SCOUTING THE RIVER HAWKS:  UMass Lowell, with a 17-9-3 / 9-7-1 record sweeping a pair of Hockey East foes last weekend, is ranked 9th in the USCHO poll and tenth in the USA Hockey Magazine poll.  The team was picked for a fourth place finish in the Hockey East Coaches' Pre-Season Poll and currently sits in a fourth place tie with Notre Dame.  Joe Gambardella leads the team in scoring with 37 points.  Nineteen players have scored goals, four are in double digits.  C.J. Smith tops the list with 16; John Edwardh, Jake Kamrass and Gambardella have an even dozen.  Freshman goalie Tyler Wall has started 22 of the team's 29 games and carries a 2.22 GAA and a .914 save percentage into tonight's contest.

SCOUTING THE TERRIERS:  Boston University has a 19-7-2 / 11-4-2 record after defeating BC in the opening round of the Beanpot Tournament this past Monday.  The Terriers are ranked third in both the USA Hockey Magazine and USCHO polls.  The team was picked to finish atop the standings in the Hockey East Coaches' pre-season poll.  seventeen different players have scored goals; Clayton Keller leads the team  with 14 and tops the scoring list with 30-points.  Jake Oettinger has started 24 of the team's 28 games in net.  He has a 1.75 goals against average and a .937 save percentage.    

ALL-TIME SERIES vs. BU:  This is the 111th meeting between the two schools in a series that dates back to 1983.  BU leads the series 73-28-9.  These two teams met 13 days ago at the Agganis Arena.  BU won that contest, 4-2.  UMass Lowell swept the Terriers out of the Hockey East tournament, two-games-to-none after the two teams split the regular season series, a year ago, each winning at home.  The River Hawks hold a 10-6-1 edge since Norm Bazin became the head coach.

EARLIER THIS YEAR:  BU defeated UMass Lowell, 4-2, at the Agganis Arena on January 28th.  Bobo Carpenter broke a 1-1 tie midway through the third period and Clayton Keller added the eventual game winner less than two-minutes later.  The River Hawks got goals from Ryan Lohin and C.J. Smith.

BETWEEN BEANPOT GAMES:  This is the 18th time that UMass Lowell has played one of the Beanpot teams between Beanpot games.  The River Hawks have not fared well.  UML is 2-13-2 in those situations and 1-7-0 against BU when the Terriers are headed to the Beanpot Championship Game.

LAST WEEKEND:  UMass Lowell won twice last weekend ending a season longest four game losing streak in the process.  The River Hawks came from behind to defeat Northeastern, 6-4, and exploded for five third period goals en route to an 8-2 win against UNH the following night.  Eleven different players scored goals during the weekend.

FIVE GOALS IN A PERIOD:  When UMass Lowell scored five goals in the third period against UNH, it was the first time they'd scored five goals in a period since February 14, 2015 when they scored five in the first period of a 7-1 win against UMass.  The last time they scored five goals in the third period was in an 8-4 win against Boston Colle4ge, January 12, 2002.

(TWO GOALS) DOWN BUT NOT OUT:  Last Friday's 6-4 win at Northeastern was the first time this season that UMass Lowell has won a game in which it trailed by two-goals.  The River Hawks trailed both 2-0 and 3-1 before tying the game up in the final minutes of the second period.  It was only the fourth time they have won a game after trailing by two in the last five-plus years.

ON THE NATIONAL STAGE:  UMass Lowell has been nationally ranked, in either the USCHO or USAHockey Magazine poll, for 108 consecutive weeks.  The stretch began when UMass Lowell appeared at #20 in the USCHO Poll on January 7, 2013.  Of those 108 weeks more than half, 75, have been spent in the top ten.

