NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – The Merrimack College men's ice hockey team returns from its bye week and begins the home stretch of the regular season with a road trip to the University of Connecticut. Game time from the XL Center on Saturday is set for 5 p.m.
Five Things To Know
- Merrimack enters the final month of the regular season with every game having huge implications. The Warriors trail eighth-place Maine by seven points with seven games to play, including two games head-to-head against the Black Bears next weekend.
- January was an up-and-down stretch for the Warriors, who had won three straight at one point but ended the month on a four-game skid. Merrimack earned road wins at Northeastern and Michigan and a home win against UConn last month.
- Merrimack has been outscored by 15 goals (21-6) in its last four games.
- Five of Merrimack's top-seven scorers are juniors, but rookie Chase Gresock leads the way with a team-high 19 points and eight goals, with 10 of those points coming in the last seven games. He is followed on the scoresheet by juniors Tyler Irvine (6g, 11a), Johnathan Kovacevic (4g, 10a), Sami Tavernier (3g, 8a), Patrick Kramer (5g, 5a) and Logan Coomes (1g, 7a). Senior Derek Petti is also up to 10 points on the year (4g, 6a), while Kovacevic is the team's top-scoring defenseman.
- Merrimack will be looking to sweep the season series against UConn for the second straight season after a dominant 5-2 victory at home back in January. Their last trip to the XL Center ended with a 3-2 overtime victory for the Warriors last January.
Inside the Matchup:
| Merrimack (7-19-1, 4-13-0 HEA) |
Category |
UConn (8-17-2, 3-12-2 HEA) |
| 1/26 at Vermont (L, 3-4, OT) |
Last Time Out |
2/7 vs. Northeastern (W, 3-2, OT) |
| 1.96 |
Scoring Offense |
2.30 |
| 3.85 |
Scoring Defense |
3.37 |
| 26.2 |
Shots/Game |
30.7 |
| 31.2 |
Shots Allowed/Game |
31.3 |
| 16-122 |
PPG-Chances |
17-119 |
| 13.1% |
PP% |
14.3% |
| 92-124 |
PK-Chances |
82-107 |
| 74.2% |
PK% |
76.6% |
| 152-378 |
Penalties-PIM |
125-291 |
| 14.0 |
PIM/Game |
10.8 |
| 288 |
Blocked Shots |
277 |
| 766-922 |
Faceoffs (W-L) |
840-834 |
| 45.4% |
Faceoff % |
50.2% |
Up Next
Merrimack will return to Lawler Rink for the first time in nearly a month when it hosts Maine for a two-game series next Friday, Feb. 15, at 7 p.m.
