SCOUTING THE RIVER HAWKS:  UMass Lowell, with a 15-5-3 / 7-3-1 record after defeating Massachusetts, 2-1, is ranked 5th in both the USA Hockey Magazine and the USCHO polls.  The team was picked for a fourth place finish in the Hockey East Coaches' Pre-Season Poll.  The River Hawk roster shows nine new faces including six forwards, one defensemen and two goalies.  Joe Gambardella leads the team in scoring with 33 points.  Seventeen players have scored goals, three are in double digits.  C.J. Smith tops the list with 13; Gambardella has eleven goals and John Edwardh has added ten.  The four goalies, including two freshmen, entered this season with a combined 99-minutes of collegiate experience.  All four have played with Tyler Wall getting the most time.  He has a 1.89 GAA and a .927 save percentage.

HOME AGAIN:  It has been a while since UMass Lowell played at home.  It has been 42-days between home games.  The River Hawks defeated Merrimack, 4-1, on December 9th and have not been on Tsongas Center ice since.  During the 2014-15 season, there was a stretch of 48 days between home games.

SCOUTING THE FRIARS:  Providence has a 10-8-4 / 2-6-2 record following a weekend split with Vermont.  The Friars were picked to finish fifth in the Hockey East Coaches' pre-season poll.  Twenty different players have scored goals; Josh Wilkins leads the pack with nine.  Brian Pinho tops the points chart with 20.  Hayden Hawkey is the only man who has played between the pipes through 22 games.  He has a 2.25 goals against average and a .908 save percentage.    

ALL-TIME SERIES vs. PROVIDENCE:  This is the 113th meeting between the two schools in a series that dates back to 1982.  Providence leads the series 54-47-11.  UMass Lowell has won the last two contests and the two teams have split the last ten (5-5-0).  UMass Lowell has a 9-8-0 edge since Norm Bazin and Nate Leaman took over behind their respective benches for the 2011-12 season.  The two teams have met in seven different years in the Hockey East Tournament totaling 11 games with UML holding a 7-3-1 edge and moving into the next round five times.

A YEAR AGO:  UMass Lowell and Providence split the regular season series, one game a piece. The Friars scored four goals in the first 23-minutes of hockey to win, 4-2, in Providence.  The River Hawks took a 3-1 decision at the Tsongas Center getting goals from Jake Kamrass, Michael Kapla and Ryan Dmowski.  UMass Lowell and also defeated Providence, 2-1, in triple overtime in the Hockey East tournament semifinal.

THE LAST TIME, BONUS HOCKEY:  The last time UMass Lowell and Providence College met, it was one for the ages.  The River Hawks defeated the Friars, 2-1, on a goal by A.J. White at 12:27 of the third overtime.  The 112:27 minutes of hockey made it the longest game in UMass Lowell Hockey History.  Goalie Kevin Boyle had a school Division I record of 58 saves.  

ON THE NATIONAL STAGE:  UMass Lowell has been nationally ranked, in either the USCHO or USAHockey Magazine poll, for 105 consecutive weeks.  The stretch began when UMass Lowell appeared at #20 in the USCHO Poll on January 7, 2013.  Of those 105 weeks more than half, 72, have been spent in the top ten.

A NATION'S BEST: SEVEN IN A ROW:  UMass Lowell has won seven in a row, their longest winning streak of the season and the longest current winning streak in the country.  The seven game stretch is two short of equaling the school's Division I record of nine most recently accomplished during the 2012-13 season.  During that seven game stretch the team has averaged 4.00 goals per game while allowing less than two (1.57) per game.  Thirteen different players have scored goals with Dylan Zink topping the chart with five-goals.  Joe Gambardella has four goals and a team best 11-points.  The power play has been clicking at a 34.8% rate and the PK Unit has a 92.6% success rate.  Tyler Wall is 6-0-0 between the pipes with a 1.28 goals against average and a .950 save percentage.

LAST TIME OUT:  UMass Lowell defeated Massachusetts, January 14th in Amherst, Mass., 2-1.  Ryan Lohin and Chris Forney had goals to build a 2-0 lead through two periods.  Goalie Tyler Wall made 14 saves to pick up his 14th win of the season.

TWO GOALS IS ENOUGH: When UMass Lowell defeated UNH 2-1 on January 6th, it was the first time this season the River Hawks have won a game when scoring fewer than three goals.  The River Hawks followed that up with a 2-1 win at Massachusetts last Saturday night.  The team is 2-4-2 when scoring two goals or less this season.  A year ago the River Hawks were 5-7-4 when scoring two goals or less.

