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The Best Season In Program History - This Week in Hockey East · This Week in Hockey East

• 0:07
  SPEAKER_01: Hi folks, excited for another week of college hockey here on this week in Hockey East.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks so much for joining us.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_01: Along with Bridget Prue, I'm Eric Galanti.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_01: We're gonna start with maybe the series of the year.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_01: Is that crazy to say?
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_01: But it feels like it could possibly be a huge series on the women's side coming up this weekend.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_01: A Saturday, Sunday series that we really want to dive into.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_01: It's number five Yukon and number eight Northeastern.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_01: The Huskies enter the weekend, excuse me, the Northeastern Huskies, I should say, enter the weekend with a six-point lead over Yukon for first place in Hockey East.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_01: They have a chance to really solidify that top spot.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_01: They're 13 points clear of third right now.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_01: So it's really a two-team race for the one seed.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and it's funny because it is the kind of series where you have to go.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: I meant the Northeastern Huskies, not the you have to use the school names because we got a Huskies versus Huskies matchup.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but yeah, these two are the best teams right now in Hockey East, and they were predicted to be that.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: They were also uh top 10 in the pair, uh in the NPI, I should say, as well.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: So uh not only is it in the Hockey East standings, but this has some postseason implications for sure, as both of those teams would like to stay in that at-large uh area to try to get into the tournament.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: I want to start with Northeastern because they're coming off a win in the third place game of the bean pot, uh, three to two win over Boston College.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: They really dominated most of that game.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: Shots were 57 to 29 for Northeastern.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: They forced Grace Campbell to make a career high uh number of saves, and she played great, even though it was in the loss.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, Sammy Tabor for them scored both of their goals.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: But looking at what Northeastern was able to do, they were down one to nothing.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: Then Eloise Carran gets a goal, striker Zablocky, Lily Shannon, they all scored in that game uh to take third place in the bean pot.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: And Karan, she's just been pretty hot in this second half, and she's always been a skilled player.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: She also scored in the UNH game that they won two to one in the in-between the first and second round of the bean pot.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: She's our Jersey Mike's a sub-above player of the week.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: Now 11 goals on the year with four in her last four games and stick taps for the goalie as well.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: Lisa Junson, Solin again in net for the bean pot.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, both rounds I thought she looked good.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: But now for Northeastern, this month's gonna be a little bit different with the Olympics on the horizon.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: They are gonna lose one of their top pair defensemen, Alessia Beckler, the freshman.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: She's gonna go out and play for Switzerland in the Olympics.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: So they'll be without her, they'll be a little bit thinner on defense for about a month.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's certainly an interesting point here.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_01: They're gonna get a Yukon team that certainly was, and you could still almost say is absolutely rolling before they finally had a hiccup on Friday when they lost in overtime against Merrimack.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_01: That was their first loss since November 8th, but it did follow an 8-1 win in game one of this series.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, Tia Chan didn't play in the game on Friday, so that certainly stands out.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_01: But everything starts with her, right?
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_01: Her 952 save percentage leads the nation among goalies who have, you know, had at least 10 starts.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_01: She's closing and unmatching her career high in games played, but you know, she's really been the full-time goalie this year.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_01: That was one of the questions that we had this year, but she's been awesome.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_01: They've really created a lot of offense as UConn team, 37 shots a game over their last 13 games.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_01: A ton of different people have scored.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_01: They're super balanced, right?
