Series Preview: No. 7 Providence vs. No. 9 Boston University

The Hockey East is being granted a top ten home and home series this weekend when No. 7 Providence and No. 9 Boston square off in Providence Friday night before they return to Boston on Saturday.

One team comes into the weekend with a lot of momentum and the other is looking to find that said momentum.

The team that has been hot in this matchup are the Terriers.

Fresh off claiming their 57th Beanpot after defeating No. 1 Boston College, they come into this matchup having won seven of their last 10 games.

The Friars have been struggling as since the new year they have a record of 2-3-3 and they would end up losing all three of the games that are marked as ties in the shootout.

They also have not won a game in Schneider Arena since sweeping Colorado College back on December 6th and 7th.

The Terriers have also had the advantage in recent meetings between these two. Boston won the season series winning two of the three games and tying in the other.

Fortunately for Providence, they did win that game in the shootout even though the record will never show it.

This year the Friars need a win or two to get back on track but Boston has been riding a hot streak that makes that a difficult task.

For Providence to rise above that task, they need to shut down the Terrier offense.

Boston comes into the weekend with the third best scoring offense in the country as they average 3.81 goals per game only behind Denver and Minnesota who are both averaging over four a game.

In the Beanpot Championship Game, they put four in the net against Boston College who has only allowed 1.78 goals per game which is good enough to be fourth best in the country.

Unfortunately for the Friars, they are 16th in that category allowing 2.39 goals per game.

It will be a tall order for Providence netminder Philip Svedebäck who has compiled an 11-5-4 record on the year giving up 2.34 goals per game.

He will have to stop Boston’s Quinn Hutson and Cole Eiserman who are 10th and 11th in goals scored as they both have 16 for the Terriers this season. Eiserman tallied a goal in the win over Boston College.

The Friars will need to find some more production in this series as they are 29th in goals per game averaging just 2.89.

The good news for Providence is that Boston’s defense has not performed as impressively as their offense. The Terriers have given up 3.07 goals per game which could lead to a very high scoring series.

Boston just sits six points back of first place Boston College in the Hockey East standings and two wins over Providence would be big for them to make a run at the top spot. The Friars are in seventh place in the standings, far from contending for first.

This game still matters for postseason positioning though, and the two games this weekend will definitely have that postseason energy to go with it.

Chase Fisher is a first-year student majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email ctf5198@psu.edu.