ROAD TESTED:  UMass Lowell returns home tonight after six straight on the road and it appears the team passed the road test with flying colors.  The River Hawks won all six on a trip that included stops at Merrimack, Dartmouth, RPI, New Hampshire and Massachusetts.  The team is undefeated in its last seven away from the Tsongas Center.  The stretch was the longest in a couple of years.  The River Hawks did have a stretch of seven away from the Tsongas during the 2014-15 season and won five of the seven. 

ON THE ROAD AGAIN:  UMass Lowell is 10-3-1 away from the Tsongas Center this season.  Their .750 winning percentage is fourth best in the country and the best in Hockey East. The team has been a strong team on the road during the last five-plus seasons.  Since Norm Bazin took over behind the bench the River Hawks are 52-29-8, .629, as the visiting team and 73-38-9, .646, including neutral site games.

ROAD WARRIOR:  Joe Gambardella is second in the nation in scoring on the road.  Twenty-three (6g, 17a) of his 33 points have come in 14 games away from the Tsongas Center.

A GOOD START:  UMass Lowell has outscored its opponents 31-13 in the first period this season.  That's a scoring margin of plus-18 in the period and that figure is the best in Hockey East and the second best in the country.

BACK-TO-BACK: UMass Lowell has played back to back games ten times this season.  The River Hawks are 6-3-1 on the first night and 6-2-2 the second. They have three weekend sweeps (Colorado College, Merrimack, Colgate/Dartmouth) to their credit.    A year ago UMass Lowell played 18 two-game weekend series and the results were similar night to night.  The River Hawks were 10-5-3 on the first night of back-to-back games and 11-5-2 in the second game.  The River Hawks had five weekend sweeps.

STAND ALONE GAMES:  UMass Lowell has played three "stand alone" games this year and has won all three.  They defeated RPI, 5-1, UNH, 2-1 and Massachusetts, 2-1.   A year ago the club played only four "stand alone" game during the season and won all four.  

PLUS-77:  UMass Lowell Head Coach Norm Bazin is 77 games over .500 behind the River Hawk bench in five-plus seasons and that has moved the program over the .500 mark for the first time in the school's 34-year Division I history.  UMass Lowell is 578-575-109 since beginning Division I play in 1983-84.  Bazin has a record of 139-62-21 at the reins in Lowell.

RED LIGHT DISTRICT:  UMass Lowell is sixth in the nation in goals scored with 80.  That is just eight-goals back of Union, the national leader.  The River Hawks are averaging 3.48-goals per game, ninth best in the country.  Three players, C.J. Smith (13), Joe Gambardella (11) and John Edwardh (10), have ten or more goals. 

WHEN ALL THINGS ARE EVEN: UMass Lowell is the eighth highest scoring team in the nation and third in Hockey East when playing at even strength.  The River Hawks have scored 51 of their 80-goals this season at even strength, an average of 2.22 even strength goals per game.

PUTTING THE "POWER" BACK IN POWER PLAY: UMass Lowell's power play appears to be on track.  The River Hawks have gone 9-for-26 (34.6%) over its last eight games.  That was after a 0-for-19 stretch.  Despite that roller coaster the power play is among the best in the country.  The River Hawks have scored 26 goals in 106 man advantage opportunities for a 24.5% success rate, the fourth best in the country and number one in Hockey East.  Eleven different players have scored with the man advantage; Joe Gambardella leads the team with six PPGs.  C.J. Smith has five, Jake Kamrass has four power play markers.  Mattias Göransson has three PP goals.  Michael Kapla has eight power play assists; Gambardella and defensemen Dylan Zink have seven. 

PENALTY KILLING: UMass Lowell Penalty Kill Unit has stepped it up big time.  After struggling early in the season with a man in the box, the PK unit has killed 53 of 56 (94.6%) over the last 13-games.  It had been a bit of a roller coaster before that, twice this season the River Hawks have given up three PPGs in a game. 

Mr. CONSISTENT: UMass Lowell center Joe Gambardella has been nothing if not consistent this season.  He has scored points in all but five of the River Hawks 23-games.  UMass Lowell is 9-0-1 when Gambardella scores a goal and 14-2-2 when he has a point in the game.  He has nine multi-point games.

JOE DECEMBER: UMass Lowell center Joe Gambardella had a terrific month of December.  He scored three-goals and had nine assists in six games during the month.  His 12 points in December led Hockey East and was tied for fourth nationally. His 9 assists were second most in the month among Div. I players and most among HEA players.

