We’re down to two weekends left in the regular season (plus two Tuesday night makeup games this week), meaning it’s do-or-die time. There are a handful of teams fighting not just for home ice, but also for the regular-season title. Three teams are in pretty good shape in the Pairwise, while three others have some work to do if they hope to get an at-large bid. Then at the bottom of the league, four teams continue to battle for the final two playoff spots. In this week’s power rankings, I take a look at each team’s postseason situation.

1. Boston College (18-8-3, 13-7-2 HE) — Last week: 1
Quinn Smith scored 2:23 into overtime to give BC a huge 2-1 win at Merrimack on Sunday. The Eagles are now in a three-way tie for first, but they have a game in hand on both UNH and Providence. That game in hand comes Tuesday against Lowell, and a weekend series against Providence follows that. Sunday’s win also jumped the Eagles ahead of UNH for the final one-seed in the Pairwise. Parker Milner stopped 43 of 44 shots and now has a .940 save percentage since the start of February.

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NORTH ANDOVER — Quinn Smith found an opening on a rebound with 2:32 remaining in overtime as Boston College beat Merrimack College, 2-1, in OT on Sunday afternoon at Lawler Arena.

Parker Milner made 43 saves for the Eagles while Sam Marotta stopped 26 shots for the Warriors, including two of the best saves you’ll see all season in the third period, robbing both Bill Arnold and Danny Linell of point-blank opportunities.

Shawn Bates scored Merrimack’s only goal in the first period, hammering home a loose puck in the crease after his initial shot was blockered away by Milner.

The Warriors fall into fourth place in Hockey East, one point back of a three-way tie for first between BC, New Hampshire and Providence. Merrimack suffered a devastating loss in the Pairwise rankings, falling from 18th to 23rd. Boston College meanwhile, climbed to No. 4.

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LOWELL, Mass. – Massachusetts-Lowell beat Boston University 3-1 on Saturday to complete its first season sweep of the Terriers since the 2000-01 season. With the win, the River Hawks pulled within two points of first place and moved up to 11th in the Pairwise. BU dropped to 23rd in the Pairwise and now sits two points out of a home ice spot.

Lowell’s Scott Wilson opened the scoring for the second night in a row, once again firing a slap shot into the top corner from about 40 feet out. Chad Ruhwedel made it 2-0 midway through the second when he finished off a 4-on-1 power-play rush. BU’s Evan Rodrigues cut the lead in half with a shorthanded goal 8:25 into the third, but then Joseph Pendenza provided an insurance marker with 7:55 to go.

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Amherst, Mass. - With the eighth and final Hockey East playoff spot on the line, Massachusetts used a three-goal third period to top Maine 5-2.

Joel Hanley led the Minutemen with three assists, two of which came in the third period on goals by Zack LaRue and Conor Sheary. Kevin Czepiel finished it with an empty-netter with 44 seconds remaining in the game.

Down 2-0 after the first period, the Black Bears scored twice in less than two minutes to even things up. First Jake Rutt put home a power play goal on a wrist shot 5 minutes, 36 seconds into the second period. Then Bill Norman put home the equalizer at 7:16.

Steve Mastalerz got the win in goal for UMass, making 23 saves. Martin Ouellette started for Maine coming off a big night on Friday, but wasn’t the same player between the pipes, making 22 saves in a losing effort.

What I Saw

• This was not the same Martin Ouellette that was in goal for Maine the night before. The junior netminder single-handedly beat the Minutemen with his 30-save shutout performance that included a pair of stops on breakaway chances and one of the saves of the year on Friday. However, Ouellette found himself in trouble early when Adam Phillips buried home a rebound off a Rocco Carzo shot 5 minutes, 51 seconds into the first period. Branden Gracel added to that less than two minutes later when he scored on a scorching snapper from the left wing that beat Ouellette glove-side high. After settling down and making some more key saves to keep the game tied after the second period, Ouellette struggled again in the third. First one a goal by Zack LaRue after failing to cover Gracel’s initial shot, Then another on a one-timer from Hanley to Sheary. Ouellette was clearly not playing with the same confidence out there that he had on Friday, much of that can be credited to the fact that the Minutemen got to him early.  (more…)

BOSTON – Connor Hellebuyck earned his third shutout and improved to 9-0-0 in his last nine starts, as he stopped all 25 shots he faced in Massachusetts-Lowell’s 3-0 win over Boston University on Friday. Lowell and BU are now tied for fifth in Hockey East with 24 points apiece, putting them three points out of first. As of 10:45 p.m., the River Hawks were 13th in the Pairwise, while the Terriers had dropped to 18th.

