There’s a long history of prolific forwards at New Hampshire.

As recently as 2011, the WIldcats graduated Phil DeSimone, Paul Thompson and Mike Sislo, all left Durham with more than 100 points in their careers. However, the program has plainly been in decline since their departure. Kevin Goumas graduated after least season and left with 146 career points. He is the only player to reach the milestone since 2011. Nick Sorkin and Stevie Moses fell just short with 98 apiece.

Ultimately, the milestone itself isn’t particularly important, but the steep decline in scoring has marked UNH’s problems.

Currently, senior forward Grayson Downing is just five points short of 100 for his career. For the season, Downing has 12 goals and seven assists. In his last five games, Downing has scored eight goals.

He should hit the mark in the next few weeks, and it’s a nice accomplishment. However, he’s the only UNH upperclassman likely to do so for his career. The Wildcats have qualified for just once NCAA Tournament since falling a game short of the Frozen Four in 2011, and it’s quite clear this decline in scoring — and talent — is a major reason for the problem.

UNH coach Dick Umile just hasn’t been able to attract the type of players he did for so long to Durham. On the current roster, a few Wildcat forwards should enjoy quality careers. The incoming players in the next few seasons should make a bit of noise as well.

It’s clear, though, that UNH just isn’t at the level it was for so long.

Tuesday night, the Wildcats beat Providence, 2-1, in Durham. The win pushed UNH’s record to 7-11-2, 2-5-1 in Hockey East. They’re currently in 10th place with 14 league games remaining. There’s plenty of time to make a push for home ice in the preliminary round of the tournament. But that hardly seems like enough for a UNH program that, for decades, was one of the nation’s best.

Don’t write Mark Jankowski off just yet

When the Calgary Flames drafted Mark Jankowski in the first round of the 2012 NHL Draft, it came as a bit of a shock to most. At Stanstead College, Jankowski was a dominant force. The level he played at, though, was the question.

Flash forward two-and-a-half seasons and Jankowski hasn’t lived up to the expectations that come with being a first-round pick playing college hockey.

In 92 games at PC, Jankowski has 24 goals and 34 assists. These aren’t bad numbers for a college hockey forward. They aren’t particularly special either.

This season, Jankowski has dealt with some injury problems. He’s missed four games. He’s scored two goals and assisted on three in his last five games. These spells have come before, though, and are inevitably followed by lengthy bits anonymity.

Watching Jankowski, there’s no question he’s improved as a hockey player and grown into himself. Last season, his 13 goals and 12 assists seemed to suggest a big junior year to follow. The injury problems appear to have prevented him from breaking out as most expected.

There’s plenty of time left in this season, and it’s important for Jankowski to take the next step. It has to come quickly. He just turned 20 years in September, so the player he is now is hardly the player he’ll be six months or a year from now.

At the moment, though, Providence needs offense. They need some to take games over and create scoring chances, especially when games against quality opponents arrive. Jankowski needs to be that guy.

Penalty kill a problem for Lowell

UMass-Lowell doesn’t lose very often. The River Hawks are 14-4-3. Just one of their losses has come in Hockey East play, and it came on Sunday with a 2-0 loss to Connecticut.

The Huskies went 1 for 2 on the man advantage. It’s not s staggering performance, but it was, once again, an example of UML’s penalty kill failing. For the season, the River Hawks kill 80 percent of the penalties to take — 45th in the country.

UML doesn’t take many penalty minutes. Averaging 7.5 per game, the River Hawks spend less time down a man than all but two teams in the country. However, when they are forced to kill a penalty, they struggle to do it consistently.

In their four losses, the River Hawks have allowed five goals on 12 chances, killing just 58.3 percent of the opportunities.

UML coach Norm Bazin prides himself on constantly improving his team throughout the year. This is one area, though, were the River Hawks haven’t progressed.

In most areas, the River Hawks resemble a national championship contender. The premium on every goal, every scoring chance come playoff time only grows. A poor penalty kill is exactly the type of thing that can hurt them down the road.

Matt O’Connor quietly making a case for postseason awards

In his first two seasons at Boston University, Matt O’Connor split time with Sean Maguire. Whether through injury or a platoon, O’Connor never really emerged as a clear No. 1 nor did he warrant lengthy time on the bench.

With Maguire away for the season, O’Connor became the No. 1 and hasn’t faltered. In 15 appearances, he’s posted the second best save percentage (.936) in the country among goalies who have faced more than 400 shots.

He’s started all but four games for the Terriers this season and allowed more than two goals just four times; he hasn’t given up more than three in any of his appearances.

There’s been a bit of regression lately. O’Connor has given up six goals on 64 shots in his last two games against Union and Wisconsin. Both games ended in 3-3 ties. The third goal against Wisconsin last Friday came when a failed clearing attempt deflected off Brien Diffley and bounced into the empty net.

Avoiding those kind of mistakes is obviously important. Even as a below-average puck handler, it’s unlikely that will become a major issue for O’Connor.

With BU playing two hugely important games against Boston College and UMass-Lowell this weekend, O’Connor simply must be at his best.

Wednesday, January 14th, 2015 - 12:53 pm | Hockey East, Notes, Thoughts, Ramblings