Despite enduring a rough final stretch that saw the Huskies go 1-6 during their final seven games, the players of the men’s hockey team said they’re ready to put the regular season behind them and make their presence felt in this weekend’s Hockey East quarterfinal matchup with Vermont.

“Fortunately now the whole season’s behind us. The playoffs are a whole new season,” said junior captain Joe Vitale. “Whether you finished in first or seventh, any team can win it from here on out. It’s just a matter of putting all the good and bad behind you and moving ahead with these playoffs.”

The Huskies enter the Hockey East playoffs as the sixth seed, pairing them against the third-seeded Vermont Catamounts. The team played four games during spring break. The first weekend, NU was swept at the hands of UMass-Lowell, first dropping an overtime contest 5-4 in Lowell.

Northeastern returned to Matthews Arena, where they lost their third straight one goal game, 3-2.

Needing to sweep Boston College the following weekend to secure home ice for the playoffs, the Huskies pulled out a 3-2 win Friday night on freshman forward Wade MacLeod’s game-winner with about a minute to play.

But the Huskies went down early in their last regular season game, as the Eagles scored three goals within a minute of each other near the end of the first period. The lead proved insurmountable, and BC won 4-1.

Still, Vitale said, the solid play of the weekend and a split against the nation’s 10th ranked team are signs that the Huskies have shaken off some of their struggles and is prepared to put forth a solid effort in the playoffs.

“We feel like we have our confidence back. We had a good weekend against Boston College,” he said. “We feel like we’re starting to play our kind of game again. Hopefully we’ll carry that momentum into the weekend.”

Northeastern and Vermont previously played each other three times this season. They combined for an even split, going 1-1-1 against each other.

In their first meeting Nov. 9, the Huskies won 4-2 at Matthews. The next two games were played in Burlington Jan. 18-19, where in the second matchup of the year UVM scored a power play goal with less than three minutes left in the game to tie it at two. The game went to overtime, where the teams ultimately drew. The Catamounts then won the next night 5-2.

In a media teleconference Monday, head coach Greg Cronin said he hadn’t put much stock into the highs and lows of the season, and said he felt his team was playing good hockey heading into the playoffs.

“We’ve actually played very similar the last eight league games. We had one clunker in there against [Boston University] at home but we played very similar the last eight league games after the Beanpot as we did earlier in the year,” he said. “They were all one-goal games; tight games. Unfortunately we didn’t win as many as we did earlier in the year or we’d be sitting in home-ice position. I actually like the way we’re playing.”

The Huskies will look for some scoring out of an offense that averaged 2.43 goals a game during the final 1-6 stretch. MacLeod, who has five goals and two assists in his last five games, and Vitale, who now has 35 points on the season thanks to four assists and a goal in his last four games, figure to lead that charge.

Also important, will be the play of sophomore goalie Brad Thiessen. Some recent struggles have caused his goals against average to rise to 2.73 and his save percentage to fall to .911. Cronin, however, said he thought he saw improvements and a return to form from his goaltender last weekend.

“He made strides over the weekend against BC. I thought he was fabulous,” Cronin said. “He was sharp, he was active. He was playing the puck efficiently and I think that was a huge boost of confidence for our group.”

The series against Vermont will be a best-of-three affair. The games Friday and Saturday are slated to start at 7 p.m. If necessary, the teams will play a third game Sunday at 7 p.m. as well. The winner will advance to the Hockey east semifinals.

All of the weekend’s action will be broadcast on WRBBradio.org with Keith Lavon and Peter Martin. Coverage begins at 6:45 p.m.