Hockey East Playoffs 2025: Semifinals Preview

We’re getting closer and closer to the Bertagna Trophy being lifted everyone, and I know you’re as excited as I am for these semifinal matchups between four of the best programs in Hockey East. The squads are locked in, we’re locked in, and we’re looking at what’s about to go down. 

Playoff Format: 

The last two rounds of the Hockey East playoffs are the same as the rest of them — single elimination games. The semis on Wednesday will be followed by the championship game at noon on Saturday the 8th, hosted by UConn in Storrs, Connecticut. 

How We Got Here:

UConn had the easiest win of the four programs left standing, which is to be expected when the No. 1 and No. 10 seeds face off against one another. The Huskies, led by two goals from Jada Habisch and a 32 save performance from Tia Chan, shutout Merrimack 4-0 to advance to the semis.

BU and UVM had one of the more entertaining contests. The Catamounts scored on two of their first four shots, while the Terriers then dominated the rest of the game outshooting UVM 48-16 overall. Vermont did not register a shot on goal in the overtime period, and just 3:59 into that frame Riley Walsh found the back of the net to lift BU to their first playoff win since 2019. 

BC and Maine were right behind the Catamounts and Terriers, with a one-goal game of their own. Maine had struggled all season against the Eagles, but fought with them until the very end. Though the teams were dead-even for much of the contest, a game-winner from Julia Pellerin halfway through the second period sank the Black Bears, sending the Eagles to the semis once again. 

In the final game of the night, Northeastern finally got their licks back against Providence, upsetting the Friars in a 3-2 decision. The Huskies played shut down hockey for the majority of the contest, and kept the lethal top line of Providence at bay throughout the evening. A stuff-in goal from sophomore Ella Blackmore was the difference, as NU kept their season alive. 

Rankings are still based on regular season standings. 

Game One: No. 3 Boston College at No. 2 Boston University – 6 PM 

Walter Brown Arena, Boston MA 

If a battle between these two rivals in a playoff game doesn’t interest you, I don’t really know what to say. 

BC and BU consistently find ways to play each other hard, though for the last few years the Eagles have seemingly had the upper hand. Until this season. 

We’ve talked a lot about the turnaround BU has had this year, jumping from the seventh seed spot last season to the second one in 2024-25. Their leap has been evident in their last couple of matchups against the Eagles as well. From fall of 2021 to the spring of 2024, the Terriers had gone 2-6-1 against BC. 

This season, they went 2-1-0, with the lone loss being an overtime defeat in November. They have the momentum on their side in this series and have figured out what it takes to win against the Eagles. Namely a solid, shut down defensive game (in a 3-1 win in November, the Terriers limited BC to just nine shots on goal).

On the other hand however, Boston College has been here in the semis as recently as last season, while BU most certainly has not. The Eagles have a track record of success in the first few rounds of the playoffs, though they’re looking to advance to their first HEA title game since 2019. 

In the three games the teams met in this season, all of them saw Boston College scoring first — which makes some sense considering the Eagles offense (2.9 goals per game, 21.8% on the power play) has been overall stronger than the Terriers (2.5 G/GM, 17.8% PP). While BC held onto those leads for a decent amount of time in the contests, BU always found a way to tie things up. And in two of them, found a way to go on to win the matchup.

One thing I will be keeping an eye on is the special teams in particular. BU has the second best penalty kill in the nation, with a 90.1% success rate. BC isn’t too far behind in sixth with an 87%. However, the Eagles have not managed to convert on any of their PP chances against the Terriers, while they gave up a PPG to Sydney Healey in November. 

It’ll also be interesting to see how the two goalies fair after two different quarter final performances. Junior Grace Campbell made 25 saves in BC’s win over Maine, maintaining her .930 save percentage over the course of the season. In the three contests against BU this year, the netminder has allowed eight goals on 95 shots, an SV% of .915 — decently below her season standard. 

BU’s Callie Shanahan had a rough start to the QF before both her and her defense settled into the game. The senior allowed three goals on 16 shots, leaving her with a single game SV% of .813. Her season average is much higher, at a .922, but in her two starts against BC she allowed four goals on 35 shots. She’s been solid recently, which again is helped by the shot-suppression style of game BU is able to run. However, if she gets too out of rhythm, it could spell trouble for the Terriers. 

For the QF, I said a name to watch was Syd Healey, and she scored her 14th goal of the year in the contest to tie things at three. This time, a name I’m looking out for is their overtime hero Walsh, who had three points in the QF including her goal. The junior scored against Boston College back in November, and after a really quiet February seems to be settling back into her groove at the right time. Momentum is everything in moments like this, and BU is going to need her to continue to step up when it comes to beating BC. 

For the Eagles, they have a row up front of murderers when it comes to scoring. Pellerin was outstanding once again in the QF, but a name I’m looking to step up in a big way is one of their captains, Abby Newhook. 