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_01: You just look at the nine goals they scored last weekend against Merrimack, eight of them were by different, they were by eight different scores.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_01: So uh that part really stands out.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_01: These two also are gonna play again in late February, so three times over the next month.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_01: There's one statistical dis difference basically.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_01: It's Yukon gives up more shots than Northeastern does.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_01: Otherwise, uh the stats seem pretty even, the teams seem pretty even.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_01: Again, Northeastern has a lead right now in the hockey standings.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yukon has a little bit of a cushion in the NPI, so this is just a really crucial series.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_01: And it starts a crucial couple of weeks for Northeastern because they get Yukon here, and then they get Holy Cross, who Bridget is third place in the league, and is just, you know, continues to be one of the best stories in hockey this year.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, they just recently had a win over BU last weekend, four to two at BU, and they looked really good.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: Their special teams have been amazing.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: They've had two good goaltenders running throughout the season, and they are now ranked 14th in the USEHO.com poll, the first time in program history that they've ever been ranked.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: So that should tell you something about the kind of respect that they've gained over the course of the season, starting out nowhere near that, and week by week making their way up into that ranking.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: Goaltending continues to be good.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: Like I said, Brooke, Lar and Jay uh won each of the last two games.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: Abby Hornung was great all year.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: She's dealing with a little bit of an injury, so we'll see what happens in net for them this week.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it should be fun though.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_01: Congratulations and great to see them as high up as they are.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_01: They have a home and home with Providence this weekend.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_01: Speaking of Providence, what a huge week it was for the Providence men last week.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_01: We're gonna talk with Nate Lehman on the other side of this break to talk about the Friars.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_01: They are rolling right now up to 12th in the NBI.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_01: That is coming up next here on This Week in Hockeys.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: Today we get a chance to talk to Providence head coach Nate Lehman as number 11 PC gets set to play weekend series with number 18 Boston University.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: Our interview presented by Boston Harbor Hotel.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: Plan your getaway today at BostonHarborHotel.com and experience Boston's best waterfront views.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_00: We welcome you in.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: Nate Lehman.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for being with us.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: I want to just first ask how are how are you doing today?
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_02: Doing okay.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, cold here in Rhode Island today, but you know, just rolling along second half of the season and staying in the grind, you know.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, cold in Boston too.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_00: So not gonna not gonna get any help there.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_00: But I wanted to ask you first about your sweep last weekend against Boston College.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: What were you most proud of about your team last weekend?
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, I mean, like BC's a good team.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_02: They're a very good team, and and they have their roster now.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_02: You know, so unfortunately for the national tournament and the league and things like that, they played some games without, you know, a good number of guys without their roster.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but they had, you know, they had their full roster and and and basically five players that uh that weren't playing.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_02: So, you know, I'm proud to they're they're a very good team.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, they're very good offensive team.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_02: I I thought they carried the play on Friday and uh we found a way to win that game.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_02: And then we came back Saturday with a really good game at home and played a little bit more to our identity.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, um, and you know, really five on five.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_02: I was really happy with our play in that game.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_01: Nate, coming off that game against Alaska, obviously Phillip goes down, you guys lose that game.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_01: It feels like there's moments sometimes over the course of a long season where things can kind of go one of two different ways, and it felt like that was a moment it could have gone the other way.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_01: And to your team's credit, you've responded from it and played maybe, you know, some of your four best games of the season.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_01: What's the thing that most impressed you about the group's resiliency coming out of that game and what you've been able to do the last couple of weekends?
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean, that was a tough, that was a tough week for us after that loss.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, they're you know, obviously losing Philip, who up to that point I would say was our MVP of our team.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and you know, coming off a bad loss, um, you know, kind of know two ways about it, even though I thought, you know, their pucks kind of went in and ours didn't, but it, you know, like it just um it just wasn't wasn't good enough.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_02: And um I you know, I give the lot it was it was a lot of adversity, but um the guys, I think it was a good moment for our team to kind of commit to playing um the way and the style that we want to that that can make this group successful.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_02: And um, you know, we kind of walked through it and the guys uh have responded.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_02: Um they put a good weekend together against a very good main team who who come off sweep in Denver.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_02: Um and then obviously um a second good weekend against Boston College.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_02: So um now it doesn't get any easier for us, you know.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_02: Now we have the preseason number one in BU.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, Jack Parsons comes in and net for you, replacing Spedback after the injury, rips off four straight wins.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: What have you liked to uh that you've seen from his game since he took over the net the last few weeks?
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I really like his poise.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, you know, that's what I like is his poison is confidence.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, and and it's just I I give Coach Palmer a lot of credit for you know getting Jack ready for the moment.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_02: Um Jack's worked hard all season, and but you know, he he's come in and the moment hasn't been too big for him.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_02: And that's that's what I've liked the most, is that he's come in and he's just kind of, you know, I got this.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, he's been poised, he's made big saves.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and you know, nothing is his, you know, kind of gotten to him at all.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_02: Nothing's really rattled him at all.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_02: And he's um, you know, so I think it's just poisonous confidence that I'm you know most pleased with.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: And I wanted to ask you too about the scoring support that he's gotten uh since he's come in.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: You guys have 17 goals in your last four games, that's averaging over four goals per game in that stretch.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_00: Has the scoring support uh kind of helped him a little bit?
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_00: And and what has it meant for your team?