HOBEY BAKER AWARD NOMINEES:  Forwards Joe Gambardella and C.J. Smith have been nominated for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award.  Online fan voting, the first phase of the selection process, has now commenced for the most prestigious individual award in college hockey. Gambardella leads the team in scoring with 37 points and 25 assists in 29 contests for the River Hawks. His 37 points rank sixth among Hockey East scorers and his 25 assists are fifth best among league players. He has registered a point in 21 of 29 games this season.  Smith ranks second on UMass Lowell roster with 30 points and his 16 goals are a team best, skating in all 29 games so far this season. His 16 goals rank tied for sixth among conference players. Smith has five multi-goal games included a hat trick on Dec. 31st at Dartmouth.

WALTER BROWN AWARD NOMINEES:  Forwards Joe Gambardella and C.J. Smith and defenseman Dylan Zink have been named semifinalists for the 65th Walter Brown Award, presented annually to the best American-born college hockey player in New England.  Gambardella, Smith and Zink have been key members of a River Hawk team which has scored the third most goals in the country.  The trio has fueled a power play unit that is the second most potent in the country finding the back of the net at a 27.3% clip (36-for-132).  The semifinalists represent 13 different teams.  UMass Lowell is one of four schools with three players on the semifinal list.

FIVE GAMES TO GO:  Including tonight's contest, UMass Lowell has five games remaining in the regular season and the road may not be an easy one.  three of the five games are against teams with a .500 or better record.  River Hawk opponents have a combined .486 winning percentage.  UMass Lowell has two games remaining with UMass and BC and Tonight's single game against BU. 

WHO'S NEXT?: UMass Lowell gets right back out on the ice Saturday night when the River Hawks host their University system cousins, the University of Massachusetts, at the Tsongas Center.  UMass Lowell defeated UMass earlier this season, 2-1, in a non-conference game at the Mullins Center.

SCOUTING THE MINUTEMEN:  Massachusetts has a 5-21-2 / 2-13-1 record following a 3-1 loss to Boston University last Friday night.  The Minutemen were picked to finish 11th in the Hockey East Coaches' pre-season poll.  Eighteen different players have scored goals.  Steven Iacobellis leads the team in goals (7), assists (10) and points (17).  Ryan Wischow has started 21 of the team's 28 games between the pipes.   He has a 3.04 goals against average and a .903 save percentage.    

ALL-TIME SERIES VS. UMASS:  This will be the 78th meeting between the two schools in a series that dates back to 1968.  UMass Lowell leads the series 45-25-7 and has won 14 of the last 16 (14-1-1) over the last five-plus seasons.  Massachusetts won the first three meetings between the two teams by a combined 36-5 count.  The River Hawks did not get their first win the series until 1974, a 5-1 win.  The two teams have met once in the Hockey East Tournament with the Minutemen sweeping that series two-games to none.

ALUMNI CUP:  The Alumni Cup is awarded to the winner of the three-game season series between Massachusetts and UMass Lowell, the only Division I hockey programs in the University of Massachusetts State System.  The River Hawks lead the 2017 Cup series one-game-to-none and have won the cup the last five years and 16 times in 22 years.  That first game of the three was a "non-conference" game and does not count in the Hockey East standings.  The two remaining games, Saturday night at the Tsongas Center and February 18th in Amherst, are league contests.

CUP HISTORY:  The Alumni Cup competition began in the 1994-95 season when, after a year as an independent, Massachusetts joined UMass Lowell as a member of Hockey East.  The River Hawks won the cup the first two years with the Minutemen winning the trophy for the first time during the 1996-97 season.  UMass Lowell has twice won the cup five straight times.  Massachusetts has twice won the cup in consecutive years.

A WIN WOULD:  If UMass Lowell wins tonight it would keep the River Hawks in no worse than fourth place in Hockey East.  It would also be the program's 581st win as a Division I program, putting the program two-games over the .500 mark.

THE SUPER BOWL, THE PATRIOTS AND UMASS LOWELL:  The New England Patriots are the Super Bowl Champions and UMass Lowell remains undefeated at home on weekends when the Pats play in the Super Bowl.  UMass Lowell is 11-0-0 at home and, now with a win at Northeastern, 2-4-1 on the road on weekends during which the Patriots play in the Super Bowl. 

