Chestnut Hill, Mass – Boston College began their quest to win a fourth consecutive Hockey East tournament title against seventh seeded Vermont. The Eagles jumped out to a lead at 14 minutes, 47 seconds as Brooks Dyroff took the puck into the zone, beat a defender and scored on the second shot. The 1-0 lead would hold through the intermission, as the Eagles and Catamounts played a defensive neutral zone game through 20 minutes. BC would score halfway through the second period, as Michael Matheson sent a bomb right into the back of the net to make it 2-0 for the Eagles.  The Eagles would add another from Cam Spiro to take a 3-0 lead into the second intermission.

Vermont made it interesting in the third period, as Ben Albertson received a puck all alone in front at 4:56 of the third period to make it a 3-1 game. The Catamounts would score again, shorthanded, as Matt White converted a BC turnover to bring UVM within a goal, with just 7:23 remaining in the game.But it was not to be, as Johnny Gaudreau would seal the game for the Eagles on an empty net goal. BC defeated Vermont 4-2 and the Eagles take a 1-0 series lead into tomorrow night’s tilt at Conte Forum. The win moves BC into fifth in the Pairwise rankings. (more…)

LOWELL, Mass. – Massachusetts-Lowell beat Maine 4-2 on Thursday to take Game 1 of their Hockey East quarterfinal series. Scott Wilson broke a 1-1 tie 1:52 into the third when he followed up a Christian Folin drive to the net and buried his second goal of the game. Joseph Pendenza scored off an A.J. White rebound 21 seconds later, and Josh Holmstrom made it 4-1 four minutes after that when he tipped in a Chad Ruhwedel slapper.

Maine opened the scoring with a power-play goal at the 13:52 mark of the first. Jake Rutt walked in from the left point and fired a shot that hit the post before bouncing in off Connor Hellebuyck’s back. The River Hawks tied the game with a power-play goal of their own late in the second. Wilson held the puck in the right circle before beating Martin Ouellette through a screen. Devin Shore cut Lowell’s lead to 4-2 with 47.1 seconds left in the game, but it was too little too late.

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AMHERST, Mass. - Just one night after being eliminated from Hockey East playoff contention, Massachusetts comes back with a strong showing, ending its season on a high note with a 3-0 win over Merrimack at the Mullins Center Saturday night.

Adam Phillips was the only multi-point scorer for the game with a goal and an assist, including the opening tally on a power play at the 5:08 mark. Conor Sheary and Colin Shea were the other two goal-scorers for UMass.

Steve Mastalerz got his fifth straight start for the Minutemen, and made 24 saves to finish the year with a 4-8-1 record with the shutout win.

Sam Marotta took the loss for the Warriors, making 30 saves on 33 shots faced.

What I Saw

• Neither team had all too much to play for, UMass in particular, but it was the Minutemen that came out playing hard and were ultimately the better team on Saturday. UMass got plenty of pressure on Marotta in the first period, and capitalized 5 minutes, 8 seconds in when Rocco Carzo hit Adam Phillips with a nice backhand feed and Phillips buried it into an open net. The Minutemen doubled their advantage at 17:42 on Conor Sheary’s second goal in as many games. Branden Gracel’s initial shot from the left circle was saved by Marotta, but Sheary gathered the rebound and easily tapped the puck in. 

• Merrimack showed a deficiency in its power play this weekend, and it was especially apparent on Saturday. The Warriors had a golden chance down 1-0, 5:22 into the first period when Mike Busillo was sent off for a five-minute major and game misconduct for contact to the head. They were ineffective with the man-advantage for the first four minutes, but then an Oleg Yevenko cross-checking penalty gave them 55 seconds of 5-on-3. However, they could only get one quality chance in the sequence that went wide. Overall Merrimack went 0-for-6 on the man-advantage and did relatively little with it.
  

• For what it’s worth, UMass showed some positive signs going into next season with its effort on Saturday night. But I think it’s pretty clear that the Minutemen will once again depend on its first line forwards of Gracel, Sheary and Pereira. They were aided by some strong efforts by Phillips and Shea, but besides that the lack of balance will continue to hold this team back unless someone steps up from the current roster or the incoming recruiting class. One question UMass may have answered heading into next season is who the No. 1 guy in goal will be. Mastalerz has been playing the best hockey of his short career lately, while Kevin Boyle faltered in the last couple months.

• Merrimack appeared to be playing some uninspired hockey for a good portion of this game, which is not the type of rhythm a team wants to have heading into the postseason. The Warriors took too many penalties and spent 14 minutes a man down. The defense afforded UMass some prime scoring chances as well. While Saturday’s result may have no bearing on their standing in Hockey East, it’s something worth mentioning if they come out flat next weekend. The offense did have an improved energy-level for much of the night, especially compared to their effort the previous night. The Warriors were aggressive and tried to push the pace, but it didn’t come from all four lines and it resulted in little ability to convert.
  

