Men’s hockey

Hockey East Semifinals

MAINE vs. BOSTON UNIVERSITY

Time, site: Friday, 5 p.m., FleetCenter, Boston

Records: Maine 28-7-3, BU 12-16-9

Series, last meeting: Maine leads 40-39-7; BU 1-0 on 1/24/04

Key players: Maine – RW Colin Shields (17 goals, 25 assists), C Michel Leveille (5 & 32), LW Todd Jackson (20 & 12), C Derek Damon (13 & 17), LW Greg Moore (14 & 8), D Prestin Ryan (3 & 17), G Jimmy Howard (10-3-3, 1.17 GAA, .951 save percentage); BU – D Ryan Whitney (9 & 16), LW Frantisek Skladany (3 & 21), LW David Van der Gulik (13 & 7), RW Bryan Miller (5 & 15), D Kevin Schaeffer (5 & 12), C Brian McConnell (11 & 5), G Sean Fields (10-15-7, 2.87, .899)

Outlook: Howard is 5-2-2 with an 0.77 GAA and .967 save percentage since returning from a knee injury. Fields is 3-6-2 in his career against Maine with a 3.85 GAA and a .874 percentage, but he made 27 saves to beat Howard and the Bears 1-0 in their last meeting. Shields has 8 & 8 vs. BU. The Terriers will be bolstered by the return of LW Ken Magowan (knee) and C David Klema (shoulder). Both teams are fast, physical and aggressive on the forecheck. The team that does a better job blocking out to give its defensemen time to make a breakout pass will have a distinct advantage, as will the team that controls the neutral zone. Maine is 11-1-2 in its last 14 games while the Terriers have won three of four. Van der Gulik has 5 & 3 in his last nine games. Shields has an eight-game points streak (4 & 5) and Jackson has 5 & 4 in his last eight. BU is 20-6 at the FleetCenter. The winner will play the UNH-UMass winner in Saturday’s 7 p.m. title game.