It’s getting down to crunch time in the college hockey season, and the Massachusetts hockey team’s schedule isn’t lightening up anytime soon as the Minutemen (16-12-2, 7-9-2 Hockey East) prepare for another Hockey East home-and-home series with New Hampshire this weekend.

UMass heads into the weekend playing some of its best hockey of the season, having won six of its last eight games, including a 5-4 defeat over No. 11 UConn and a monumental 3-2 victory over then No. 1 Boston College. The Wildcats (11-13-4, 3-12-3 HEA), on the other hand, are in the midst of a five-game winless streak, though four of those five games were against teams in the top 10 in the nation.

UNH sits squarely in last place in Hockey East with a dismal record of 3-12-3 within the conference. Despite this, they are still No. 18 in the pairwise rankings and are by no means out of contention for an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament. Because of this, the Wildcats will be playing with desperation against the Minutemen this weekend, knowing that two wins could bring them into the NCAA Tournament bubble and that two losses could all but end their hopes of a long playoff run.

UNH is led in scoring by Los Angeles Kings draft pick Ryan Conmy, who is just under a point per game this season with 26 in 27 games played. The Wildcats have two strong forward lines that can create offense in a number of ways, but the lineup as a whole is built for a grittier style of scoring at the net-front, which is where UMass will have to focus its attention on this weekend.

“I watched them play Maine and was really impressed,” head coach Greg Carvel said. “They’re playing a big, physical style, which is very similar to us. I thought they played really well. I know their Hockey East record isn’t great … but they’re a very good hockey team.”

In one of the most heralded rivalries in college hockey, UNH left Maine last weekend with just one point after a shootout loss on Friday, Feb. 14, before they were trounced 5-2 the following night.

To combat the Wildcats’ style of play, the Minutemen will need their backend to play a more physical style of hockey than they’re used to, especially freshmen Larry Keenan and Francesco Dell’Elce. Carvel has been happy with the growth they’ve shown this season but is still relying on his veterans to own some of the big moments in every game.

“[Assistant Coach Nolan Gluchowski]’s made comments to me that he’s trusting [Dell’Elce] and [Keenan] more to play in those situations, so you’re probably seeing that more on the ice,” Carvel said. “They’re good young players, they’re getting reps, they’re getting experience and at the end of their road at UMass should be higher end players than [Owen Murray] and [Lucas Ölvestad]. But right now, Murray and Ölvestad bring us much more experience and we still have more trust in those guys as older guys.”

UMass has six games remaining in the regular season, UMass Lowell and Maine being the final four after this UNH series. The Minutemen currently sit on the right side of the bubble for at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament, but with a few teams breathing down their backs, these final six games could make or break their chances.

“We can’t look past UNH, and I don’t for a second,” Carvel said. “I tell you what: I kind of like that we’re in this dogfight because if I get my players desperate, they’re really good, they play really well when they’re desperate.”

UMass got one of its top scorers back in the lineup against BC this past weekend in Aydar Suniev. Although he didn’t contribute any points, he got his feet wet after missing nearly a month with a lower-body injury.

“Felt pretty good, I was kind of adjusting to the game a little bit,” Suniev said. “But yeah, it was good to get back after the injury … Just some rest for me and I’m glad to be back and I just want to help my team win.”

In other injury news, Michael Cameron exited Friday night’s game at BC and didn’t return on Saturday. He is dealing with an undisclosed injury and will likely not be available this weekend.

The series will commence on Friday, Feb. 21 at the Whittemore Center in Durham, NH, before returning to Amherst on Saturday, Feb. 22 at the Mullins Center. Both games will start at 7 p.m. and be streamed on ESPN+.

Matt Skillings can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @matt_skillings.