COLLECTING HONORS: UMass Lowell center Joe Gambardella is grabbing some recognition.  He was named the MVP of the Ledyard Bank Classic in Hanover and named the Warrior Hockey East Player of the Week on January 2nd.  Gambardella had two goals, including a game-winner and five assists during the weekend.

110 POINTS AND COUNTING: UMass Lowell senior center Joe Gambardella joined the century club with an assist on C.J. Smith's third period goal in the River Hawks December 9th win against Merrimack.  It was the 100th point of Gambardella's career and the center iceman followed that up with the opening goal the next night and has added three-goals and six assists in the four games since the break.  He has 40 goals and 70 assists in 132 games.  Gambardella is the 43rd player in program history to reach the milestone and the 23rd in the Division I era.  He currently ranks 17th among DI players and 34th all-time.  Gambardella has 19 points (6g, 13a) in his last 14 games.  The last River Hawk to reach 100 points was Joe Pendenza who achieved the mark during the 2013-14 season and ended his career with 110. 

100 POINTS AND COUNTING: UMass Lowell junior forward C.J. Smith reached the 100 point milestone Friday January 6th with an assist on Jake Kamrass' game winner at UNH.  Smith has 100 points on 46-goals and 54-assists in just 102 games.  Smith is the 44th player in program history to reach the milestone and the 24th in the Division I era.  He has three-goals and seven-points in his last four games.

100 X TWO:  This is the first time since 2006 that UMass Lowell has had two 100-point scorers skating at the same time.  The last time was in the last game of the 2005-06 season.  Andrew Martin scored a goal in the second period to earn his 100th point.  Elias Godoy, who assisted on the goal, had reached the milestone earlier in the year and finished his career with 121 points.

CAREER LEADERS:  UMass Lowell center Joe Gambardella, with 110 points, is tenth in career scoring among active players.   His 70-assists places him 8th on the active career list.   Defenseman Michael Kapla is third among active defensemen in scoring with 78-points and second in assists with 63.  With 28 goals Dylan Zink is second among active defenseman in career goals.

IRON MAN:  UMass Lowell senior defenseman Michael Kapla has played in 142 consecutive games, the most of any active player in college hockey.  Kapla has never missed a game in his collegiate career.

100 GAMES CLUB:  Junior defenseman Tyler Mueller became the sixth member of the 2016-17 River Hawks to play in at least 100 career games when he skated last Saturday at the Mullins Center.  Michael Kapla (143), Joe Gambardella (132), Dylan Zink (125), Evan Campbell (117) and C.J. Smith (102) have all surpassed the century mark.  This is the fourth consecutive season in which the UMass Lowell roster has included at least six players with more than 100 games experience.

A WALL IN FRONT OF THE NET:  Another honor for UMass Lowell freshman goaltender Tyler Wall.  He was named the Hockey East Rookie of the Week on January 9th after stopping 65 of 67 shots in two road victories in the previous week.  He had 32 saves in a 5-1 win at RPI and followed that up with 33 saves in a 2-1 win at UNH.  Wall was honored twice previously this year by the conference as the Defensive Player of the Week.  He was honored November 7th after a sweep of Vermont and on October 17th after UMass Lowell swept Colorado College. 

A GOALIE STARTS THE OFFENSE:  When UMass Lowell goalie Tyler Wall picked up an assist on Kenny Hausinger's game winning goal at Rensselaer it was the first point for a River Hawk goalie in more than five years.  The last goalie to earn a spot on the scoring sheet was Doug Carr when he picked up an assist on Chad Ruhwedel's game winning goal at Maine on November 12, 2011.  For the record Wall is 1,311th in scoring among active players.

BY THE CLOSEST OF MARGINS: Saturday night's 2-1 win at UMass was the third time this year that UMass Lowell has won a game decided by one-goal or less.  The River Hawks are 3-2-3 in such games.  A year ago UMass Lowell was 10-6-5 in one-goal games and is 42-26-21 in one-goal games since the 2011-12 season.

THREE IS THE MAGIC NUMBER: When UMass Lowell scores three or more goals in a game it is 13-1-1 and 115-15-6, .867, in the last five-plus seasons.  When the River Hawks keep their opponents under three goals, the team is 13-0-2.  When scoring two goals or less in a game the River Hawks are 2-4-2 this season and 24-47-15, .366, since 2011-12.

