Before the River Hawks can look to build upon last year’s second-place finish, they must first find a way to conquer a team they have yet to defeat in postseason action. With an 0-12 Hockey East tournament record against Maine, the River Hawks have especially been known to struggle at Alfond Arena; they are 15-31-1 overall on Maine's ice and just 3-16-1 since 2001.
Maine has now qualified for the playoffs in 24 of its 26 years in the league, clinching home ice for the first time since 2006. The Black Bears will be charged by their Swedish scoring phenom Gustav Nyquist (18-38-56), who is leading the nation in points and in points per game with 1.65. The last time a Black Bear had such an explosive season was in 1998, when Steve Kariya erupted for 65 points.
Nyquist's impact is obviously appreciated by Black Bears head coach Tim Whitehead.
"He’s such a fierce competitor and [is] so skilled," Whitehead said. "He’s got great speed and is strong in tight areas. He’s not intimidated, and he brings so much to the table."
Adding fuel to the fire will be Maine’s dangerous power play. The unit leads the nation with a 29.5 percent success rate and 56 power-play goals, and the Black Bears have now gone 12 consecutive games scoring at least one goal on the man advantage.
The Black Bears finished the regular season with 113 more points than last year’s squad — which notched 237 — and seven different players have notched 20-plus points. According to Boston University head coach Jack Parker, Maine is the most improved team in the league.
Brian Flynn will be another key player to watch. He is not only second in team scoring with 18 goals and 23 assists for 41 points, but he has done substantial damage against Lowell this season. He has racked up eight goals and four assists against the River Hawks this year, and he set a school record on Feb. 19, when he exploded for five goals and a pair of assists.
UMass-Lowell enters Friday night with an 18-14-4 overall record and is 12-11-4 in conference play. The River Hawks are undefeated in their last five games at 3-0-2, and the club’s leading scorer, Kory Falite, will be looked upon to lead the way and build on his 18 goals, 15 assists and 33 points.
Falite has been known to thrive against the Black Bears, recording three goals and two assists against Maine this season and 15 points in 12 career games.
“You’ll always find a player that plays particularly well against a certain team," said Lowell head coach Blaise MacDonald. "I think Kory just enjoys competing against the best. Your best players rise to that occasion and I think he certainly exhibits that."
Though the team’s inconsistency was problematic earlier in the year, Lowell's improved play during the second half of the season — not to mention its recent 4-2 win against Maine on Feb. 20 — should build its confidence entering the series.
“We’ve been challenged to get a consistent lineup together," MacDonald said. "We’ve had a lot of moving parts here in the second semester, which has caused some alterations to our game plan. When I look at our team, we’ve lost 14 games and I would say that [13] of them have been by one goal. We’re right there and we’re constantly in search of that extra 5 percent that turns some of those close games into victories."
Lowell has found more consistency up front from its Kory Falite–Ben Holmstrom—Paul Worthington line, which has compiled five goals and five assists against the Black Bears this season. Additionally, goaltender Carter Hutton’s emergence into the starter fits with the style of play MacDonald is hoping to put forth on Friday night. With a 2.11 GAA and a .927 save percentage, he’ll need to be ready for the fierce Black Bears.
“Given the dimensions and the style that we want to play, and the transition game we’d like to incorporate, Hutton gives us the best opportunity to play that way while still being very fundamental and calm in the net to make the big saves when we need them," MacDonald said.
