As the great Michael Buffer would say, ‘Let’s get ready to rumble!’

The No. 16 UMass hockey team only has two games left in its regular season, but they’re doozies as the Minutemen will host No. 5 Maine for two games at the Mullins Center that’ll carry massive NCAA tournament and Hockey East playoff implications.

These two teams met once already in Orono back on Feb. 2 and the Black Bears edged the Minutemen, 3-2. Now, UMass will likely need to split the upcoming series with Maine to secure a spot in the NCAA tournament, plus a favorable position in Hockey East.

“They know what they are. They have a strong identity as a team,” Minutemen head coach Greg Carvel said of the Black Bears. “They just work pucks to the net and everybody knows it’s going there. They work hard, they battle, strong goaltending, well-coached team.”

At 12th in the Pairwise ratings, UMass is above the cutline for an at-large bid. However, two losses against Maine would almost certainly cause the Minutemen to drop to the expected cutline of 13th, if not further, depending on how Penn State and UMass Lowell do this weekend. That’s why even one win against the Black Bears, who are fourth in the Pairwise, would likely jolt them up into a comfortable spot for an at-large bid.

In terms of Hockey East standings, the Minutemen could finish as high as fourth place and as low as eighth place. Currently with 33 league points, three points this weekend would seemingly secure sixth place for the Minutemen as they hold the tie-breaker against the River Hawks (30 points), should they sweep their final regular-season series against UNH.

With all that said, Carvel feels his team has been playing playoff-like hockey for weeks now.

“To me it’s no different than the last six, eighth games we’ve played, huge implications,” Carvel said. “But it should be nice to win Friday, that would put us in a good spot and keep our momentum going. I wouldn’t call it a must-win, but they’re all huge. We all know what we’re fighting for, we all know what’s at hand. At this point in the year, coaching is fun, because you don’t need to worry about desperation and motivation, it’s usually there in every direction, players are feeling it.”

If not for Boston College, Maine would be the cream of the crop of Hockey East. The Black Bears have already surpassed the 20-win mark with 21 victories, and they’ve also beaten some quality non-conference opponents including No. 13 Quinnipiac twice, and defending national champion Denver.

Maine is the second toughest team in the country to score goals on as it has allowed only 57 goals in 32 games. For reference, the Minutemen have surrendered 84 goals in 34 games and are 20th-best in the nation.

Albin Boija, the Black Bears’ sophomore goalie, has been a big reason why with a .931 save-percentage, good for sixth-best in the country.

“Obviously Boija is a great goaltender, we saw that up there, that Sunday we went up there, but the big thing will just be making it a battle for their [defensemen] down low, getting around the net,” UMass junior Owen Murray said. “We’ve seen at times when we do that against teams, we’re a really good team and we’re capable of doing it. Just being hungry around the crease will be really important this week.”

Old friend Taylor Makar continues to have a career-year with Maine as the former Minuteman took home Hockey East Player of the Month honors for the month of February. Makar had seven goals in as many games over the course of the month, including his first hat trick against Vermont last Friday.

Makar and Harrison Scott have each potted 16 goals as Maine’s top two offensive threats. The Black Bears also have five other skaters who have slotted at least 20 points to balance out their attack.

UMass would be best served scoring first in these contests as well as Maine is 17-1-0 when it gets the game’s first goal, including 12-0-0 when leading after the first period.

“It feels like we’ve been playing playoff hockey since January,” Murray said. “Especially this weekend, I’m sure the barn will be buzzing and having a good team like that will show how we stack up against the best.”

Puck drop for Friday’s game is scheduled for 7 p.m., with Saturday’s tilt set for a 7:30 p.m. start.