Filling the Seats:  UMass Lowell leads Hockey East in average home attendance drawing more than 5,600 per game during the 2016-17 season.  Through 12 home games the River Hawks have drawn 67,309 fans, an average of 5,609 per game.  UMass Lowell topped Hockey East in both total home attendance and average home attendance during the 2015-16 season.  The River Hawks drew more than 100,000 fans for the second consecutive season and only the second time in the program's history.  The 19 games played at the Tsongas Center attracted 106,256 people, an average of 5,592 per game. The River Hawks ranked eighth in the nation in average home attendance filling the Tsongas Center to 93.2% of capacity.

AMONG THE NATIONAL LEADERS:  Joe Gambardella is among the top scorers in the nation.  Gambardella is 9th with 37 points (12g, 25a).  His 25 assists are eighth in the nation.  Gambardella is sixth in scoring among Hockey East players and C.J. Smith is 17th in the country and seventh among Hockey East players with 32 points (16g, 16a).  Defenseman Dylan Zink is second among the nation's Defensemen with 27 points (9g, 18a).  His nine goals from the back line also leads the country.  Mattias Göransson is the top scoring freshman defenseman in Hockey East and is fourth in the nation with 19 points (5g, 14a).  Michael Kapla and Zink with 21 and 18 assists respectively rank third and ninth among the nation's defensemen and second and fourth among Hockey East defensemen. 

PROTECTING THE NET:  UMass Lowell goalie Tyler Wall is among the best in Hockey East at keeping the puck out of the net.  Wall ranks fifth in the league in goals against average (2.22) and eighth in save percentage .914.

ON THE SCORE SHEET:  Through his first 12 college games Nick Marin had been held off the score sheet.  That changed in game 13, vs. UNH last Saturday.  Marin had a goal and two assists.

IT STOPS AT FOUR:  Before last Friday night's 6-4 win at Northeastern UMass Lowell had lost four in a row for the first time this season and only the second time since Norm Bazin became the head coach for the 2011-12 season.  No Bazin coached team has ever lost five in a row.

HOME AGAIN:  This weekend's home games are the first time the River Hawks have had back-to-back weekend home games since Vermont visited on the weekend of Nov. 4 & 5.  The games are also the second and third in a stretch of three in a row at home for the only time this season.  Earlier this season UMass Lowell had a stretch of 42 days between home games.

HOME COOKING:  There is nothing like home cooking for several of the UMass Lowell River Hawks.  Defenseman Dylan Zink has scored 17 of his 27 points and 13 of his 18 assists in just 12 home games.  Zink is third in the country in home scoring among defensemen.  Joe Gambardella and C.J. Smith are averaging more than a point a game at home.  Each of the two has six goals and 13-points in 12 games at the Tsongas Center.  

WHEN RANKED TEAMS VISIT: UMass Lowell is unbeaten, at the Tsongas Center, in their last 15 games (10-0-5) against nationally ranked teams.  The streak is their longest since the USCHO poll began in 1997. Their last home loss to a ranked team on Feb. 6, 2015, when they were beaten by third ranked BU, 5-2.  The River Hawks opened this season with two ties against fifth ranked Minnesota Duluth, knocked off no. 12 St. Lawrence Oct. 21, 5-2 and swept Vermont 3-1 and 4-2 Nov. 4/5th.

A GOOD START:  UMass Lowell has outscored its opponents 39-19 in the first period this season.  That's a scoring margin of plus-20 in the period and that figure is the best in both Hockey East and the country.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES: One year can make a big difference and it has for a couple of UMass Lowell forwards.  Through 29 games, John Edwardh has a career high 12-goals and 24-points.  At the 29-game mark a year ago, Edwardh had just five-assists.  He finished the year four-goals and 13-points.  Jake Kamrass also has established career highs with 12-goals and 19-points.  He finished the 2015-16 season with five-goals and ten-points but, at the 29-game mark he had just four-goals and six points.

