The No. 16 UMass hockey team will make its first visit to the Granite State this season when it opens a home-and-home series against New Hampshire in Durham on Friday.

The Minutemen (16-12-2) split with then-No.1 BC last weekend, thanks in large part due to a sparkling set of games from sophomore goalie Michael Hrabal.

Hrabal collected 78 saves in the series against the Eagles and was particularly sharp in UMass’ 3-2 victory in Chestnut Hill. Minutemen head coach Greg Carvel has seemingly put all his faith into his 6-foot-7 netminder, saying Hrabal will “be the difference for us down the stretch” following the win at BC, yet the Czechia native has remained even-keeled as the regular season winds down.

“The whole season I’m just trusting the process, trusting the team,” Hrabal said. “We have a great team and if we do what we need to do we can beat anyone.”

Before the series against the Eagles, Carvel mentioned he’d like to see Hrabal improve upon his rebound control. UMass’ No. 31 agreed he still has room to grow in that area but also said “it’s getting better.”

Hrabal (2.47 goals-against average, .924 save percentage) playing as well as he did last week is good news for the Minutemen, and Carvel echoed that sentiment again this week.

“Michael Hrabal will decide what happens to us this year,” Carvel said. “I think his game is rising at a very good time for us. He’s better in games where he sees more shots, which was the case [last] weekend in BC. I think Friday night he’s going to get some action at UNH.”

The Wildcats (11-13-4) have had a peculiar season, to say the least. UNH is currently last in the Hockey East standings with just three conference wins, yet it remains in the running for an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament at 18th in the Pairwise ratings. The losses have started to pile up for the Wildcats though, as they’ve lost nine of their last 11 games. 

As a team, UNH appears to struggle between the pipes as its .881 save percentage is last in Hockey East. Junior Jared Whale has played the majority of minutes in goal for the Wildcats after transferring from Alaska-Anchorage.

Oddly enough, UNH’s penalty-kill is second-best in Hockey East with an 86.3 percent success rate. 

Individually, sophomore Ryan Conmy leads the Wildcats in goals (14) and points (26) while junior Cy LeClerc and senior Liam Devlin each have dished out a team-high 14 assists.

“I watched them play Maine at Maine and was really impressed,” Carvel said of UNH. “They’re playing a big physical style, which is very similar to us. I thought they played really well.”

UNH tied and lost to the Black Bears, its bitter rival, last weekend in Orono.

UMass got a boost to its offense with the return of sophomore Aydar Suniev against BC. Suniev missed the previous five games with a lower-body injury.

The Calgary Flames draft pick had a quiet return with no points in the series versus the Eagles, but said those pair of games helped him get his game legs back after being out of the lineup for nearly a month.

“I think that first game was a little tough for me with conditioning, but definitely now I feel better in practice and feel more conditioned, definitely like 90-100 percent,” Suniev said.

Suniev was leading the Minutemen in goals before his injury sidelined him, but that honor now belongs to junior Cole O’Hara, who has pocketed 17 goals compared to Suniev’s 14.

The Russian winger rejoined UMass second line with sophomore Dans Locmelis and freshman Daniel Jencko. Suniev and Locmelis have been linked together for most of the season and Suniev thinks it won’t be long before their chemistry is back.

“I mean we’re both Europeans and we have Jencko on the line too, so good to have him there,” Suniev said on his relationship with Locmelis. “But I think I kind of had that connection with [Locmelis] from last year and I’m glad he’s on my line and just continue improving and working with him.”

Suniev should help jolt the Minutemen’s power play that has only registered one goal in its last 12 opportunities. UMass still has the second-best power play by the numbers in Hockey East, with a 25.3 percent clip.

Puck drop for games at the Whittemore Center (Friday) and Mullins Center (Saturday) are both scheduled for 7 p.m.