The season in six sentences

The Huskies, ranked eighth in the nation, stand at second place in Hockey East with an 8-2-1 record, leading the conference in goals scored with 42 against other Hockey East teams.

The team’s offense is led by junior forward Grant Jozefek with 19 points, closely followed by freshman forward Tyler Madden and senior forward Brandon Hawkins, each with 18 points. Another offensive powerhouse comes in the surprising form of junior star defender Jeremy Davies, who matches Madden and Hawkins’ 18 points, making him one of the top defensemen in the nation in points per game. Sophomore forward Zach Solow is the team’s leading goal scorer with a tally of 11 this season.

Last but not least, sophomore goaltender Cayden Primeau is working his magic yet again, notching a whopping 421 saves this season, earning a save percentage of .923 and a goals-against average of 2.22. Primeau, along with Davies, was nominated for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award on Tuesday.

What we’ve missed

While most of the student body was home eating holiday leftovers, Northeastern men’s hockey was on the road heading toward Vermont’s Gutterson Fieldhouse for the Catamount Cup, the team’s first holiday tournament since 2013.

The Huskies notched their first victory of the tournament on Dec. 28 against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, defeating the Engineers 3-2 thanks to incredible efforts by Davies and Solow in the last minute of regulation.

The Huskies were back on the ice the following night to face Alabama-Huntsville, and defeated the Chargers 2-0 thanks to senior goaltender Ryan Ruck, who made 13 saves for his first shutout victory since 2017.

The Huskies were back in Matthews Arena Jan. 5 to continue conference play, taking on Merrimack, who they defeated 9-1 and 7-2 in a series earlier this season. This time, however, the Warriors lived up to their name and held back the Husky offense throughout regulation and scored early in the third to bring the final score to 1-0, Merrimack.

The pattern of away-game domination that Northeastern men’s hockey has established this season continued last weekend when the Huskies swept Maine at their home rink, Alfond Arena.

Friday’s game started out strong with a goal each from Hawkins, Patrick Schule and Matt Filipe, all within the first period. The Black Bears had a surge of energy later in the game but were unable to catch up to the Huskies’ lead, losing 3-2.

The series sweep was clinched Saturday night by an exciting shutout victory for Primeau who, along with Madden and coach Jerry Keefe, had just returned from winning silver with Team USA in the World Junior Championships. Primeau’s impressive tally of 33 saves and a two-goal performance by Hawkins helped end the game at 4-0. Thanks to these victories, the Huskies now sit in second place in Hockey East.

What’s up next

The Huskies are on the road again Friday to play Massachusetts and are back at Matthews Saturday to complete the series. It’s a showdown with the No. 1 team in the country, the first time NU has hosted the top-ranked team since November 2015 when they hosted Providence.

This matchup will certainly be interesting as the Minutemen rank first in Hockey East with a 9-1-0 conference record, with the Huskies trailing just behind them in second at 8-2-1. The Huskies will then take on Providence and UMass-Lowell before focusing their attention on their Beanpot semifinal match against Boston University on Feb. 4.