By Dominic Renzetti

Managing Editor

@dcrenzetti

The Eastern hockey club will try and snap an eight-game losing streak this weekend when the team takes on in-state rival Northern Illinois in Kankakee.

The puck will drop at 6 p.m. Friday at the Ice Valley Centre Ice Arena in Kankakee. Saturday’s game will also start at 6 p.m.

Eastern enters with a record of 1-8, having not won since the season opener against Bradley on Sept. 13 in Danville.

The Huskies are 3-5-1, coming off a two-loss road trip against Florida Gulf Coast.

The Panthers and Huskies have had a number of common opponents this season, but the two teams have seen different results.

The Huskies swept Missouri in late September by scores of 7-1 and 9-6. The Tigers swept the Panthers by scores of 6-3 and 8-2 on Oct. 5 and 6.

The Huskies also split with Illinois, falling 3-2 in a shootout on Oct. 11, but ended up beating the Illini in the second game, 6-2, on Oct. 12.

The Huskies are coming off a pair of road trip losses against Florida Gulf Coast. The Huskies lost 9-1 in each game last weekend.

The leading scorer for Northern Illinois is forward Justin Rucinski, who has 10 goals and five assists in nine games with the Huskies.

Goalie Alex Hare has seen the most time in net for the Huskies, playing 463 minutes this season. He has given up 21 goals this year.

For Eastern, freshman Andy Insalaco has scored one goal in each of the team’s last three series. He had one goal in the team’s last game against Iowa.

Senior goalie Andrew Teske is again the likely starter for the Panthers.

Following this series, the Panthers will head out of state for two games against Louisville.

Dominic Renzetti can be reached at 581-2812 or dcrenzeti@eiu.edu