A series with Hockey East’s top team might decide whether UMass occupies the league’s basement entering the season’s final weekend.

The Minutemen (10-15-5, 4-13-3 Hockey East) will face No. 15 Northeastern (15-10-5, 12-5-3) in their penultimate series of the season Friday at the Mullins Center (7 p.m. ESPN-Plus) and Saturday in Matthews Arena (7:30 p.m. ESPN-Plus).

UMass sits tied with Vermont at the bottom of the league with 20 points. The Minutemen are 1-8-2 in their last 11 games and couldn’t keep pace with Boston College last weekend.

“Still trying to get the team to play to an identity. I don’t think we play hard enough. It’s the reason why we don’t win a lot of games. We went into that third period Saturday night, I thought after two periods we were playing well enough to win,” UMass coach Greg Carvel said. “We used to rise in the third period. Now we fall off in the third period, that’s something I need to address as a coach.”

UMass’ aggressive identity dissipated after last season with the departure of program stalwarts like Bobby Trivigno, Colin Felix, Matthew Kessel, Anthony Del Gaizo and Matt Murray. The Minutemen brought in 12 new players this season after adding 10 the prior year.

“That’s something I was concerned about going into the year. We lost a lot of our identity. Those kids played a lot of hard hockey, and I think we took them for granted,” Carvel said. “It takes time, especially the freshmen. We lean too much on our freshmen. Usually whatever you get from freshmen is a bonus. They have to score for us. That shouldn’t be the case.”

The top two UMass goalscorers are freshmen: Kenny Connors and Michael Cameron each have nine. UMass has scored the third-fewest goals in Hockey East (43) since conference play began. The Minutemen have also allowed the most goals in conference play (69).

No goaltender has found consistency since the start of the season, and UMass hasn’t given them much of a fighting chance through defensive breakdowns and a lack of offense.

“Unfortunately I have no idea who will be in the net Friday night, and that sucks. I wish I knew right now,” Carvel said.

Which is a problem with the Huskies and their No. 2 offense in the building. Northeastern senior Aidan McDonough leads Hockey East with 19 goals. He and Justin Hryckowian (18 assists) have cracked 30 points, while three other Huskies have at least 20.

They’re also backstopped by reigning Mike Richter Award winner (college hockey goalie of the year) Devon Levi. He’s first  in Hockey East with a .933 save percentage and allows 2.24 goals per game (sixth) with five shutouts (tied first).

ONE LAST RIDE – UMass will celebrate senior night Friday, honoring six players in their final game at the Mullins Center: seniors Eric Faith, Jerry Harding, Cal Kiefiuk, Reed Lebster and Josh Nodler plus graduate student Matt Koopman.

Faith, Kiefiuk and Lebster played all four years with the Minutemen.

“Those kids have been here for a couple championships. The three of them are wonderful young men. I expected more offense from them as a group, but they’re great kids. They get what they can,” Carvel said. “They leave here with championships and banners and rings, but I think they’ve all come a long way.”

Harding spent the past three seasons in maroon after starting his career at Providence. Koopman played four years for the Friars before heading to Amherst.

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