Hockey East coaches like to proclaim the difficulty of winning on the road. It’s true, of course, that home teams usually win games. Traveling isn’t easy. Rinks are different. Opposing fans are very mean.

It all makes sense.

For Notre Dame, though, anything but the majority of the points taken from its trip to Amherst for two with Massachusetts has to be a disappointment.

The Fighting Irish enter the weekend sixth in Hockey East with six points from a 2-2-2 start. This, of course, isn’t a particularly bad start, but the games with UMass are a great chance to get back to .500 overall and leap back into the race for a first-round playoff bye.

UND has games in hand one every team ahead of it, but it hasn’t shown the ability to put wins together on a consistent basis. The Fighting Irish are 1-6-2 in their last nine games. Only five of those were Hockey East games.

Notre Dame makes its first trip to Amherst since New Year’s Eve 1994. Playing two games against one of the worst teams in the country demands a great performance from UND. It needs wins now.

Tirronen a ‘game-time decision’ for Merrimack

Merrimack goaltender Rasmus Tirronen hasn’t played since Nov. 21. He left the game that night against Northeastern after just 20 seconds following a collision with NU’s Torin Snydeman.

The Warriors begin a home-and-home series with Boston University Friday night in North Andover.

Mike McMahon reported on Thursday that Tirronen will be a game-time decision for the Warriors after recovering from the concussion he sustained on that collision.

The return of a .925 goaltender to the lineup is always a positive. However, the play of freshman Colin Delia since Tirronen was injured has made it a bit easier for MC to absorb the loss. In his four appearances, the Warriors are 3-1-0 thanks in large part to his .955 save percentage.

If Tirronen gets the green light to play, MC coach Mark Dennehy has a nice luxury with two capable goaltenders. However, the Warriors’ games with BU represent quite the test. Merrimack’s 10-4-1 record, while impressive, has come against a fairly weak schedule. Only one of those 10 wins has come against a Pairwise top-20 team.

The decision to start either Tirronen or Delia Friday night shouldn’t influence the game’s result too heavily. Both are playing well enough, and MC’s fate against BU will likely be decided by the players in front of the goaltender anyway. Merrimack’s success has come through near-flawless execution of Dennehy’s system, which demands relentless puck pursuit and good puck management.

Whichever goaltender starts on Friday will make the saves he has to. MC needs to make the night as manageable as possible for either Delia or Tirronen against one of the nation’s best offenses.

Here comes Ross Mauermann

With just two assists in his first 12 games, Ross Mauermann’s senior season didn’t get off to the start he wanted. The same can be said of Providence, which started the year 6-5-1.

Things have come together for Mauermann in the last week. He has three goals and an assist since PC coach Nate Leaman shifted him to the wing on a line with Mark Jankowski and Trevor Mingoia.

It’s been just two games, but getting the offense going is important for a Providence team with designs on championships.

The Friars beat Northeastern, 5-1, Wednesday at Matthews Arena. The clubs play again Saturday afternoon at 4 in Providence.

Either Mingoia, Mauermann or Jankowski figured into all five of PC’s goals on Wednesday night.

PC’s team defense and the play of Jon Gillies in goal started to come together a bit sooner than its offense. With both starting to come around, the Friars may become the dangerous team most expected them to be this year.

Lowell rebuilding, and winning, on the fly

Massachusetts-Lowell is good. Again. To an extent, the drop off some expected has come for the River Hawks. They probably haven’t played as well as their 9-3-3 record suggests.

UML is a below-average possession team, and its overall defensive performance has been poor at times.

I wrote about the River Hawks’ youth and its positives and negatives on the main site this week. The typically reserved Norm Bazin didn’t give too many insights into the young team’s strange start to the season. It’s clear, though, that he is both excited about the team’s potential and wholly aware of the potential downfalls.

Through 15 games, UML is shooting 14 percent, currently the highest in the country. A PDO greater than 104 doesn’t really suggest the River Hawks are going to storm through the second half if they don’t improve their process.

They have a lot to improve on, and Bazin knows this. Even ignoring their wretched penalty killing, they’ve spent less time grinding teams into oblivion with a smothering defense and more time chasing than in Bazin’s first three years.

A penalty kill a shade over 78 percent hasn’t helped matters either.

Saturday’s contest with Maine is the type of game Lowell should have no problem winning. The Black Bears allow 3.67 goals per game — 53rd in the country — and they frequently beat themselves with mistakes. UML turns opponent’s errors, especially in the defensive zone, into goals as well as anyone.

The River Hawks should end the first half at 10-3-3, but there’s plenty to figure out in Lowell once the second half begins.

Friday, December 5th, 2014 - 2:14 pm | Hockey East, Notes, Thoughts, Ramblings