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After closing a season-long eight-game homestand, 12th-ranked Vermont hits the road this weekend for a two-game Hockey East series against the Providence Friars at Schneider Arena. The series begins on Friday (Jan. 13) at 7 p.m., while the Saturday (Jan. 14) series finale has been moved to 5 p.m.

Live pay-per-view video is available both nights via Friars.com, and the Saturday game will be televised on YurView (formerly Cox Sports) for Cox cable providers in Rhode Island. Pre-game radio coverage begins 30 minutes before faceoff on WVMT 620-AM and Catamounts All-Access with Alastair Ingram on the call.

RELATED LINKS
Video ($) | Audio | Live Stats: Friday | Saturday
Game Notes (.pdf) | CatamounTV Preview | Coaches Show

SETTING THE SCENE
UVM resumed league play last Saturday after posting an 8-3-1 record during the non-conference slate. The Catamounts will be playing their first true road games in two months this weekend, having played 11 of their previous 13 at home along with the neutral site Friendship Four in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Vermont is tied for 10th in the nation in scoring margin at +22 as five of the top-10 teams in that category come from Hockey East. UVM is currently riding a four-game winning streak for the first time this season. 

LAST TIME OUT | CatamounTV Highlights
The Catamounts held off a third period charge from defending league champion Northeastern last Saturday and Trey Phillips' goal held up as the game-winner in a 4-3 Hockey East win. UVM swept the regular season series from NU and stretched its unbeaten streak to five (3-0-2) against the Huskies. The line of Brendan Bradley, Brian Bowen and Derek Lodermeier combined for eight points in the victory, while rookie defenseman Corey Moriarty registered his first career goal. Stefanos Lekkas posted 20 saves and tied the second-highest win total among NCAA first-year goalies with his 12th in 16 starts.

SCOUTING THE FRIARS
Providence defeated Yale on the road on Tuesday night 3-1 and held a 36-14 edge in shots on goal over the Bulldogs in New Haven. The Friars are 4-1-2 in their last seven games with the only loss coming to Boston College (3-1) at Frozen Fenway last Saturday. Junior Brian Pinho leads the team with 19 points and 14 assists, while rookie Josh Wilkins has scored a team-high eight goals.

Sophomore goalie Hayden Hawkey has started every game in net and owns a 2.23 goals against average and a .911 save percentage. Providence is clicking at exactly 20% on the power play and has scored at least one power play tally in seven straight games. Former Union head coach Nate Leaman is in his sixth season as the head coach at PC and led the Friars to the 2015 national title.

SERIES HISTORY
Friday night marks the 59th all-time meeting of the series. The Cats are 1-6-0 in the last seven meetings, but at Schneider Arena they are 1-1-1 in the last three matchups and 10-10-6 overall. The schools split a two-game Hockey East series at Schneider in November of the 2014-15 season as UVM fell 3-0 the first night before rebounding for a 2-1 win to close the weekend. The Friars swept Vermont in a Hockey East series last January at Gutterson Fieldhouse with 3-1 and 6-3 league victories. 

FINISHING STRONG
Along with Union and Omaha, UVM has scored the most goals in the third period in the entire country this season with 31. The Catamounts are also tied for the fifth-best third period goal differential in the nation at +11. The Dec. 18 setback to No. 12 Union at home marked Vermont's first loss when leading after two periods of play and when scoring first this season.

WHO'S NEXT
Vermont returns to Burlington next Friday (Jan. 20) to host the UConn Huskies in Hockey East action live on NESNplus. Faceoff is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. at Gutterson Fieldhouse. Xfinity is the presenting sponsor of the game with thunder sticks for the first 500 students. 

Handy Toyota is the presenting sponsor of the 2016-17 men's hockey season