None of the three teams joining Merrimack at TD Garden on Friday — Boston College, UConn, and UMass — have qualified for the NCAAs. UMass (13th in the NPI) and UConn (15th) could grab at-large bids with wins on Friday and some help in other conference tournaments, but the only way to ensure a spot would be to win the title. BC (18th) and Merrimack (24th) can only qualify by getting the automatic bid that comes with hoisting the Lamoriello Trophy Saturday night.
That was not a concern for BC (20-14-1) in each of the last two seasons, when the Eagles captured the regular-season crown and entered as the No. 1 seed. They won the conference tourney two years ago, but were upset in the quarterfinals last season, yet they still entered the NCAA Tournament as the No. 1 overall seed.
“It has that finality to it,” said BC coach Greg Brown, whose squad defeated Maine in the quarterfinals.
“When you’re in this situation, there is no tomorrow, so you’re just playing. You can take all the distractions out. You don’t have to think, what if this? What if that? It’s just, ‘Let’s go see how well we can play.’ ”
BC swept the season series against UConn, Feb 20-21, with James Hagens, who was named a Hobey Baker top-10 finalist on Wednesday, registering a hat trick in the opener. Both teams struggled down the stretch. The Huskies won just one of their final six games, while BC dropped four in a row. Both seemed to right the ship in the quarterfinals.
His team finally healthy, Brown tweaked the lines against Maine. Skating alongside Hagens on the first line was fellow Bruins first-round pick Dean Letourneau, along with freshman Oscar Hemming. Senior Oskar Jellvik, in his fifth game back from injury, was reunited with Andre Gasseau and Will Vote on the second line.
“I like the balance of our lines,” said Brown. “Each line generated some chances on Friday. It didn’t look like there was one line that was out of synch. You can always change things quickly mid-game, but right now those lines seem to have some chemistry going.”
UConn (19-11-5) also boasts forward depth. It was the fourth line of Jake Percival, Tabor Heaslip, and Tristan Fraser that staked the Huskies to a 1-0 lead in their 5-3 win over Boston University in the quarterfinals. The top line of Jake Richard, Ryan Tattle, and Joey Muldowney has combined for 40 goals and 45 assists.
“Every line has scored 20 goals or more this year,” said UConn coach Mike Cavanaugh. “So we’re getting contributions from all four lines. But not only that, they all play well defensively.”
UMass (22-12-1) and Merrimack (19-15-2) meet in the early game. The Minutemen swept the season series Jan. 16-17, although both games were tied entering the third period before UMass took the lead, then added an empty-netter each night. Junior Jack Musa leads UMass with 16 goals and 20 assists and was named a Hockey East second-team All-Star.
Since Jan. 1, UMass goalie Michael Hrabal, named the Hockey East Player of the Year on Thursday, is 13-3-1 with a 1.35 goals-against average and .958 save percentage, winning consecutive national goalie of the month awards for January and February. The Minutemen went from a .500 team near the bottom of the standings to a second-place finish, then defeated Northeastern, 4-1, in the quarterfinals.
“We’ve had to win for two months, and we need to win Friday night,” said UMass coach Greg Carvel. “That’s what I told the team. ‘You guys don’t need to do anything different. Just keep doing what you’re doing. We’re going into the playoffs playing at the top of our game.’ “
Merrimack has gone 14-5-2 since Dec. 12. Goalie Max Lundgren has started all 36 games for the Warriors and stopped 57 of 62 shots in postseason victories over UMass Lowell and Providence. The top two lines consist of freshmen and sophomores, with Justin Gill (16 goals, 19 assists) and Parker Lalonde (13 goals, 22 assists) finalists for Hockey East rookie of the year.
“We got out of the gate really poorly, and the way we built back in the second half is a real testament to who our guys are, and I’m excited that they got rewarded for it,” said coach Scott Borek.
The Warriors have the top power play in Hockey East, and the sixth-best in the nation at 27 percent. Opportunities might be few though, as UMass is the least-penalized lteam in the country, averaging just 6.2 penalty minutes per game.
Puck drop for UMass-Merrimack is 4 p.m., followed by UConn-BC. Both games will air on NESN+.
Follow Andrew Mahoney @GlobeMahoney.
