The Boston University Terriers have generated a hockey heat wave in the depths of winter.

The No. 3 ranked and Hockey East-leading Terriers (20-6-0, 14-4-0) are riding a torrid seven-game win streak going into Monday night’s (8) encounter with second place Northeastern (13-10-3, 11-5-2) in the 70th Dunkin Beanpot Tournament at the TD Garden.

“We have a really deep team this year and I think that’s showing right now,” said senior left wing Matt Brown in reference to the recent win streak. “We have a very fast team and we have been playing well in transition and that has been a lot of our offense this year.

“We have had some games that we wish we had back against some pretty strong teams and we’ve had a tough schedule. I think that has helped us progress along the way. I know we are going to keep progressing and keep moving forward through the end of the season.”

BU won its record 31st Beanpot with a 1-0 victory over NU last year. The Beanpot had its run of 68 straight interrupted in 2021 due to the global pandemic. Northeastern had won three straight Beanpots before the annual run was disrupted.

No. 8 ranked Harvard (15-6-1, 3-4-0), the lone ECAC team in the tournament, will take on Boston College (9-10-6, 5-7-5) of Hockey East in the opener at 5.

“It is always good going into something like this and having everybody wanting to take you down,” said Brown. “That brings some added pressure with it when you get to play that role.

“I think it is a cool thing to deal with and I think being the team everybody wants to take down is added pressure for you. It’s that backs against the wall mentality again and we don’t want to lose.”

Brown is a big reason the Terriers went 7-1-0 in January and vaulted into the upper tier of the USCHO national rankings. Brown leads Hockey East and is tied for sixth nationally in scoring with 12 goals and 25 assists for 37 points in 26 games. Brown plays on the first line with senior center Wilmer Skoog and freshman right-wing Devin Kaplan. BU is first in Hockey East and fourth nationally with 110 goals scored.

“I think he (Brown) uses his speed very well to back defenders up,” said BU first year coach Jay Pandolfo. “That allows him time to turn it up and look for later players coming in and finding the open skater.

“I think he does a really good job of that. But I think it is his speed that gives him the time and space to make a play.”

BU freshman defenseman Lane Huston is second in the conference in scoring with nine goals and 26 assists for 35 points in 25 games. Hutson is the top-scoring defenseman in the country and ninth overall.

Consistency has been behind BU’s success heading into what former BC coach Jerry York famously labeled “the start of trophy season.” The Terriers are 11-5 against ranked opponents and have not lost back-to-back games this season

“In my mind, a good team doesn’t get swept and for us, we play better when our backs are against the wall,” said Brown. “You have to have that mentality that when you lose one, you make sure you are not going to lose the second.

“We have kind of gone into every game after a loss with more desperation and I think that has helped us play better.”

Avoiding being swept in a weekend series has been a hallmark of this BU team while generating sweeps has created the current win streak. The run began with home wins against reigning Hockey East champion and 19th-ranked UMass followed by a victory over No. 15 Cornell, the second-place team in the ECAC.

BU captured a home-and-home weekend sweep against BC for the first time since January 2017. The streak reached seven games with the Terriers’ 5-3 victory over Maine on Friday night at Alfond Arena in Orono, Maine, one of the most virulent snake pits in college hockey. The victory competed a three-game series sweep of the Black Bears for the first time since 2007-08.

“I think we can still be better and I think we still have more,” said Brown. “Obviously sweeping a team (BC) is great, especially in a big rivalry like that.

“I think it was the first time in quite a while since either team has swept the other in a weekend. I think it has definitely given us momentum and we are going to use that and keep building.”