AMHERST — After opening the season with two wins and two losses in nonconference play, UMass will test itself in Hockey East for the first time, as the Minutemen host New Hampshire on Friday and Boston College on Saturday. Both games are at 7 p.m.
Coach Greg Carvel thought Tuesday’s game against No. 6 Quinnipiac, a 3-2 UMass loss, was good preparation for league play.
“It was the next challenge that we needed. The games that we’ve had have been a good lead up to league play,” he said. “To go into that rink against a good team and be in the game until late gives us some confidence. But we went into that game thinking it was an opportunity to learn about ourselves. That’s where we’re at. It’s a year of learning lessons and growing pains.”
Carvel said Wednesday loss was a good teaching experience.
“Last night we lost the game on a growing pain. We turned the puck over, and we didn’t have to. Good teams make you pay for that stuff,” he said of Quinnipiac’s tie-breaking goal in the third period. “It was an opportunity for the team to see how important the details are. We’re asking them to compete hard and play within a system. This showed how important each detail in the system is.”
New Hampshire arrives in Amherst at 1-3. The Wildcats dropped their first two to Bentley and St. Lawrence, Carvel’s former team, before beating Clarkson. They fell to Colorado College, 4-3 on Saturday in their only game last weekend.
Freshman Patrick Grasso (four goals, one assist) and senior Tyler Kelleher (three goals, two assists) each lead UNH with five points.
Boston College is 4-2-1, with the tie coming in Tuesday’s Hockey East opener 2-2 vs. Merrimack.
BC split games at the annual IceBreaker Tournament in Colorado. The Eagles fell to Air Force, but beat Denver in the third place game. They split a two-game series at Wisconsin before sweeping Colorado College and Holy Cross.
Freshman Joe Woll has been solid in goal at 3-2-1 with a 2.32 goals against average.
Fellow rookie David Cotton has been sharp as well. The Carolina Hurricanes draft pick is second of the team with six points (two goals, four assists), behind only sophomore Chris Brown’s seven (three goals, four assists).
BC hosts Providence Friday before coming to Amherst.
Sophomore defenseman Ivan Chukarov said the team was eager to clash swords with familiar foes.
“There’s more rivalry. It’s exciting. There’s a lot on the line every game,” Chukarov said. “We’re all excited for it, looking forward to Friday.”
Carvel spent most of Wednesday’s practice focused on special teams, as whistles have been overwhelmingly present throughout college hockey.
“The penalties are a nightmare. I don’t know if you can teach the players because you don’t know from one minute to the next what’s a penalty,” Carvel said. “Our penalty kill has been strong. Our power play has been abysmal. If we’re going to get eight to 10 power plays per game, we have to generate more shots.”
UMass has killed 31 of 34 penalties (91.2 percent), but scored just three times in 31 power plays (9.7 percent).
UMass has missed the senior forward Ray Pigozzi on both special teams. Carvel expects the senior forward, who has been out with illness to miss at least two more weeks.
Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage