to cheer for? It’s becoming a rivalry. It’s great for our league. It’s great for our schools. It’s been really good hockey,” UMass coach Greg Carvel said. “They’re a tough team to beat and we have to find a way to win two games the weekend.”
UMass (9-5-3) hasn’t swept an opponent since beating Northeastern twice to start the new year. The Minutemen also won two midweek games against New Hampshire sandwiching that series against the Huskies. But it’s been tough sledding since. They haven’t won a game in regulation since Jan. 6, dropping two against Boston University then tying Providence twice. The teams split two shootouts.
A sweep would also require a rarity for the Minutemen: winning at Tsongas Arena. They haven’t won there since Jan. 14, 2011, a string of 12 straight losses.
“Winning on the road’s difficult. Lowell’s, year to year, a top team in the country. They’re very defensive minded, extremely well coached,” Carvel said. “They’re a team that relies on being a good defensive team and that can frustrate a lot of teams, especially in their building. We’ve got to find a way to win on the road against that team. It’s a good challenge for us.”
Lowell (3-1) has won its past three games, but they were spread over a few weeks. The River Hawks haven’t played since Jan. 4 and only have four games in the books all season.
“They’re strong defensively so it makes it hard to score goals, especially on their ice,” UMass senior Philip Lagunov said. “As long as we’re focused on what we do and what makes us great, that’ll make us successful.”
UMass has the best scoring defense in Hockey East at 2.06 goals per game, which is tied for sixth in the country.
“We’ve been one of the better defensive teams. That’s ideally where you want to be. It’s not easy to do,” Carvel said. “I don’t think anyone outside, when you say UMass they think ‘defensive juggernaut’ or ‘you can’t score on them.’ I don’t think that’s how people view us at all. We try to be a good two-way team that can defend well and score well.”
Lately the Minutemen have tried to be a team that commits fewer penalties. They lead the nation with 80 penalties, but UMass has also played the second-most games in the country (18). Its 91.2 percent rate of killing penalties ranks fourth in the country. None of the three teams ahead of them have faced more than 43 penalties.
“It’s a necessary thing to do because even as good as our penalty kill is, you’re just playing with fire taking too many penalties,” Carvel said.
LET’S TALK ABOUT OT – UMass’ last two games went to Hockey East’s new 3-on-3 overtime period and through it to a shootout. They were the second and third time the Minutemen played past regulation and the first ones since the second game of the season.
Carvel learned how to manage the energy levels of his top players in the extra period. He leaned on the teams’ high-end defensemen, probably a bit too much, playing two of them at a time with one forward rather than the inverse.
“I’ve got to do a better job of lengthening the bench in overtime. That five minutes goes pretty fast but it is a long time,” Carvel said. “Puck possession in overtime is huge, but as important is the energy for the guys on the ice. If they get caught out there it becomes pretty easy for the other team to create offense. So we’re learning as we go. It’s a new thing.”
The UMass staff spent time going over shootouts in practice Tuesday since the extra points may determine who lands where in the final Hockey East standings.
“We’ve never had to do that before,” Carvel said. “Now it’s becoming a big factor.”
RETURN OF LINDBERG – Junior goalie Filip Lindberg played both games of the Providence series after missing a month with an injury. He stopped 52 shots in the series and only allowed one regulation goal.
He was named the Hockey East Co-Defensive Player of the Week with Providence netminder Jaxon Stauber.
“It was really fun, honestly,” he said. “Those were two good and exciting hockey games and I had a lot of fun on the ice.”
Lindberg said he enjoyed the shootouts.
“I thought it was fun. The mindset is the same, focus on the next puck and stop the next puck,” Lindberg said. “Nothing crazy, have fun and do your best. Stop the puck.”
INJURY REPORT – Neither Reed Lebster nor Eric Faith will be available for UMass this weekend. Faith is in the concussion protocol, while Carvel described Lebster’s injury as “long term.”