The rivalry was renewed this past December in front of a packed Whittemore Center dressed in white, and tonight it will be renewed three hours north of campus in Orono.
The Wildcats left Durham last night with one thing on their mind:
“We’re really not thinking about anything else. Just Friday,” senior defenseman Nick Krates said. “We want to take care of Friday, then we’ll start thinking about Saturday.
Krates will be one of the defenseman with the daunting task of slowing down Hobey Baker candidate Gustav Nyquist.
Nyquist has led Maine’s recent surge (8-2-3 in its last 13 games) and a lot of that starts with the power play, which ranks first in the nation.
“It’s one of those things where I’ll definitely know whether or not he’s on the ice,” Krates said. “He’s a very good hockey player. He’s pretty sneaky and can put some moves on you. I’ll just try to keep it simple.”
The sophomore forward is third in the nation in points per game with 1.5 a contest – one spot ahead of UNH’s own Hobey hopeful, Bobby Butler.
Butler and line mates Phil DeSimone and Paul Thompson are the main reason UNH sits five points ahead of the rest of Hockey East, but of late, the team has gotten production elsewhere, most notably from their second line, featuring Peter LeBlanc, Stevie Moses and Mike Sislo.
The trio combined for nine points and UNH’s first three goals in last Saturday’s 4-3 overtime win over Merrimack.
The night before, however, Merrimack ended the Wildcats 11-game Hockey East unbeaten streak with a third-period goal.
“They’re a team that plays well at home. They’ve only lost once there,” said Krates. “But getting those two points the next night was huge.”
That seemed to be the theme coming out of that game.
“I told the guys in the locker room (after the game) that they won’t appreciate how big of a win that was until later in the season,” UNH head coach Dick Umile said, referring to picking up two points for the win, rather than the one point the team would have received in a tie.
Maine leads the overall series with the Wildcats, 55-45-5, but UNH has dominated of late, winning seven of the last nine, including the last five games on Orono.
“It’s an unbelievable opportunity to play there,” Krates said. “The fans are crazy. They really don’t like us. Hopefully we can get the puck to bounce our way a couple of times.”
UNH senior goalie Brian Foster will need to have a big weekend for the Wildcats to sweep the series.
Foster is coming in hot after being named Hockey East goalie of the month for January. Maine comes into the game at No. 16 in the nation, while UNH sits at No. 13.
The puck is set to drop at 7 p.m. on both nights.
Be the first to comment on this article!