What I Thought

• The story of UMass’ season can be told through two particular sequences in the second period. Sheary led a 2-on-0 opportunity in front of the net after forcing an offensive zone turnover but couldn’t complete the short pass to Shane Walsh to set up a scoring opportunity. Then later in the frame, Marotta came out of his  crease to play the puck, but it was deflected and possessed by Sheary, who tried to feed a streaking Walsh in front of a wide open net. But they failed to connect and the Minutemen came up empty. Their season was one full of missed opportunities, and plays such as those define the kind of seasons that leave a team ninth in Hockey East.

• Marotta’s night could be described in two different ways based on your idea of a good night. But the Merrimack goalie could’ve definitely been better despite the lack of goal support. He made that poor decision trying to play the puck with Sheary coming in hard, and had trouble securing pucks. He looked bad on UMass’ third goal when Colin Shea’s shot deflected off the stick of a Warriors defenseman. Marotta could only get a piece of the puck trying to make the glove save and it went out and into the net. While Merrimack’s inability to score is its most glaring issue heading into the playoffs, it will need much sharper outings from Marotta to be successful. 

What They Said

“I thought we played pretty well to be honest with you, we just couldn’t score…I liked how we played (Saturday), I thought we played much better than we did (Friday) for sure.” -Merrimack coach Mark Dennehy.

“We’ve had nights where we’ve done everything the right way and haven’t been rewarded. It’s been heartbreaking because they haven’t been rewarded like they should so to be able to regroup and come out with the execution that we had was really heartwarming.” -UMass coach John Micheletto.

What Else You Should Know

Gracel left the game in the second period with an apparent wrist injury after taking a hard hit into the boards. With the season being over, it’s nothing that should have any bearing on next year despite being in obvious pain after the hit.

UMass finishes ninth in the Hockey East standings and fails to qualify for the Hockey East tournament for the first time since 2002 when former coach Don ‘Toot’ Cahoon was in his second season as head man.

With the loss, Merrimack finishes its season sixth in the Hockey East standings with 29 points, and will travel to Agganis Arena to take on Boston University in the Hockey East Quarterfinals next weekend. The best-of-three series starts Friday night.

Durham, NH- In a game that was the difference between hosting a first round game and going on the road for the first round, UNH had everything on the line. They responded early with a crisp game from the start and were rewarded with a first period lead, as Max Gaudreault sent a pass to a wide open Scott Pavelski, who scored to give UNH the 1-0 lead at 15 minutes, 59 seconds of the first. That lead would be doubled at 14:06 of the second to give UNH a 2-0, but then the flood gates opened. Joey Diamond, Grayson Downing and Adam Shemansky all scored in the latter five minutes of the second to send UNH into the second intermission with a 3-2 lead.

Maine would score at 5:58 of third, as Joey Diamond beat Casey Desmith on a rebound to give Maine life and a tied game with 14 minutes remaining in the contest. Connor Riley would score a go-ahead goal at 7:14 of the third to give the Black Bears their first lead of the night, but it was short-lived as Eric Knodel tied the game at four for UNH with 3:38 remaining in regulation. Neither team took control in the overtime period, as UNH and Maine would finish in a 4-4 tie.

The tie puts UNH in a wait and see mode in terms of the Hockey East playoffs. Maine will finish with the seventh or eighth seed in the Hockey East, which is quite the remarkable comeback considering they started the season 1-5-2 in league play. UNH,with the tie, still sits in a tie for fifth place in the Pairwise rankings. (more…)

I’ve gotten some questions on Twitter about different playoff scenarios heading into tonight, so I figured it would be a good idea to just run through some of them here. First, let’s take a look at what has already happened.

-Lowell has clinched home ice. Incredibly, it is still the only team that has done so.

-The top eight teams have all clinched playoff spots. Northeastern was already eliminated before this weekend, while Massachusetts got eliminated last night.

OK, now let’s take a look at who can clinch what tonight. Vermont and Maine are the only two playoff teams that have no chance of getting home ice. They will be the seventh and eighth seeds in some order. If they finish tied for seventh, Vermont holds the tiebreaker.

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NORTH ANDOVER — Considering how crazy the Hockey East race has been this season, we should have only expected these final few games to finish in an equal frenzy.

UMass, which needed at least a tie to keep its playoff hopes alive after Maine beat UNH, scored three goals in the last 4:01 — all three with its goaltender pulled — to force overtime. But Merrimack, which needed a win to keep its home-ice hopes alive, got an extra-session goal from Connor Toomey to beat the Minutemen, 4-3, at Lawler Arena on Friday night.

What I saw

- The Minutemen potted three extra-attacker goals in the final 4:01 of the third period. On a power play with more than five minutes to go, UMass head coach John Micheletto pulled his goaltender for the 6-on-4 advantage. The Minutemen cut Merrimack’s 2-0 lead in half before Mike Collins tacked on what looked like necessary insurance later in the period. But, UMass struck twice in the final two minutes, both again with goaltender Steve Mastalerz on the bench, to tie the score.

