Team of the Week: Providence

by Adam Wodon/Managing Editor (@CHN_AdamWodon)

Most of the pundits, including many of those here, figured Providence for the Hockey East title this season. In what figured to be a down year for the league overall, the Friars had all the pieces to make a run, not just in the league, but nationally.

Providence's season, however, has had a number of fits and starts. And as we enter February, the Friars are in sixth place in the league, albeit two points out of second place. Overall, however, you get the constant sense that Providence is merely working out kinks and is not too worried about its placement in the Hockey East standings. And as far as the NCAAs are concerned, Providence is currently No. 10 in the Pairwise, a strong enough position.

Meanwhile, the team continues to improve, and that's all that coach Nate Leaman cares about. And following a stretch that saw the Friars lose two games to struggling Boston College, they rallied this past weekend for a huge home-and-home sweep of Northeastern that has all the optimism returning.

"We had a good week of practice last week. That was good for us," Leaman said on his weekly coach's show Tuesday. "It's healthy sometimes, it brings your team together. And the key is not letting the good weekend success go to your head. We were good last weekend because we were good all week in practice, and those things carry into the games. So that's our focus.

"We really worked hard Saturday night. I knew we played a good game, but when I watched the tape afterwards, you really saw how hard we were working — the feet were moving. We were taking away space. We were attacking with speed. So hopefully we can continue to do that. We're trying to in practice, making sure the pace is there."

With a 4-1 home win Friday, followed by a 3-0 whitewash of the Huskies at Matthews Arena on Saturday, Providence earns CHN's Team of the Week honors.

Friday, Northeastern grabbed an early lead. But midway through the first period, Jacob Bryson's goal tied it, and it was smooth sailing for Providence the rest of the weekend. It closed out the first period with a pair of shorthanded goals to take the lead, and Northeastern never scored again in 117 more minutes on the weekend.

"We were tight to start (Friday's) game. We knew it was an important series," Leaman said. "We knew there was a lot riding on that series to get back in the league standings. Once we got that first goal, things loosened up and we stopped thinking and started playing.

Saturday, in front of a hostile crowd at Matthews Arena, Providence tuned everything else out and played a near-flawless game.

"With an older group, they know how to start a game and execute early," Leaman said. "Part of our downfall sometimes is they get out too well and think it's going to be an easy game. We'll get a goal or two and then the momentum changes. The other team makes a push and we take out foot off the gas."

As a program, Providence has pulled off something that's proven difficult for other high-profile schools. After winning the national title in 2015, Providence started to attract more blue chippers. But it's managed to do so without losing team cohesion, without losing balance in their classes, and while keeping the trademark depth that got them the national championship in the first place.

Providence has 10 draft picks overall. But the most prominent "blue-chipper," NHL first-round pick Jay O'Brien, has been limited to just 15 games this year because of injuries, and has just two goals. The team is still led by veterans, like undrafted Josh Wilkins, who has a team-high 28 points, undrafted senior Scott Conway and his team-high 12 goals, and junior defensemen Bryson and Spenser Young.

The team is so deep, that its third and fourth lines were the stars this past weekend, even with junior Vimal Sukumaran sidelined by an injury suffered Friday night. Leaman pointed to his third line of Greg Printz, Jason O'Neill and Tyce Thompson; and the fourth line of Matt Koopman, John McDermott and Ryan Tait as standouts.

"(For Printz), it's all about his energy level and his feet, because he has a good stick and thinks the game very well. But when he moves his feet he's very effective. And he has nine goals for us," Leaman said. "The third and fourth lines were excellent. First and second (lines), I wouldn't say they were excellent, they didn't get a lot of O-zone time. That's been our focus in practice. They were getting rid of the puck a little early sometimes."

And then there's the "last but not least" draft pick, senior goaltender Hayden Hawkey. He's been a bit maligned in his tenure at Providence, partially because it would be almost impossible to live up to the standard set by his predecessor, Jon Gillies. All Hawkey did Saturday was tie Gillies' school mark for career shutouts at 13.

That said, there's no doubt Hawkey can be inconsistent. When he's playing well, the Friars are all but unbeatable. The team defense allows so few shots, that Hawkey is not as regularly tested. His shutouts are often of the 20-save variety, sometimes less.

But Saturday, when Hawkey was needed most, he made all 34 stops and rose to the occasion. If they get that kind play, the Friars will be a very tough out.

"Hayden was excellent," Leaman said. "Saturday he looked like the same form he had the first five, six, seven games of the season. That's a great sign for us. He looked confident and athletic, and did a great job with his rebounds."

The special teams, too, is among the best in the country. Despite not scoring goals in bunches at even strength, the power play is 23 percent, which is near the nation's leaders, and the penalty kill is 85 percent.

"The guys are locked in knowing how good (Northeastern's) power play is," Leaman said. "But the big thing is, referees aren't making as many calls. It's the time of year they don't want to make a big difference in the game. Both nights we killed three penalties. We had three power plays (Friday) and (Saturday) we had two. ... When you're only killing three power plays a game, it's a lot easier than when you're killing five or six."

All of this adds up nicely for Providence, a team built for the postseason.

"I don't think you can look at the standings at all. Too much hockey to be played, too many teams playing one another. We're two points out of second and have a game in hand. We can't get caught up in thinking about it. We just have to play Vermont. And after Vermont, we'll play Maine. UMass plays BU this weekend, Lowell plays Northeastern. ... We have to focus on us, if we do that and play well, we'll keep getting better."

