DURHAM — At least two positives emerged from last week's series against top-ranked Miami. The University of New Hampshire hockey team showed some offensive punch and identified defense as a major area of concern.

"Miami's behind us," said UNH coach Dick Umile. "We saw a talented team here. I thought we made some progress. We've got a way to go, that's obvious."

The Wildcats plan to tighten up considerably this weekend as they open their Hockey East schedule with home games against Northeastern (tonight) and Maine (Saturday). Both games are scheduled to start at 7 p.m. at the Whittemore Center with tonight's contest being televised live on NESN.

"The team we played last weekend is as good as you can play," Umile said. "It was a good test. If you have any weaknesses or make a mistake they'll put it away — and they did."

Off to one of its worst starts in recent memory, UNH is 0-2-1 following a loss (6-3) and a tie (5-5) against Miami, which fell to Boston University in the Division I national championship game last season. The Wildcats showed some improvement from one game to the next, although they blew a 5-3 second-period lead Saturday in settling for the draw.

"We definitely improved Saturday," Umile said. "That being said, the two goals they scored to tie it up, we didn't do a very good job. We've got a lot of work to do on our team defense. ... We left people uncovered. There's no excuse on our part for that. You get beat one-on-one, that's one thing but guys standing alone out front is not a good thing.

"We did prove we can play offensively," Umile added, "but we have to focus on defense first."

UNH needs to be tougher to play against.

"I think we have to take care of our own zone," said senior defenseman Nick Krates. "We've been working hard on (not) leaving guys wide open and taking care of in front of the net. The biggest thing is communication, especially having inexperienced defensemen on the team."

Although the Wildcats scored eight goals in the two games last weekend, the offense was sporadic with UNH getting all five of its goals Saturday during an eight-minute span in the second period as the teams combined for nine goals in the second.

"We had a lot of turnovers and small mistakes like that," said sophomore forward Mike Borisenok. "I feel those things are easy to improve upon. We're working on drills for transition and making sure that if we turn the puck over we stop and get back to play defense. A lot of times it's making the right decision with the puck."

"We look at last weekend as a learning experience," said Krates, who scored his first career goal last Saturday night. "It's good to look back and learn from your mistakes and learn what you have to work on and what you have to do as far as fixing them."

Northeastern is 2-1 after splitting a two-game series against Colorado College and beating Bentley at home last weekend. The biggest issue for the Huskies this year will be finding a replacement for goalie Brad Thiessen. So far, freshman Chris Rawlings has gotten all the work.

"Obviously, (Thiessen) was a big loss for them," Umile said. "He was the premier goaltender in the league. I know they brought in a couple goaltenders. I'm sure they're good, hopefully they're not as good as he was. He created a headache."

Maine (1-3) lost its first three before beating Michigan State last weekend and splitting that two-game series. UNH has won six of seven against the Black Bears, who play at Massachusetts tonight. Gustav Nyquist has four goals and six points in four games for Maine.

"There's no love there," Umile said. "It's great respect and it's a great rivalry. It's a border war."

"It's definitely going to be a physical weekend," Krates said. "We're going to have to be physical as well and play our game. Our speed and quickness in moving the puck is going to be huge this weekend."

Senior Bobby Butler leads UNH in scoring with three goals and two assists in three games while sophomore defenseman Blake Kessel had two goals and five points in the Miami series after sitting out the opener at Rensselaer with a shoulder injury.

Senior Peter LeBlanc, who was cramping up last Saturday, has four assists and Borisenok is off to a good start with two goals and one assist in three games.

"I expect that out of Peter and Bobby," Umile said. "We'll need them to play like that every night."

Following the games against Northeastern and Maine, the Wildcats play nine of the next 12 on the road beginning with a two-game series, Oct. 30-31, at Wisconsin.