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Durham, NH - On a night that could have separated UNH from the pack in Hockey East, as UMass-Lowell lost earlier in the night, the Wildcats laid an egg against rival Maine in front of a national audience on NBCSN. The Black Bears took an early 1-0 lead on UNH on the shorthand as freshman Devin Shore sent drew defenders to the wall and sent a beautiful saucer pass to fellow freshman Steven Swavely who was true to give Maine the early lead. This lead would hold through the intermission and Maine would play a masterful, defensive second period to take a 1-0 advantage into the the final period.

The flood gates opened in the final 11 minutes of the contest, as Kyle Beattie would score a crucial go ahead goal at the nine minute, 18 second mark to put the Black Bears up 2-0. UNH would answer four minutes later, as Dalton Speelman would tip home an Eric Knodel shot to give UNH some life. But Maine would score two quick goals, 20 seconds apart to give Maine a late 4-1 lead. UNH would then respond with two late goals, but it was not enough and Maine would pick up the 4-3 win.

With the win, Maine clinches the eighth and final spot in the Hockey East playoffs and with the loss UNH falls to a third place tie in Hockey East, one point ahead of fifth place Boston University. UNH needs two points on Saturday night against this same Maine team to clinch home ice in the first round the Hockey East playoffs and are assured of not finishing with the one seed. The best UNH could do is a share of a Hockey East title, if Providence and UMass-Lowell tie. But UNH cannot gain the number one seed because they lost the season series against Providence.  (more…)

LOWELL, Mass. – Led by Jon Gillies’ 31 saves, Providence beat Massachusetts-Lowell 3-0 on Friday to move into a tie with Lowell for first place in Hockey East. The Friars and River Hawks conclude the season Saturday night in Providence with the regular-season title on the line. The winner of the game would win the title outright, while a tie would leave both teams with a share a title.

Providence opened Friday’s scoring 12:50 into the first when Ross Mauermann buried a rebound generated by a Paul de Jersey shot. The Friars made it 2-0 on another rebound goal 6:16 into the second, this time with Kevin Hart following up a Mark Jankowski shot. The lead hit 3-0 on a third-period power play, when a Tim Schaller drive to the net led to a loose puck that Tom Parisi buried.

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BOSTON — Boston University defeated Northeastern, 4-2, on Friday night at Matthews Arena. The win kept the Terriers alive in the race for home ice in the Hockey East tournament. Northeastern was eliminated from contention last weekend, but the loss was still difficult for the Huskies to handle.

BU winger Jake Moscatel, a walk-on, notched his first-career goal to start the scoring for the Terriers at 12 minutes, 19 seconds of the first period. Wade Megan, Danny O’Regan and Matt Lane also scored for BU, with O’Regan becoming the game-winner. NU received goals from Cody Ferriero and  Adam Reid in the loss.

What I Saw

• The Terriers created good traffic in front of Rawlings and sent shots in from the blue line to take advantage of second and third chances. Rawlings’ rebound control has always been issue. BU’s first goal came on a shot from freshman defenseman Ahti Oksanen that Rawlings’ initially saved. Moscatel picked up the rebound and beat Rawlings. The Terriers defensemen are an especially active group offensively. Goaltenders with rebound problems are especially east targets for the group, which wasted little time taking advantage on Friday.

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Ten games take place in Hockey East next weekend. Boston College heads to Burlington, Vt., for a pair. Massachusetts-Lowell and Providence, Boston University and Northeastern and Massachusetts and Merrimack play home-and-homes. Maine travels south for two with New Hampshire.

These 10 games will, finally, clarify the field for the 2012 Hockey East tournament. In a way, this installment is the end of an era for the conference. Notre Dame’s arrival next season will lead to new playoff format that includes automatic qualification for every team. Connecticut comes the year after, which will bring yet another format change. The current plan, which includes the elimination of the ninth- and 10th-place teams, is my preference. After all, the regular season loses some of its value if everyone qualifies just by showing up, but the new formats won’t be any less exciting. We’ll just have to wait an additional week to see teams’ seasons end.

At the moment, Northeastern is the only Hockey East team eliminated. Massachusetts could see its season end on Friday if it fails to earn a point, and Maine wins its first game with New Hampshire. Fortunately for the Minutemen, UNH still has a lot to play for this weekend, and the Wildcats are always looking for a win when the hated Black Bears are in town.

Even Northeastern will see this weekend as a point of pride. A year ago, the Huskies were in the same position, eliminated heading into the final night of the season. However, their overtime win over BU cost the Terriers at least a share of the Hockey East regular season title.

Regardless of a fan’s allegiance, the drama of the weekend will lead to yet another unforgettable end to Hockey East’s final regular season as a 10-team, New England-only league.

(After the jump: A fitting end to a disappointing year for Northeastern, BC’s vulnerability and UML readying to win a championship.)

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