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UConn men’s hockey playoff pairing scenarios

The Huskies will finish third with a win against UMass Lowell, regardless of any other Hockey East result.

Ian Bethune/The UConn Blog

The final weekend of regular season Hockey East play is here. After missing the conference tournament last season, UConn men’s hockey clinched a spot in this year’s edition with last Friday’s victory over then-No. 8 UMass in an incredible comeback on Senior Night. This Friday, the Huskies are heading up to UMass Lowell to face the River Hawks in the season finale for both teams.

UConn owns sole possession of fourth place in Hockey East heading into the final weekend of play, which is good enough to host a quarterfinal at the XL Center and secure the Huskies’ best-ever finish in the conference. However, UConn can finish as high as third or as low as sixth in the standings, depending on how the weekend’s games shake out.

The Huskies own the tiebreaker against Boston University and Maine by virtue of winning the season series against each team, but lose the tiebreaker against UMass as the Minutemen finished 1-2-0 against Boston College, while UConn was 0-2-0.

Hockey East Standings

Team Record Points Games Remaining
Team Record Points Games Remaining
Boston College 16-6-0 32 New Hampshire, @New Hampshire
UMass 13-8-2 28 Vermont
UMass Lowell 11-7-5 27 UConn
UConn 12-9-2 26 @UMass Lowell
Maine 11-9-3 25 Providence
Boston University 9-8-5 23 @Northeastern, Northeastern
Providence 10-10-3 23 @Maine
Northeastern 10-11-1 21 Boston University, @Boston University
New Hampshire 9-11-2 20 @Boston College, Boston College
Merrimack 7-14-3 17
Vermont 2-17-4 8 @UMass

UConn finishes third if...

UConn wins. The Huskies would host either Boston University, Maine, New Hampshire, Northeastern, Providence or UMass Lowell at the XL Center in a best-of-three quarterfinal March 13-15.

UConn finishes fourth if...

UConn ties. The Huskies would host either Boston University, Maine, Northeastern or Providence in the quarterfinals.

OR

UConn loses AND Providence beats or ties Maine AND Northeastern takes one point against Boston University. That would leave the Huskies to host either Boston University, Maine, Northeastern or Providence in the quarters.

UConn finishes fifth if...

UConn loses AND Maine beats Providence AND Northeastern takes one point against Boston University. This would send the Huskies up to Orono, Maine, for the quarterfinals.

OR

UConn loses AND Providence beats or ties Maine AND Boston University finishes 2-0-0 against Northeastern. That would mean the Huskies would head up to Boston to face the Terriers.

UConn finishes sixth if...

UConn loses AND Maine beats Providence AND Boston University finishes 2-0-0 against Northeastern AND UMass beats or ties Vermont. The Huskies would make another trip up to UMass Lowell for the quarterfinals if this scenario plays out.