BACK-TO-BACK: This is the 14th back-to-back weekend UMass Lowell has played this season.  The River Hawks are 7-5-1 on the first night and 7-4-2 the second. They have four weekend sweeps (Colorado College, Merrimack, Colgate/Dartmouth, Northeastern/UNH) to their credit.  They have been swept twice (Providence, NU/BU).  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.

50th SEASON OF UMASS LOWELL HOCKEY:  This is the 50th season of hockey at UMass Lowell.  The varsity program began with the 1967-68 season.  That first team went 7-7-1.  After winning three Division II National Championships the program moved to Division I as an Independent for the 1983-84 season and joined Hockey East for its inaugural season of 1984-85.  The River Hawks are 839-700-116 all time with a winning percentage of .542.  UMass Lowell will celebrate the 50th year of River Hawk hockey throughout the season with a variety of promotions and events.  The celebration will be highlighted by the naming of five All-Era teams as selected by the fans in on-line voting.

HONORING THE PAST:  As part of the celebration of the 50th season of UMass Lowell hockey, the River Hawks, Saturday night, will honor the 2007-2016 All-Era Team.  The team chosen through fan balloting includes goalie Connor Hellebuyck, defensemen Christian Folin and Dylan Zink and forwards Joe Gambardella, C.J. Smith and Riley Wetmore.  All three forwards were 100-point scorers.  Zink's is the programs top goal scoring defenseman during the Division I era.  Hellebuyck earned the Mike Richter Award winner in 2014 as the nation's outstanding goalie. 

BLASTS FROM THE BLUE LINE:  With his third period power play goal, January 20th, against Providence, Dylan Zink became UMass Lowell all-time leading goal scorer among Division I defensemen.  The goal was his 29th moving him past Maury Edwards and to the top of the list.  A goal at Northeastern, last Friday, gave Zink 30 in his collegiate career.

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 UMass.  The team is 2-5-2 when scoring two goals or less this season.  A year ago the River Hawks were 5-7-4 when scoring two goals or less.

RED LIGHT DISTRICT:  UMass Lowell is third in the nation in goals scored with 104.  That is just two-goals back of Union and Ohio State, the national leaders.  UML is averaging 3.59-goals per game, 8th best in the country.  C.J. Smith (15), John Edwardh (12), Joe Gambardella (12) and Jake Kamrass (12) have ten or more goals. 

WHEN ALL THINGS ARE EVEN: UMass Lowell is the 6th highest scoring team in the nation and second in Hockey East when playing at even strength.  The River Hawks have scored 65 of their 104-goals this season at even strength, an average of 2.24 even strength goals per game ranking them tenth in the country.

PUTTING THE "POWER" BACK IN POWER PLAY: UMass Lowell's power play is hot.  The River Hawks have gone 19-for-52 (36.5%) over its last 14 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 36 goals in 132 man advantage opportunities for a 27.3% success rate, the third best in the country and second in Hockey East.  Twelve different players have scored with the man advantage; Joe Gambardella and C.J. Smith lead the team with seven PPGs.  Jake Kamrass have five power play markers.  Mattias Göransson has four PP goals.  Michael Kapla has 12 PP assists and Dylan Zink has added ten. 

POWER PLAY TRIFECTA: Six times this season UMass Lowell has scored three power play goals in a game.  That happened most recently in the River Hawks 8-2 win against UNH February 4.  Previously UMass Lowell found the back of the net three times with the man-advantage against Minnesota Duluth, Colorado College, Vermont, Dartmouth and Northeastern.  The River Hawks had not done that since hitting for three against Notre Dame in a 3-1 win, November 23, 2013.  In all UMass Lowell has nine multi PP goal games.

114 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 eight assists in the eight games since the break.  He has 41 goals and 73 assists in 138 games.  Gambardella is the 43rd player in program history to reach the milestone and the 23rd in the Division I era.  He currently ranks 16th among DI players and 33rd all-time.  Gambardella has 27 points (8g, 19a) in his last 19 games.  The last River Hawk prior to Gambardella to reach 100 points was Joe Pendenza who achieved the mark during the 2013-14 season and ended his career with 110. 