NON-CONFERENCE, NO PROBLEM:  UMass Lowell has more than held its own in non-conference play over the last five-plus years.  The River Hawks has wrapped up its non-conference schedule for this season with a 8-2-2 record.  They are 45-14-5 (.742) in non-conference games since the 2011-12 season.  UMass Lowell shows wins against Colorado College, St. Lawrence, Omaha, Colgate, Dartmouth,  RPI and Massachusetts this season and a pair of ties against Minnesota Duluth.  A year ago UMass Lowell was 9-3-1 against non-conference opponents.   

AMONG THE NATIONAL LEADERS:  Joe Gambardella ranks in the top 10 in scoring nationally.  Gambardella is seventh with 33 points (11g, 22a).  His 22 assists are fifth in the nation.  Gambardella is fourth in scoring among Hockey East players and C.J. Smith is 18th in the country and seventh among Hockey East players with 26 points (13g, 13a).  Defenseman Dylan Zink is second among Hockey East Defensemen and fourth in the nation with 21 points (7g, 14a).  His seven goals are tops among HEA Dmen. Mattias Göransson is the top scoring freshman defenseman in Hockey East and is seventh in the nation with 13 points (4g, 9a).  Michael Kapla's 16 assists is seventh best among the nation's defensemen and second in Hockey East.  Tyler Wall is the winningest freshman netminder in the country with 14 wins.

PROTECTING THE NET:  UMass Lowell goalie Tyler Wall is among the best in the nation and Hockey East at keeping the puck out of the net.  Wall ranks second in the league in both goals against average (1.89) and save percentage .927.  He is seventh in the nation in GAA and 12th in  save percentage.

GETTING OFFENSE FROM THE DEFENSE: UMass Lowell has the fifth highest scoring defense corps in the country.  The River Hawks blue liners have combined for 16-goals and 65 points.  Those numbers are also the best in HEA.

BLASTS FROM THE BLUE LINE:  With two goals during the Ledyard Bank Championship Game against Dartmouth, Dylan Zink moved into a tie for the top spot among UMass Lowell Division I defensemen with 28 career goals.  He is tied with Maury Edwards and is just one of four D I Dmen with 25 career goals.  His two goal game moved him ahead of Tim Foley and Mike Nicholishen, each had 27.

Mr. CLUTCH: Dylan Zink has proven to be Mr. Clutch during the last three seasons.  19 of his 28 goals (67.9%) have either tied the score or given the River Hawks the lead. Zink, who twice gave UMass Lowell the lead in the Ledyard Bank Championship Game including the game winner, led UMass Lowell with eight "clutch" goals during the 2015-16 season.  Four of his seven goals this season are defined as "clutch."

PROVIDING A HELPING HAND:  UMass Lowell defenseman Michael Kapla had four assists in New Year's Eve's Ledyard Bank Classic Championship Game; a 7-4 win against Dartmouth.  He became the first River Hawk defenseman to pick up four points in a game in six years.  The last to do so was Jeremy Dehner who had one goal and three assists in a 5-4 win against Merrimack, January 22, 2010.

A WIN WOULD:  If UMass Lowell wins tonight it will extend the River Hawks winning streak to a nation's best eight and nine straight without a loss.  Dependent upon other Hockey East games a win could move the River Hawks into second place in the league.  It would, also, be the program's 579th as a Division I program, putting the program four games above the .500 mark for the first time in 34 years.

PUNCHING THE CLOCK: Through 23 games, UMass Lowell has played from behind for just 190:37 and only in portions of seven games.  UMass Lowell has held the lead for 818:07 of the 1,395-minutes of hockey the team has played this season.

Multi-GOAL GAMES:  UMass Lowell forward C.J. Smith has five multi-goal games this season.  That number places Smith atop the national leader board in multi-goal games.  Smith had two goal games against Colorado College, Clarkson, Vermont, Notre Dame and Dartmouth.  Smith has twelve multi-goal games in his career.

GOOD CHEMISTRY:  The UMass Lowell line of C.J. Smith, Joe Gambardella and John Edwardh has been red hot.  The line has played together in twenty-two of the River Hawks' twenty-three games this season accounting for 34-goals and 78 points.  That's 42.5% of the River Hawks goals and 36.8% of the team's total offensive output.  They have been held off the score sheet just twice.  Since being united for the final regular season game a year ago the trio has 44-goals and 100 points in 29 games.