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I yeah, it's helped him.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_02: It's helped, it would help any goalie to get four goals a game, basically.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_02: But uh, you know, I mean, we're there's two things.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, like Phillip was our only senior.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_02: So, you know, we this is the youngest group I've ever had.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_02: Um, we knew it was gonna be a year that we that we were gonna grow a lot.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so I I think part of it, part of our scoring um is that we're just we're we're we're we're more poised on our scoring opportunities right now, and and we're feeling better about them.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_02: It wasn't that we weren't getting them early in the year.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, we we I think we lost three or four games where we had over 45 shots.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_02: Um so we're we're getting the opportunities all year long.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_02: It's just uh I think with the growth of our team, um, there's just been we're able to slow those situations down in our head a little bit more um and be a little bit more poised and confident in them.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_02: Um so I think that's part of it.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_02: And I think the other part of it is what I touched on earlier is just um committing more to our style of play.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_02: And um when we commit to that style of play, we have the puck a lot more.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_02: Um and and I think that's kind of helped.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_01: Nate, speaking of some of those guys that you need to take that jump when you don't have a lot of seniors, it feels like Logan Sawyer has certainly done that, really all year, but especially in this recent stretch, two-goal weekend, four goals in his last five games.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_01: What's the jump you've seen from him from year one to now here in year two?
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, just your normal jump between a freshman and a sophomore.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, it's it's a big it's a big ask to come in and and have a freshman play the situations that him and John Mustard and Will Alger did last year.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, and we have a lot of freshmen doing it this year with like Fosh uh Foshane and Roger, and you know, and it's a big ask.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_02: And but um you usually see that big jump between their freshman and sophomore year.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_02: And I was I was looking at it, you know, with with some other players across the country and across the uh across our league, and I think they're right on pace.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_02: Um but I think a lot of what you know what Logan is has been able to do is is just more development.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_02: He's just developing as a player and in maturing as a player and getting better.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_02: Um so he's got the puck more, you know, he sees the ice better, he's more confident to make his place.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, so he's he's you know he's he's coming along.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_02: But yeah, really, the the thing with our team is uh it was Logan last weekend.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_02: Um it's been Roger before.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_02: It's it's like we don't we don't particularly know um who's gonna come up with the two goals or or what line's gonna score for us.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_02: You know, Friday night it was Kiviola's line, had all three goals.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_02: Um so that's the that's kind of the beauty of our our Fords up front is that we have a lot of depth, and as a coach, you don't really know which guy is gonna is gonna go out and or what line is gonna go out and get it done.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_02: And because I think you see our numbers, like a lot of guys have like really even numbers across the board, where you see one team might have like one guy real high or something.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_02: That's not us.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_02: Like we're I don't know who's gonna what line is gonna go out and score three goals on a night, but I know one of them, one of them will.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: Well, thank you, coach, for giving us some insight on your team this weekend.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_00: Good luck against Boston University, and thanks for joining us.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks, guys.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks for having me.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_00: When we come back, we'll look around the men's side of Hockey East coming up on this week in Hockey East.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_01: We welcome you back into this week in Hockey East.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_01: Time to take a look at some games on the men's side and coming up on our Friday night Hockey East showcase.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_01: It's Maine going to UMass Lowell.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_01: You know, this Lowell team, Bridget, has started to find a little bit more consistency, and they come off an overtime win against BU on Friday.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I was at that game.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_00: Just kind of a crazy game.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_00: Starts out, they're down to nothing, and then next thing you know, they're playing that low bend but don't break kind of hockey.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_00: They're facing a bunch of shots in the first period out shot 17 to 5, and then they they're able to bounce back from that.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, they're they're pretty resilient in that they can get down in games, and then you you see them not really let it bother them too much.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_00: So they're down to nothing, and then they start out shooting BC 16 to 7 from part way through the second period into the third.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_00: They end up coming taking that win in overtime.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_00: And they won against BU in overtime, they won against UConn last week at the XL Center, so at UConn, upset Minnesota State and California.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_00: So they've put together a few impressive wins over the last few weeks of the season.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_00: But for them, it's still about can we get a weekend sweep?
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_00: They haven't been able to do that for quite a while back in October against Mercyhurst, is the only time this season that they've been able to get two wins in one weekend.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_00: So that's still out there for them to do.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_00: And we look at what they did in overtime.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_00: Nate Miskey got the overtime game winner.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_00: Then Saturday, though, they went back home.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_00: They've struggled a little bit on home ice.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_00: They end up losing three to nothing to BU there.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_00: So the Riverhawks still looking to put together two wins in a row.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and I think that's the thing, right?
