In the lone game of the weekend for any Hockey East team, Vermont heads to Canton, N.Y. on Saturday evening to take on longtime rival St. Lawrence at Appleton Arena. In its final non-conference contest before the holiday break, UVM looks to avenge a loss in its last contest - a 3-1 loss to fellow former ECAC rival Dartmouth on Dec. 5. SLU represents the Catamounts' second-longest standing rival in hockey with Saturday's contest marking the 87th all-time meeting between the teams.
The only other school UVM has faced more often than SLU is New Hampshire - a series that has commenced exactly 100 times previously. The Saints have a 46-37-3 edge in the series, including a 28-15-1 mark at home.
In the nationally televised loss to Dartmouth, freshman defenseman Yvan Pattyn netted both goals for Vermont, scoring once in the first period and again in the third. Rookie goaltender Brody Hoffman was rarely tested in the contest as he made just 13 saves, falling to a tough-luck 3-8-3 on the season.
Senior Tobias Nilsson-Roos will become the second current Catamount to play in his 100th-career game when he next takes the ice. The Malmo, Sweden native enters the contest with 12 goals and 25 total points.
The Saints enter their match with UVM as losers of four of their last five games for the third straight season. Senior captain Kyle Flanagan, who is a Canton, N.Y. native and longtime friend of fellow townman and Boston University captain Wade Megan, ranks fourth in the nation with 25 points in just 16 games. He also leads the SLU offense with 16 assists. UVM is nearly assured to see senior Matt Weninger in net as he has appeared in every game this season, sporting a 2.61 goals-against average and .971 save percentage.
SLU will be playing its fifth and final Hockey East game of the season. It traveled to the first four, which included two victories at Maine and one at Northeastern.
Joshua Kummins is the Hockey East beat writer and a weekend editor for SB Nation Boston. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaKummins.