The top three continue to solidify their positions, while everyone else struggles to find any sort of consistency.

1. Boston College (9-1-0, 8-1-0 HE) — Last week: 1
The Eagles fell behind Merrimack 3-0 on Friday, but they came storming back to earn a 4-3 victory and extend their winning streak to nine games. Steven Whitney scored two goals, including the game-winner, and Johnny Gaudreau registered two assists. Gaudreau continues to have at least a point in every game this season, and he is now tied for the conference lead with 14 total. BC is first or second in Hockey East in offense, defense, power play and penalty kill.

2. New Hampshire (8-1-1, 6-1-1 HE) — Last week: 2
Casey DeSmith and the Wildcats earned their third straight shutout on Friday, beating Lowell 3-0. They extended their program-record shutout streak to 204:40 before BU scored on them Sunday, but UNH still won the game 3-1. DeSmith now ranks second nationally with a .961 save percentage, a mark that’s 20 points better than anyone else in Hockey East. The Wildcats went 8-for-8 on the penalty kill and now rank second in the country at 94.6 percent on the season.

3. Boston University (6-4-0, 5-3-0 HE) — Last week: 3
The Terriers beat Vermont 6-2 on Friday before falling to UNH on Sunday. Sean Maguire stopped 29 of 31 shots on Friday to pick up his first career win, while Matt O’Connor stopped 32 of 34 in a losing effort on Sunday. Defensemen Alexx Privitera, Garrett Noonan and Matt Grzelcyk all had multipoint weekends. Grzelcyk’s 10 points on the season are tied for first among Hockey East blueliners.

4. Providence (5-5-1, 4-3-0 HE) — Last week: 5
The Friars beat Northeastern 6-2 on Friday, but also lost 2-0 to Quinnipiac on Tuesday. Derek Army registered a hat trick on Friday, while Mark Jankowski tallied a goal and two assists. Tim Schaller and Paul de Jersey each had multipoint games as well. The Friars are now third in the league in team defense behind only UNH and BC. They went just 8-for-12 on the penalty kill in these two games, though.

5. Merrimack (4-6-1, 3-3-1 HE) — Last week: 6
The Warriors lost a tough one against BC in their only game of the week, but they move up one spot because UMass drops past them and no one else deserves to jump them. Mike Collins scored one of the goals Friday, and he now sits tied with Gaudreau at the front of the league scoring race. Justin Mansfield moved from forward to defense for the game and registered two assists and a plus-1 rating.

6. Massachusetts-Lowell (3-5-1, 2-4-1 HE) — Last week: 8
The River Hawks got shut out by UNH on Friday, but bounced back with a much-needed offensive outburst in an 8-2 win over UMass on Sunday. Riley Wetmore recorded a hat trick, while Scott Wilson had a goal and three assists and Joseph Pendenza had two goals and an assist. The performances from Wetmore and Wilson were particularly encouraging, as they entered the game with two points and one point, respectively.

7. Massachusetts (4-5-1, 3-5-1 HE) — Last week: 4
Getting spanked by Lowell was definitely UMass’ worst result of the season, but tying last-place Maine 2-2 on Friday wasn’t very impressive either. The Minutemen did bounce back from the disappointing weekend by beating Vermont 3-1 on Tuesday, though. Kevin Boyle, who didn’t play at all in Sunday’s debacle, stopped 51 of 54 shots in the two games he did play and now ranks second in the league with a .941 save percentage.

8. Vermont (2-5-2, 2-5-2 HE) — Last week: 9
The Catamounts lost to BU on Friday, then beat Northeastern 3-2 on Sunday, then lost to UMass on Tuesday. Chris McCarthy notched three goals over the weekend and now leads the team with seven points on the season. Brody Hoffman got pulled after allowing four goals on 14 shots Friday, but rebounded by stopping 61 of 65 shots over the next two games.

9. Northeastern (4-6-1, 2-6-1 HE) — Last week: 7
It was a rough weekend for the Huskies, as they got blown out by Providence and also lost to Vermont. They’re now 0-6-1 in their last seven Hockey East contests. Chris Rawlings got yanked for the second time on Friday, but Clay Witt and Bryan Mountain weren’t overly impressive the rest of the weekend either.

10. Maine (2-9-1, 1-5-1 HE) — Last week: 10
The Black Bears have now earned three points in their last two games after tying UMass on Friday, but it’s still going to take more than that for them dig out of this hole. Martin Ouellette stopped 30 of 32 shots and has yet to allow more than three goals in a game. No Maine player is averaging more than 0.50 points per game.

Wednesday, November 21st, 2012 - 7:00 am | Blogs, Hockey East, Notes, Thoughts, Ramblings