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_01: You mentioned it.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's getting some of these home games that's the next step for them, right?
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_01: They've been okay.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_01: You know, they won seven games away from Sangha Center this year, but they're just two and six at home, including dropping four straight with just a total of two goals in those last four home games.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_01: So, I mean, even if they can take care of some of these, even just a little bit, they might be able to make a bit of a run here in the second half because four games in a row and seven of their last 11 games in the regular season will be at home.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_01: So they'll get two with Maine this weekend.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_01: Maine, you know, again, we've we've said this all year.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_01: Which main team do we see this weekend?
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_01: They were off last weekend after they got swept by Providence, which we just talked about, they were outscored 9-1.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_01: But of course, that followed maybe their best weekend of the season.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_01: When they went out to Denver, they scored eight times and they got a win and a tie.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_01: So, in a year where Ben Barr and company just continue to try to find that consistency, which main team do we see?
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_01: Obviously, they're trying to figure out where they are in goal right now.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_01: Mattis Russo, I thought, did a decent job Saturday against Providence, game two of that series.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, do they go back to him?
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_01: Do they try to figure it out with Alvin Boya, who's, you know, kind of been a little bit up and down?
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_01: So it'll be interesting to see where they go as they try to figure things out this weekend.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and their offense was a little bit quiet in that Providence series as well.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_00: Justin Poirier, somebody who seems to find the back of the net every weekend, uh, wasn't quite as noticeable in that.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_00: So uh they're gonna have to start generating a little bit more this weekend.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_00: Just 20 shots in the Saturday game against PC.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_00: Those two uh were two of Maine's lowest uh expected goals total this season, according to CHN.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_00: So uh this isn't the first time the Riverhawks and the Black Bears have met this season, though.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_00: They played a one-off game back in December up in Portland.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_00: It was a five to four overtime win for Maine.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_00: And Lowell is generally a pretty solid penalty kill team this year, but that was a game that Maine won three for six on the power play.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_00: So special team, something to look at this weekend.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_01: Another huge series coming up.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_01: We just talked about it with Nate Lehman.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_01: The Providence Friars, who are now clear top team in hockey east in the NPI.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_01: They have a home in home with Boston University after sweeping Boston College for the first time in over two decades.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_01: But let's start with the BU side of it because this is the time of year that we talk all the time about the opportunity that's available, right?
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_01: This is a huge opportunity for BU in the same way that we talked about it being a big opportunity for BC.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_01: BU has subtly but kind of consistently moved up here in the NPI.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_01: They're all the way right on the edge of the tournament field right now.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_01: Well, why you might ask?
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_01: Well, even though they're just three and two to start the second half, Bridget, all three wins are on the road.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_01: We know how that matters.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_01: And then the loss, one of those two losses, is to Lowell in overtime, which is closer to counting as a tie mathematically than a loss.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_01: So they've kind of moved up.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_01: Some other teams have moved down around them, and we're, you know, you there's just not that many games left against teams this good, even in the conference here.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_01: So for BU to get an opportunity against the top 12 team, it's really crucial.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_01: And then I think the biggest thing is just to build a little momentum, right?
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_01: They have a nice game.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_01: Can they sustain it?
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_01: Can they stretch it into a streak, a consistent streak here of good solid play?
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I think they've kind of figured it out defensively.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_01: It's offensively at times where they've struggled a little bit, but the one guy who's been pretty consistent and you've talked about him all year long, is Jonathan Morello.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we we bring him up because he's somebody that Jay Pandolfo talks about positively pretty much after every game.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_00: He says that basically that line has been their most consistent line this season at doing the little things right, being simple, going to the net, uh, all the things it takes to score goals, not necessarily in the prettiest of ways, but to come and show up every day with uh enough effort.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_00: And he's gotten some chemistry already, a new formed line with him, Richie, and Rukanakis, ever since they've gotten some guys healthy, uh, and also added Tynan Lawrence, who's still not quite been uh able to impact the game too much, but he's still learning, just coming in at the first uh or to start this second semester.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_00: So uh Pandolfo said that an issue for BU has been giving the other team life.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_00: So when BU is ahead, like they were against Lowell two to nothing, they're giving the other teams these moments to kind of try to step back into the game and change the momentum.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_00: So that's something he wants to see.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_00: Just put your foot on the gas, uh, don't allow openings for other teams.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_00: And goaltending, uh, we had a situation Friday where Lowell ends up scoring three goals in the second period.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_00: Pandofflo decides to take Igorov out after the game.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_00: He said there was a little bit of fatigue with the workload that he's had, but Big Mike goes back in Saturday and gets a 3-0 shutout.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and they're gonna face this Providence team.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_01: The biggest thing, we talked about it a little bit with Nate Lehman, they're capitalizing on their chances, right?