The senior finished third in scoring this season with 26 points, however she’s missed out on the score-sheet the last three games, and has just two goals in total in the second semester. Yes, Newhook’s goal scoring is way down from where it was when she was a freshman and sophomore, however if BU finds a way to shut down Pellerin, the Eagles are going to need different scoring options to get things going. Newhook had a combined 11 shots on goal against BU, including a season-high six back in January. I’m looking for her to continue that production in order to get BC back to the title game. 

Game Two: No. 5 Northeastern at No. 1 UConn — 6 PM 

Toscano Family Ice Forum, Storrs CT

Oh baby, buckle up. 

This time a year ago, UConn ended Northeastern’s run of dominance in the conference in the HEA championship. In the same building, no less, as the one where these two teams will meet in the semifinal round on Wednesday. 

After going 0-2-1 in the season series last year, NU went a perfect 3-0-0, with back-to-back 1-0 wins in November — the first time freshman Lisa Jönsson took control of the cage — and a 4-3 OT win at Toscano to start off February.

But if NU’s game against Providence is any warning, regular season records mean nothing in the postseason, especially considering the tear UConn was on heading into the playoffs. 

Connecticut finished the semester with a 10-3-2 record, with their most recent losses being a sweep at the hands of Providence. Northeastern on the other hand struggled to close out the year, with just one regulation win between Jan. 26th and the start of the playoffs. 

What I’m interested to see is how the offensive prowess UConn exhibited against Merrimack, and Boston University at the end of the year too, carries over into this matchup. The Huskies were not the highest offensive team this season, with a 2.3 G/GM average and a power play that struggled for long parts of the year. 

Their bread and butter is the defensive side of things, where they know they have the best goaltender in the conference behind them in Tia Chan. The netminder added her fifth shutout of the season in the win on Saturday, and is up to a .947 SV% in 23 starts. Her last outing against Northeastern wasn’t her best however, with four goals against on 30 shots. 

All told, UConn allowed just 1.6 GAA this year, which is slightly higher than their 1.2 from a year ago. They are however the two-time conference regular season champions, and are riding off three straight wins, including that incredibly dominant weekend to snatch the title away from BU. Like I said earlier, momentum is everything here, and UConn has been building it up. 

Chan’s counterpart will undoubtedly be Jönsson, who made 22 saves in the win against Providence over the weekend. While the end of the season was rocky for the freshman, her performances against UConn were nothing short of stellar. She had back-to-back shutouts against the Huskies in November, and finished the year with three goals against on 81 shots. Her end of season was a bit unsettling, but considering how Northeastern was able to shutdown Providence in the quarters, her life might be a little bit easier thanks to those in front of her. 

What I’m most interested to see is how UConn’s PP does against the NU PK. I’ve mentioned before that the biggest Achilles’ heel that Northeastern’s penalty killers have is the BC power play, but I’d argue UConn’s is pretty high up there too. All told NU has allowed 11 goals on the PK this season, an 88% success rate. Two of those goals (or 18%) were courtesy of UConn on Feb. 1st. 

Since then, the UConn PP has gone rather dormant, with just one further goal on the advantage before the end of the year. For Northeastern on the other hand, they’ve seen some uncharacteristic struggles on the PK since that game against UConn — after giving up five goals against in the first 27 games of the year, they’ve given up six in the final eight. 

If Northeastern is going to see success against UConn again, they’re going to have to not allow anything while shorthanded, and are going to have to find a way to convert on the PP themselves. They added a goal on the advantage against Providence, who had a slightly better PK to end the year than UConn’s, and had a goal on the PP in the 4-3 overtime win; the game winner in fact. 

For scoring threats, I have to go with Jada Habisch for UConn. The graduate student had two goals against MC, and is on a three-game scoring streak heading into the semis. She finished first on her team in goals with 16, and third in overall scoring with 22 points. In the game against NU a month ago, she contributed to all three goals, including two tallies on her own. Riding that into this contest would be huge, and it's safe to say she’s going to be one of the biggest threats. 

For the other Huskies, I’ll go with their top goal scorer too, Skylar Irving. The senior had the game winner in the second meeting of the season, and added a goal and an assist in the game in February. She had that aforementioned PPG for NU against Providence, and just like Habisch has goals in three-straight contests. With her 31 total points this season, it’s obvious to see how Northeastern’s offense runs through her. UConn will be aware of this, and will be doing their best to shut her down, but that’s a pretty tough task to accomplish if the last two years are any indication. 

Programming Notes: 

Both games will be available on ESPN+ at 6 PM on Wednesday. 

UConn vs. Northeastern will be available on NESN for viewers within New England as well. 

The ESPN+ links are available here. 

Boston University vs. Boston College – 6 PM 

UConn vs. Northeastern – 6 PM