Huskies head across town, inaugurate Beanpot rival season series with BU Friday

BOSTON -- When Beanpot foes match with one another, things are never easy and for the Northeastern Huskies this weekend, that claim certainly does not change.

The Huskies look for their first win of 2013 on Friday night as they hit the bus for the two-mile trek to Agganis Arena to face No. 9 Boston University for the first time this season. The game will be televised on NESN with Tom Caron and Craig Janney on the call.

NU is coming off battling for its first Hockey East point of 2013 last Friday night as it skated to a 1-1 tie with Maine at Matthews Arena. Leading scorer Kevin Roy has scored 20 points in 18 games as a freshman for the Huskies, marking the sixth consecutive season that a newcomer has eclipsed that mark, dating back to Chad Costello in 2006-07.

Roy and junior Cody Ferriero are each riding three-game point streaks that date back to a historic 5-1 win at Harvard on Dec. 29, 2012 when the pair combined for all five NU goals (four by Ferriero, including three on the power play) and four assists (all from Roy). The Essex, Mass. native's outburst is the first by a Husky since since Ken Manchurek did the same vs. BU on Mar. 6, 1982 and the first in Hockey East since Feb. 12, 2010.

In the tie, senior goaltender Chris Rawlings made a career-high 42 saves and surpassed Brad Thiessen '09 for second on the school's all-time list, behind only Bruce Racine '88. In order to break Racine's benchmark of 3,557 before the season finale at BU on Mar. 9, the British Columbia native needs to average 22 saves per-game.

Friday's contest on Commonwealth Ave. marks the first of the season between the canine companions as they kick off their conference season series, meeting for the first time since Husky senior captain Vinny Saponari scored an overtime-winning goal last Mar. 3 to lift the Huskies (already eliminated from playoff contention) to a 5-4 win at Matthews Arena.

With the season series between the pair having yet to start and a Beanpot match also awaiting on Feb. 4 at TD Garden, one-quarter of BU's remaining games will be against the Huskies. Nearly half (seven) come against NU and Saturday's opponent UMass-Lowell, which beat Providence at home on Thursday and it has also yet to face.

The game features the top two rookie scorers in the conference with Roy and Terrier freshman Danny O'Regan, a Needham, Mass. native, who has posted seven goals and 15 points.

Until its 6-5 overtime loss to Harvard on Jan. 9, the Terriers had not lost to an unranked opponent this season, lost a one-goal game or lost when it led after two periods. Despite that impressive feat, BU is reeling on the power play as it is on a 4-for-49 stretch, which includes an 0-for-20 skid that ended on Dec. 1.

Freshman Sean Maguire, who will make the start for BU in their weekend opener, is on a roll of late as he has won each of his last five starts in goal and sports an astounding 0.99 goals-against average in that span. He ranks seventh nationally in save percentage (.938) and ninth in GAA (1.83) - a pair of marks that lead Hockey East.

Joshua Kummins covers Hockey East for SB Nation. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaKummins.