PJ Stanley/Collegian

Three months ago, I could have imagined writing this column with a much different angle. If you had asked me after the Massachusetts hockey team defeated New Hampshire, 4-1, in front of 5,756 fans on Dec. 8, if the Minutemen could repeat such a feat in the playoffs, I would have had two responses.

First, it would have to take place in Boston at the TD BankNorth Garden in either the semifinals or the Hockey East Championship, and second, yes, the Minutemen have the right type of talent – and enough of it – to outduel one of the nation’s top teams.

Three weeks later, the Minutemen reinforced my opinion with impressive wins over Notre Dame and Colorado College in the Lightning College Hockey Classic.

Then the floor fell out from beneath the Mass Attack, who plummeted out of the national rankings and nearly hit the basement of Hockey East.

The Minutemen opened the 2008 portion of their schedule with consecutive losses to UNH, went winless in their first seven games after the break and were 2-11-1 before winning their final three games of the regular season.

No one had an explanation for what happened to a team many expected to at least match last year’s success. Opposing coaches all said the same thing at post-game press conferences: no one knew why UMass wasn’t winning, and everyone was surprised that they weren’t.

Regardless of the whys and hows, the Minutemen began playing like they did for all of the 2007 calendar year right when they absolutely had to, beating a red-hot Boston University team with a convincing 5-1 victory at home and then sweeping Merrimack, as they should, in a home-and-home series this a past weekend.

Therefore it’s hard to say what this team could do in Durham, N.H., this Friday, Saturday and possibly Sunday, because, really, they could do anything. It would not surprise me anymore to see the Mass Attack shock the Wildcats and win the first two games of the series than it would to see them get trounced and quickly sent packing.

The simple fact remains that UMass is good enough to beat New Hampshire, BU, Boston College or anyone else that’s still standing in Hockey East. They proved that last fall, and other than a few losses to injuries, the roster hasn’t changed.

The same group of guys that upended three straight Top 10 teams and moved to fifth in the nation won just five games during the second half of the season.

That said, the Minutemen still have the ability and the playmakers to make this weekend a very difficult one for the Wildcats.

Over the last two seasons UMass is 3-4 against UNH, the difference being a 3-2 double-overtime loss in the Hockey East Semifinals last year. And the two teams are no strangers when it comes to the postseason. The three times UMass has reached the semifinals, it played the Wildcats, going 1-2 in those contests. The pair has met just once before in the quarterfinals, a sweep by UNH in 1997.

However, those games have even less bearing on Friday night than the three meetings earlier this season.

What does matter is whether the Minutemen can continue to play the way they have the last two weeks.

After a terrible January, UMass coach Don Cahoon saw a lot of improvement in the team in February, even though the win-loss record didn’t really indicate that. Now in March, the improved play has turned into victories.

The line of center Cory Quirk and forwards Alex Berry and James Marcou has anchored the UMass offense and carried the team through its current three-game winning streak. That may be enough at home against BU or against a Merrimack team that won six games this season in conference play, but that won’t cut it inside the Whittemore Center, where the Wildcats are second in the conference in scoring offense (3.11 goals/game) and first in scoring defense (2.00).

In order to extend this season beyond Durham, Cahoon must continue to find ways to get more production behind the Berry-Quick-Marcou line. Michael Lecomte has played well between P.J. Fenton and Chris Davis, and the trio is starting to find a rhythm.

One of the best goals this season came in the first period Friday against Merrimack. With UMass already leading 2-0, Lecomte set Davis up perfectly for the third goal of the period.

Lecomte skated down into the corner and then from nearly behind the net, rifled the puck toward the crease, where Davis put his stick’s blade to the ice and redirected the pass past the Warriors’ Andrew Braithwaite.

It was the type of goal the Minutemen needed. Already up a pair, Lecomte and Davis broke the game open early.

UMass will need to find a way to do the same this weekend. It’s no secret that the Minutemen play better when their ahead. In fact, they have not won a single game this season when trailing in the third period. And the last time they won after trailing by two goals was Nov. 17 against BC. UMass trailed 2-0 after one and scored three goals in the second period.

Again, once they were ahead, the Minutemen managed to hold on in the third period for a significant road win. Whether they score early or simply control the momentum, the Minutemen have to come out swinging Friday night to have any chance of scoring the big upset.

And much like the game itself, winning the series will likely depend on UMass jumping ahead early. Winning on Friday is a must for the Minutemen to move on to Boston. If they lose that first game, they will be hard pressed to take two in a row facing elimination.

As far as talent is concerned, there is no concern. UMass has proven both earlier this year, and even last year for those players who returned, that they can play with anybody.

The question that remains is will they?

Jeremy Rice is the Collegian’s sports editor. He can be reached at [email protected]

Click here to listen to Joe Meloni and Jeremy Rice talk about UMass Hockey.