When the UNH men's hockey team boarded the bus this morning, they did so with the intention of ending what has seemingly become a negative trend.
After going winless in its first seven road games last year, the Wildcats have opened the season 0-4 on the road heading into this weekend's matchup with No. 10 Massachusetts at the Mullins Center.
The series also marks what will be UNH's sixth straight game against a ranked team, and is the beginning of a stretch where it will play nine of 12 games on the road.
"This is a huge weekend that could get the wheels going for us," said senior captain Bobby Butler. "They're a good team with a lot of shifty forwards. I love playing UMass."
UNH struggled to play a complete game last weekend after coming up short in the first two periods of the Boston College game before taking control in the third period, exploding for three goals.
On Sunday, UNH played solid for the first two periods at the Tsongas Arena, before allowing four goals in the third on the way to a 6-3 loss against UMass-Lowell.
But it was the penalties that killed the Wildcats on Sunday after three "needless" penalties led to two River Hawks goals.
"I'm disappointed with the penalties in the third period," said UNH head coach Dick Umile. "They were needless penalties. It changed the flow of the game. I think 5-on-5 we did very well. We played well on defense."
This year to date, it hasn't been the offense that has hurt the team, and it hasn't even been the team defense that Umile has stressed of late – it's been the penalty kill.
Boston College went 4-for-5 on the power play against UNH, before UMass-Lowell took advantage of the Wildcats for three power play goals.
"The forwards need to come together and help play better team defense," said Butler after completing a shot blocking drill.
UMass owns one of the best power play units in the nation, converting on over 30 percent of its chances, leading to nearly half of its goals.
James Marcou leads the Minutemen into this weekend's battle and leads the UMass power play. In fact, Marcou nearly leads the nation.
The All-American finished second in National Player of the Month voting in October and currently sits third in the nation in points with 13.
Casey Wellman is another guy who could do some damage against UNH.
Wellman is a big sophomore who has dished out seven assists, while netting four goals of his own.
But the strength of the UMass defense may actually lie between the pipes, where goalie Paul Dainton leads an experienced crew.
Dainton owns an impressive 2.18 GAA to go with a .934 save percentage and 5-1 record.
UNH does have history on its side though.
When the teams meet tonight, they will be playing in the hundredth overall game between the two, with the Wildcats seeking its 76th win over UMass.
UNH, however, will be without senior defenseman Nick Krates, who is missing his third straight weekend due to an ankle injury, while freshman first-liner Dalton Speelman is listed as questionable with a staff infection.
"We need to be aggressive (this weekend)," said Umile. "(Hockey East) is wide open this year. This is a big weekend."
The puck is set to drop at 7 p.m. both Friday and Saturday night.
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