HOT SHOT JUNIOR:  UMass Lowell forward C.J. Smith leads all juniors playing college hockey in career scoring with 46-goals and 100-points.  Brady Ferguson, playing at Robert Morris is second with 95 points.  Union's Spencer Foo is second in goals with 39.  Smith's 54 assists finds him just four behind Anders Bjork of Notre Dame.

HITTING THE TARGET:  UMass Lowell center Joe Gambardella, with 11 goals on just 46 shots on goal, has scored on 23.9% of his shots.  His shooting percentage is the best in Hockey East and the country.  John Edwardh is second among River Hawk players with ten goals on 49 shots, a 20.4% success rate.

BIG ICE:  With last week's visit to the Mullins Center and UMass was the eighth game UMass Lowell has played on a larger than standard ice sheet.  The River Hawks defeated Massachusetts, 2-1, on the 200 x 95 sheet and are now 7-1-0 on the larger sheets this season.   UMass Lowell swept a series on the Olympic Sheet at the Broadmoor World Arena, won a single game at UNH's Whittemore Center and are 3-1-0 on 200 x 90 surfaces.  Since Norm Bazin took over the coaching responsibilities the River Hawks have a record of 35-9-5 on larger than the standard 200 x 85 ice sheets including a record of 11-2-1 on an Olympic sheet and a 18-6-3 record on the 200 x 90 sheet. 

FOUR GOALIES: The River Hawks have used four goalies this season for the first time as a Division I program.  Sean Cleary, Christoffer Hernberg Garrett Metcalf and Tyler Wall have all seen action between the pipes in the first ten weeks of the season.  The last time Lowell used four different goaltenders in the same season was 1982-83 when Dana Demole played in 29 games, Kip Manseau, Mike Luitgaarden, and Dave Short all played in at least three. The team also used four goaltenders during the 1976-77 season and used five during the 1979-80 season.

HOME COOKING:  There is nothing like home cooking for several of the UMass Lowell River Hawks.  Defenseman Dylan Zink has scored 13 of his 21 points and ten of his 14 assists in just nine home games.  C.J. Smith has scored 11 of his 26 points at home and Joe Gambardella has five of his 11 goals at the Tsongas Center.   Goaltender Tyler Wall's numbers are close, but stronger at home.  Wall is 5-2-1 at home with a 1.87 goals against average and a .922 save percentage at the Tsongas Center and 9-2-0, 1.91, .930 on the road.

THE LEADERSHIP: Senior defenseman Michael Kapla has been chosen to wear the "C", as Captain, on the front of his jersey.  The River Hawk leadership team also includes Alternate Captains senior center Joe Gambardella and junior defenseman Tyler Mueller.

WHO's NEXT?: Next up for UMass Lowell is a split Hockey East weekend.  The River Hawks host Northeastern at 6:00pm on Friday night and visit Boston University of Saturday evening at 7pm.  UMass Lowell holds a 59-42-10 edge all-time against Northeastern and is 6-4-2 in the last twelve, but Northeastern defeated the River Hawks in the 2016 HEA Championship game, 2-1.  The River Hawks are 6-4-1 in the last eleven against BU, but the Terriers lead the all-time series, 72-28-9.  UMass Lowell swept BU out of the Hockey East playoffs a year ago, two-games to none.

CIRCLE OF DOMINANCE: UMass Lowell has dominated in the faceoff circle this season winning 798 of 1,470 puck drops.  The .543 faceoff winning percentage is the sixth best in the nation and third in Hockey East.  Joe Gambardella leads the team winning 243 of 416, .584. Gambo ranks sixth in Hockey East.  Evan Campbell (177 of 326, .543), Ryan Lohin (161 of 299, .538) and Nick Master (175 of 345, .507) are all over the .500 mark. 

PROTECTING THE LEAD:  UMass Lowell is 13-0-2 when leading after two periods of play.  They were 16-1-2 a year ago and since Norm Bazin took over the coaching reins at UMass Lowell, the River Hawks are 106-4-9 when leading after two-periods.  They are also 25-13-9 when the score is tied after two periods.

Five Years Among the Best:  Over the last five plus-years UMass Lowell has won 139 games putting the River Hawks in an elite group.  Only three teams (North Dakota, Boston College and Quinnipiac) have won more.  UML's winning percentage, .673, is fourth best in the nation and second in Hockey East during that period.

A GOOD START AT THE GATE:  Through nine home games UMass Lowell's average attendance is 5,381.  That number is the best in Hockey East.  The River Hawks have topped the 5,000 figure in seven of those nine games.