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_01: And for a Providence team that we talk about shooting percentage sometimes, it's not like the most important stat, but it just kind of tells a bigger picture.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_01: They were 51st nationally in shooting percentage before this four-game winning streak at just 8.6%, but they've jumped up in a major way to 15%.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_01: That's much more standard, much more normalized.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_01: They should be able to go on a run if they keep doing that.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_01: And one of the big reasons why, Bridget, is how well Logan Sawyer has come on here in 2026.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, he's our service credit union scoring leader goals in both of those games against Boston College.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_00: He has four goals in the last five games.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_00: And like Nate Lehman said, PC has gotten scoring support, not just from him, but kind of around the lineup over the last four games.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_00: They're averaging 4.25 goals a game.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_00: He's been part of what's kept them afloat and above that line here in the second half.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_01: So PC and BU's a big one, another big opportunity.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yukon at Connecticut Ice this weekend.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_01: We'll talk about that when we come back.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_00: We continue to go around Hockey East, presented by Boston Children's Hospital, the official children's hospital of Hockey East, Boston Children's, where the world comes for answers.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_00: Time to look at what Yukon's got coming up for the men this weekend.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_00: They start the CT Ice tournament against Yale on Friday night.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_00: And looking back at what Yukon's been able to do over the last few weeks, they split last weekend against Lowell and UVM.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_00: And when they allow three or less goals, this is a big thing for them.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_00: Since the start of November, they've only allowed three or fewer goals.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_00: They are 10-0 and 2 when they do that.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_00: But when they've allowed four, they're 0-4.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_00: So a big determining factor there.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, they got some good goaltenders as well.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_00: But can Joey Muldowney have an amazing second half?
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_00: So he last year was a big part of this offense, big part of this team.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_00: Second half for him already looking good.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_00: Eight game point streak.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_00: He comes into the weekend with five goals and seven assists on that streak.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, he's been great.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_01: He was great in the second half last year.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_01: Remember when UConn went on their run?
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, they had done stuff earlier in the second half, but it was that CT Ice weekend.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_01: Remember, they had that crazy win at the buzzer against Quinnipia, and then followed it up with a 1-0 win in the final against Sacred Heart.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_01: I think that was when everybody kind of took notice.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_01: And Mike Kavanaugh talked about the idea of, you know, obviously at Boston College, when he was there, they always talked about trophy season.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_01: That was UConn's first real trophy that they had won.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_01: And that was really a meaningful thing for that group as they went on their run.
• 21:59
  SPEAKER_01: So now can they do it again?
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_01: The crucial nature of this, we talk about opportunity, is if UConn can get themselves matched up with Quinnipiac in the final, that would be the highest ranked NPI team left on any hockey East team's schedule.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_01: Quinnipiac is rolling right now, so it won't be easy.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_01: They're averaging nearly six goals a game in 2026, but it's a massive opportunity for UConn if they can get there.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_01: So watch out for that.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_01: Another sneaky big series before we wrap up.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_01: Vermont, we've talked about them.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_01: They're rolling.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_01: Bridget, UMass is rolling too, and they have two games against Vermont this weekend up at the gut.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, all of a sudden they've won three in a row, jump back into the middle of the hockey east standing.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_00: So they've really started to figure things out on defense.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_00: Since December 7th, they've allowed just four goals in their last five games, only three in five-on-five hockey.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_00: And Michael Robel, somebody to look at in this one.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_00: He has been the guy for UMass.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, thought he looked or thought he could start getting back in this direction uh to come out of the break in four games in 2026.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_00: He has a 963 save percentage.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_00: Only game they lost was a one-to-nothing game against BU, so still a really close, low-scoring game there.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you can't really put that one on him, but it's good to see him playing the way that UMass needed.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_01: They've jumped way up.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_01: They're also blocking a ton of shots.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_01: That should be a good series.
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of them this week.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_01: We can't wait to watch it with you.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_01: These NPI opportunities are out there.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_01: You just gotta watch out for them.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_01: Should be a lot of fun.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_01: Should be a great week.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks so much for joining us, as always, for another edition of This Week in Hockey East.