Men’s College Hockey
MAINE vs. NEW HAMPSHIRE
Time, site: Friday, 7 p.m., Alfond Arena, Orono; Saturday, 7 p.m., Whittemore Center, Durham, N.H.
Records: Maine 8-15-1 (3-7 Hockey East); UNH 8-12-2 (3-6-1 HE)
Series, last meeting: Maine leads 61-52-6, UNH 7-4 on Dec. 13
Key players: Maine — C Cam Brown (5 goals, 14 assists), C Devin Shore (6 & 12), RW Blaine Byron (9 & 8), D Ben Hutton (5 & 8), RW Steven Swavely (4 & 8), G Sean Romeo (5-10-0, 2.91 goals-against average, .908 save percentage), G Matt Morris (3-5-1, 2.91, .907); UNH — RW Tyler Kelleher (8 & 15), C Grayson Downing (14 & 8), RW Matt Willows (9 & 10), C Andrew Poturalski (7 & 7), D Matias Cleland (3 & 2), G Daniel Tirone (3-0-0, 1.67, .935), G Adam Clark (5-12-2, 2.86, .898)
Game notes: These are Hockey East games. The teams split non-conference games last month. UNH is 3-1-1 in its last five with recent addition goalie Tirone posting all three victories. Downing had a third-period hat trick in UNH’s win over Maine on Dec. 13. Downing has a seven-game points streak (10 goals 4 assists) and is two points away from becoming UNH’s 72nd 100-point scorer. Linemate Kelleher has 10 points (2 & 8) in his last four games including assists on six Downing goals. Downing is UNH’s leading scorer against Maine (5 & 3 in 7 games). Each team has done well at home vs. the other. Maine is 32-19-3 vs. UNH at Alfond Arena and UNH is 19-6-2 vs. Maine at the Whittemore Center. Shore has 2 & 8 in seven games against the Wildcats while Byron has 3 & 1 in four games. Maine has held teams to two goals or less five times in its last six games and must play solid team defense against a quick and skilled UNH team that has scored 27 goals in its last seven games. Morris has stopped 69 of the 71 shots he has faced in his last two starts.