Four points. In the scheme of a season, that may not seem like a lot – two games among a slate of 29 for an entire season – but those two games can make all the difference in the world in a conference as hotly competitive as the Hockey East.

The Massachusetts hockey team (6-6-0 overall, 2-3-0 HE) will be faced with the task of picking up a couple points on the rest of its conference this weekend as it plays a pair of games against highly-touted rivals.

“Every point is a big point, and the points you don’t get come back to bite you in the backside later in the year,” UMass coach Don Cahoon said.

The Minutemen face Maine (6-4-2, 2-1-0 HE) at the Mullins Center tomorrow night, and will travel across the state to face defending National Champion Boston College (7-4-1, 3-2-0) on Saturday. BC is tied for fourth place in the conference, while the Black Bears are knotted with the Minutemen for seventh.

“They’re very different types of teams, although this year with Maine being a little bit more high-powered offensively and struggling a little bit more on the defensive side, they might have a more similar look than they’ve had in the recent past,” Cahoon said.

Maine has had one of the most proliflic offenses in the country this year, putting up 55 goals on the season, with 16 tallies in its three conference contests. Leading the way is the trio of senior Niko Dimitrakos, junior Tom Reimann and freshman Colin Shields. Shields, who hails from Glasgow, Scotland, has turned many heads around college hockey this year, as he is tied for the conference lead in goals, with 11.

“Maine’s always been an outrageously disciplined defensive team complemented by really high skill people that were great in special teams,” Cahoon said. “This year, they seem to be putting up big numbers offensively but giving up goals more readily and they’re struggling a little bit with an inexperienced defense.”

Nonetheless, the Black Bears will have to be at their sharpest if they want to torch the Minutemen. Mike Johnson has been stellar between the pipes as of late, as back-to-back shutouts have seen him keep the puck out of the net for the last 167:11, a feat earning him USCHO Defensive Player of the Week for the entirety of Division I.

As for the Eagles, they suffered major losses in the offseason, including six seniors and three underclassmen that elected to pursue professional careers. Where that left BC was with a slew of question marks on its roster.

Sophomores Ben Eaves and Tony Voce have provided one answer – stepping into the role of offensive leaders with utmost ease. Eaves and Voce are tied for third in the conference in scoring, putting up 18 points apiece. However, experience is not something that the Eagles have plenty of, as only six upperclassmen are on their roster.

One would expect many similarities between the young Minutemen and their counterparts from Chestnut Hill. However, according to Cahoon, despite the youth that BC has on its side, there is still a wealth of talent.

“As good as our young players have been for us and as much as a contribution as they’ve made, they probably didn’t come in here as highly touted as the young players that went to BC, simply because they, along with a few other schools – the Michigan States, the North Dakotas, the BUs – have gotten the most visibly known athletes,” he said. “We’ve got very good athletes, we’re very happy with them – we think some of these kids as a diamond in the rough that were available, but they’ve got the most publicized and well-known athletes. I think in terms of the contributions that they’re making, there’s some similarity.”

In order for the Minutemen to have a successful weekend, they will have to continue their success in the special teams. The UMass man advantage has been sizzling over the past five contests, converting at a 35 percent clip. Additionally, the shorthand unit has killed off 15 of its last 17 penalties.

That, along with the play on faceoffs, is the vital key for success for the Maroon and White this weekend.

“I think we’re going to have to do a really good job with special teams and keep our penalties to a minimum,” Cahoon said. “I think we’re going to have to do a great job on faceoffs because they both run great faceoff plays, get a lot of scoring chances off the faceoffs, and we have to be really responsible and accountable in that regard.”

However, history does not bode well for the Minutemen. They are just 2-22-2 all-time against Maine and a slightly better 4-21-1 against BC. In terms of UMass’ history, Cahoon referred to the history he helped create at Princeton when he was head coach there.

“I always told our guys, ‘Our history is now, we’re making our history. Our history is what we’re doing today and you’re a part of it.'”

Faceoff for both games is set for 7 p.m.