With a riveting Beanpot out of the way, the Huskies have another crack at #1 Boston College in a home-and-home series this weekend. Despite coming up short in their quest for a Beanpot trophy, the Huskies have positioned themselves well for a run into the Hockey East playoffs, and as things stand right now, NU is positioned to get a first-round trip to Lawler Arena at Merrimack College for the quarterfinal round, a place which NU has played fairly well at.

So, with three weeks left in the regular season, let’s see where we stand:

The Standings

This weekend’s league games:

• Merrimack vs. UMass (H/H)
• Maine at UMass-Lowell (2)
• Northeastern vs. Boston College (H/H)
• UNH at Vermont (2)
• Providence vs. Boston University (H/H)

What matters:

• Keeping pace: We’ve talked about it all year, but running the “gauntlet” of BC, UNH, and BU will force Northeastern to steal some points to keep pace. Even a tie here and there is good, because it’s something. The Huskies have a big enough cushion over UMass and Vermont to not be terribly concerned (at least at the moment), so if the goal is to keep pace with Maine (who is in a tailspin), any points, no matter how they get them, are crucial.
• Playing the seed game: Building on the above point, avoiding the 7-8 seeds has to be a top priority. While NU can skate with BC and UNH, beating them in the postseason might be too much to ask. A BU matchup wouldn’t be much better, but the Terriers haven’t been playing great hockey of late. A Merrimack matchup might be best, but so long as the Huskies avoid the lower seeds, they’ll have a fighting chance in the playoffs.

Who to root for this weekend (other than Northeastern):

• Merrimack to take at least three points from UMass: If the Huskies want to keep a matchup with the Warriors within reach, they need the Warriors to separate themselves from BU, but not climb too high in the standings. Otherwise, it might force one the top two into a lower seed, and create a potential trip to Conte Forum or the Whittemore Center for the Huskies. On the other side of things, the Huskies want UMass to stay pinned down in 7th leading into the penultimate week of the season.
• UNH to sweep Vermont: Same reasons for keeping UMass pinned down can be applied to Vermont (8th). And UNH creating some separation on Merrimack enhances the likelihood of avoiding the Wildcats in the first round.
• Providence/BU may be good or bad for NU either way, so we’ll leave those on the table and see where it leaves the standings after the weekend. Much depends on if you’d prefer a playoff series at Boston University or Merrimack.
• UMass-Lowell to take at least two points from Maine: Keeps Maine within arms reach, and also keeps them out of home ice. Despite their loss to Vermont over the weekend, still not a place you want to play a playoff series.

Playoff scenarios:

We’ll be adding more of these as the games left in the season dwindle down (here’s how we broke down last year’s final game scenarios). For now, a few bullets:

• To finish no lower than 6th:
  • NU must sweep Boston College AND UMass and Vermont get no more than 2 points each
  • NU must take 3 points from Boston College AND UMass and Vermont get no more than 1 point each
  • NU must split with Boston College AND UMass gets swept by Merrimack and Vermont gets swept by UNH
• To finish no lower than 7th:
  • NU must take 3 points AND UMass or Vermont do not get more than 2 points each
• To finish no worse than 8th (clinching a playoff berth this weekend):
  • NU must get at least three points.

Alex Faust Hockey Hockey East