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Needing two points to clinch home ice in the Hockey East First Round, Vermont closes the regular season with a two-game series at Merrimack on Friday (Feb. 26) at 8:30 p.m. and Saturday (Feb. 27) at 7 p.m. in North Andover, Massachusetts. The Friday night game will be televised live on NESNplus with Eric Frede and Jim Paradise calling the action. Radio coverage begins 30 minutes before faceoff each night on WVMT 620-AM, SportsJuice.com, and the TuneIn app with Alastair Ingram and Andy Merritt on the call.

GAME COVERAGE
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TV COVERAGE
Friday's Hockey East game will be televised live on NESNplus as part of a production by American Sports Network (ASN) at 8:30 p.m. NESNplus is located on Comcast channel 84 (SD) and 894 (HD), DirecTV channel 628.1, and Dish Network channel 449. Click here to find the local cable affiliate in your area. The telecast will also air live on Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN) in the Washington, D.C. area.

SETTING THE SCENE 
UVM enters the weekend with sole possession of seventh place in the league standings with 15 points through 20 Hockey East games. Merrimack sits two points back in ninth place and needs a sweep this weekend to guarantee a home-ice playoff series in North Andover. UNH trails Vermont by one point in eighth, while UConn and Maine are three points back in a tie for 10th. The Catamounts are riding a four-game unbeaten streak (3-0-1) in the series with Merrimack, including a weekend sweep (4-1 and 4-3) in their last trip to Lawler Arena in 2013-14.

SCOUTING THE WARRIORS
Merrimack split a road series with Maine last weekend, winning 6-4 on Friday night before falling 3-2 in overtime on Saturday at Alfond Arena. Sophomore Brett Seney has missed seven games this season but still leads the Warriors in scoring with 26 points on eight goals and 18 assists. Junior Hampus Gustafsson and senior Ben Bahe have also chipped in with eight goals apiece to share the team lead with Seney. Sophomore Collin Delia has started 26 games in net with a 8-12-6 record, 2.96 goals against average, and .889 save percentage. Mark Dennehy is in his 12th season as the head coach of the Warriors and is 10 wins shy of 150.

SERIES HISTORY
Friday night marks the 36th all-time meeting between the two schools. Vermont is riding a four-game unbeaten streak (3-0-1) against Merrimack over the last two seasons, including a three-point series on Senior Weekend last year. UVM edged the Warriors 2-1 on a Colin Markison game-winner before skating to the first 0-0 tie in the history of the program on Senior Night at Gutterson. In their last trip to Lawler, the Catamounts snapped a 12-game winless streak (0-9-3) against Merrimack with a weekend road sweep on Feb. 21-22, 2014. 

HATS OFF FOR MARIO
Mario Puskarich recorded a natural hat trick during the third period at Lawler Arena on Feb. 21, 2014 as a freshman, leading UVM to a 4-1 road win. He became the first Vermont player to score a hat trick since Oct. 8, 2010. Puskarich ranks second in the country with 146 shots on goal after notching 54 total shots in his last eight contests, including 10 last weekend. Friday night will mark his 100th career game, becoming the fourth Catamount to reach the milestone this season.

CAPTAIN DURABILITY
Senior captain Yvan Pattyn is tied with eight other players for ninth all-time in program history with 144 career games played. Pattyn is tied for third among defensemen, trailing only Ryan Gunderson '07 (148) and Pat Cullity '10 (145), and will move into a tie for second place on Friday. The Manitoba native has missed just four games in his entire career at UVM.

WHO'S NEXT
Vermont will open the playoffs by competing in the best-of-three Hockey East First Round next weekend beginning on Friday, March 4. The Catamounts will host the series if they finish with the No. 8 seed or higher. Check back to UVMathletics.com after the Merrimack series for ticket information if applicable.