106 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 now has 106 points on 49-goals and 57-assists in just 108 games.  Smith is the 44th player in program history to reach the milestone and the 24th in the Division I era.  He ranks 41st all-time and 22nd among Division I players at UMass Lowell.  He has four-goals and ten-points in his last seven 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.

49 GOALS AND COUNTING: UMass Lowell forward C.J. Smith has 49 goals in his career.  His next goal will make him the 28th player to reach 50 and the 13th to do so during the Division I era.  Smith would also be just the fourth to do so in the last 15 years.

69 ASSISTS AND COUNTING: UMass Lowell defenseman Michael Kapla has 69 goals in his collegiate career.  Kapla is closing in on the school's record for a Division I defenseman.  Mike Nicholishen (1994-98) holds the record with 72.

CAREER LEADERS:  UMass Lowell center Joe Gambardella, with 114 points, is 11th in career scoring among active players.   His 73-assists places him 9th on the active career list.   Defenseman Michael Kapla is third among active defensemen in the country and first in Hockey East in scoring with 84-points and second in assists with 69.  With 30 goals Dylan Zink is second among active defenseman in career goals and the leader among Hockey East Defensemen.

PUNCHING THE CLOCK: Through 29 games, UMass Lowell has played from behind for just 251:20 and only in portions of eleven games.  UMass Lowell has held the lead for 959:05 of the 1,755-minutes of hockey the team has played this season.

IRON MAN:  UMass Lowell senior defenseman Michael Kapla has played in 149 consecutive games, the most of any active player in college hockey.  Kapla has never missed a game in his collegiate career.  He is nine games short of equaling the UMass Lowell record for games played held by Christian Sbrocca (158-games, 1992-96) and just four games short of matching the record for defensemen held by Jake Suter (153).

GETTING OFFENSE FROM THE DEFENSE: UMass Lowell has the highest scoring defense corps in the country.  The River Hawks blue liners have combined for 20-goals and 91 points.  The River Hawk D corps also leads the country in power play points with 47 on nine goals and 38 helpers.

THREE IS THE MAGIC NUMBER: When UMass Lowell scores three or more goals in a game it is 15-3-1 and 117-17-6, .857, in the last five-plus seasons.  When the River Hawks keep their opponents under three goals, the team is 14-0-2.  When scoring two goals or less in a game the River Hawks are 2-5-2 this season and 24-48-15, .362, since 2011-12.

Multi-GOAL GAMES:  UMass Lowell forward C.J. Smith has five multi-goal games this season.  That number places Smith third on 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 hot.  The line has played together in 28 of the River Hawks' 29 games this season accounting for 40-goals and 93 points.  That's 38.4% of the River Hawks goals and 33.6% 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 50-goals and 115 points in 35 games.

HOT SHOT JUNIOR:  UMass Lowell forward C.J. Smith leads all juniors playing college hockey in career scoring with 49-goals and 106-points.  Brady Ferguson, playing at Robert Morris is second with 104 points.  Ferguson is second in goals with 41.  Smith's 57 assists finds him just six behind Ferguson.

HITTING THE TARGET:  UMass Lowell forward Joe Gambardella, with 12 goals on 52 shots, has scored on 23.1% of his shots.  His shooting percentage is the best in Hockey East.  John Edwardh, with 12 goals on just 59 shots, has scored on 20.3% of his shots is second among River Hawks and fifth in the league.

CIRCLE OF DOMINANCE: UMass Lowell has dominated in the faceoff circle this season winning 1.027 of 1,883 puck drops.  The .545 faceoff winning percentage is the fourth best in the nation and second in Hockey East.  Joe Gambardella leads the team winning 316 of 545, .580.  Gambo ranks fifth in Hockey East.  Evan Campbell (230 of 416, .553), Ryan Lohin (205 of 385, .532) and Nick Master (217 of 419, .518) are all over the .500 mark. 

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.