A pivotal Hockey East set awaits the UMass hockey team as it’ll face off against No. 11 Boston University for two games over the next five days — the first coming Saturday night on the road.

The Minutemen (7-6-2) have just one Hockey East win in seven tries so far and will look to improve upon that with a strong showing against the always-formidable Terriers (8-5-1).

“I don’t like our record, but I like this team,” UMass head coach Greg Carvel said. “When we put it all together we’re a NCAA [tournament] level hockey team. Too many games this year, the goaltending wasn’t there, the defense wasn’t there, the offense wasn’t there. When we get them all together, we’re a good hockey team.”

The Minutemen had one of their most thorough victories of the season in their most recent game against Army, a 3-1 win, on Nov. 29. After a discombobulated start that saw UMass take a pair of too-many-men penalties in the first period versus the Black Knights, the Minutemen controlled the play the rest of the game. Sophomore Michael Hrabal’s first shutout of the season was spoiled just past the halfway mark of the third, and UMass held a hefty advantage in shots, 42-25.

With two games against BU separating UMass from winter break, Carvel hopes his team can continue playing well despite some frustrating recent results.

“That’s the hope and the goal,” Carvel said. “After we beat Providence we were feeling really good about ourselves and then I think we beat Harvard the next game. Then the UVM game, I’ll argue that we were the better team, we out-shot them, out-chanced them by a wide margin. But once again, their goaltenders stole the game, then we beat West Point, so we should be on, to me, a four or five-game winning streak.”

Junior Cole O’Hara continues to be a force on offense for the Minutemen, as he went up to 21 points on the season after a power play goal against Army. Sophomore Dans Locmelis has earned points in four straight games to set a new career-high with 15.

Freshman Francesco Dell’Ellce moved into a tie for the sixth-most points among UMass skaters following his two-point effort against the Black Knights. A defenseman, Dell’Elce has eight points in 15 games, including four goals.

“A little inconsistent so far, we want to be more consistent and just keep doing what we do best and just keep working together, growing as a team,” senior Ryan Lautenbach said. “I think our freshmen defensemen are coming a long way and as games keep going by that’s great.”

Hrabal has gone 3-1-0 in net for the Minutemen since being benched for sophomore Jackson Irving on Nov. 14.

The Terriers have had a similarly uneven start to the season as they lost five of seven after opening the year 3-0-1. Boston University has responded since then, going 3-0-1, including a Belpot Championship last weekend during this year’s Friendship Four in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Despite losing 2024 NHL first-overall selection and former Hobey Baker winner Macklin Celebrini to the San Jose Sharks over the offseason, scoring goals hasn’t been an issue for the Terriers this year. Boston University has scored 52 goals in 14 games, the second-most among all Hockey East teams.

Freshman Cole Eiserman leads the pack with nine tucks, sophomore Shane Lachance has seven (along with a team-high 10 assists), and junior Ryan Greene has five.

Goaltending has been the question mark for the Terriers this season as neither Mathieu Caron nor Max Lacroix own stellar numbers. Neither goalie has a goals-against-average less than 3.00 or a save-percentage higher than .900.

UMass is 0-8-2 in its last 10 games against Boston University and have not won in Boston since 2019.

Puck drop for Saturday’s game at Agganis Arena is set for 6 p.m.

Both teams will return for a matchup at Mullins Center on Wednesday, Dec. 11.