Scott Wilson gave Lowell a 1-0 lead 5:35 into the second when he pulled up in the right circle and fired a slap shot into the top corner. Joseph Pendenza upped the lead to 2-0 two minutes later when he took a shot that pinballed off two BU defenders and past Matt O’Connor (24 saves). Riley Wetmore closed out the scoring with a power-play goal late in the third. With the loss, the Terriers dropped to 0-4-1 in their last five home games, marking their first five-game home winless streak since they started playing on campus in 1971.

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AMHERST, Mass. — In a series that will contribute significantly to the determination of the final Hockey East playoff spot, Maine defeated Massachusetts, 2-0, at the Mullins Center Friday night. Junior goaltender Martin Ouellette offered an excellent performance in net for the Black Bears, including saves on multiple above-average UMass scoring chances throughout the game. This was the goalie’s second career shut-out, the result of 30 saves.

The teams will skate again on the same ice tomorrow night. With the victory, Maine moves into eighth place while the Minutemen fall to ninth. Meanwhile, Northeastern lost to Providence, 6-2, staying in the tenth position.

What I Saw

Ouellette made one of the season’s best saves near the beginning of the second period, robbing K.J. Tiefenwerth from very close range. The save maintained a scoreless game. For the next few minutes, the teams traded quality scoring chances through rapid end-to-end action. Several pucks sailed through each crease, as the pair of goaltenders supported their struggling defensemen.

More significantly, the save preserved the complexion of the game in Maine’s favor. The Black Bears finally started the scoring near the end of the second frame as the team took advantage of a power play opportunity. Freshman defenseman Ben Hutton launched a shot past a screened Boyle. Four minutes later, Maine doubled its lead as senior Mark Anthoine sent a perfectly-placed snap shot into the top-right corner above goalie Kevin Boyle’s glove side. The goal prompted UMass coach John Micheletto to replace Boyle with Steve Mastalerz.

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As we race toward the end of the season, there’s been lots of discussion about playoff spots and the ever-volatile Pairwise, and rightfully so. But we’re also starting to hear some talk about end-of-season awards. In fact, we here at CHN just published our first Hobey Watch earlier this week.

All this got me thinking about some of the Hockey East awards. There are always great debates over these, and I’m sure those debates will only get more heated as we get closer to awards night. So I figured I’d take a look at how some of these races are shaping up.

Keep in mind that every team still has six or seven games left, and that those games could not only impact some of these races, but possibly decide them. Also keep in mind that the Hockey East awards are based solely on conference play. Out-of-conference games aren’t taken into account, or at least they’re not supposed to be.

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Amherst, Mass. - Josh Manson scored his first goal of the season 4 minutes, 4 seconds into overtime to complete a 5-4 comeback win for Northeastern over Massachusetts Tuesday night at the Mullins Center.

Robbie Vrolyk scored the game-tying goal 13:07 into the third, his second tally of the night, while his linemates Adam Reid and Cody Ferriero each had a goal of their own.

Michael Pereira led the Minutemen with two goals and an assist to push his point total to 25 for the year (12 goals, 13 assists).

Chris Rawlings got the start in goal for Northeastern, but was pulled after the second period after allowing four goals on 32 shots faced. Bryan Mountain took over for the third period and overtime and shut out UMass.

Steve Mastalerz made 40 saves for the Minutemen in a losing effort.

What I Saw

• Northeastern coach Jim Madigan said after the game that his decision to bring Mountain in was because he believed that Mountain was a more aggressive goalie than Rawlings, and it would be more fitting going up against UMass’ fast-paced, aggressive style of play. That move paid dividends for Madigan and the Huskies as Mountain gave the Minutemen no room to operate in the offensive zone. This style of play instilled life into the entire Northeastern squad. Mountain may not provide as big a target as Rawlings, but he was aggressive in his crease as UMass continued to drive the net and wasn’t afraid to play out against that attack.   (more…)

Most energy this time of year is exerted on analyzing potential postseason matchups and the eventual NCAA tournament field. The national scene is always interesting to keep an eye on. Still, Hockey East typically raises a few questions on its own.

Merrimack’s surge in the second half has made the current league standings perhaps as strange as they’ve ever been this late in the season. It’s odd, for example, that Merrimack is still on the bubble for an at-large bid. Rarely has a team finished in the top few Hockey East spots and not been a lock essentially for the NCAA tournament. At this point, it looks like Merrimack will more than likely move itself safety should it play well enough in these final three weekends to win the Hockey East regular season title. The Warriors next four games come against Boston College, Boston University and Massachusetts-Lowell twice. All four of these are major opportunities to improve their league standing as well as their Pairwise resume.

The final two games of the season are against Massachusetts. Should the Minutemen get some momentum and gain TUC status by season’s end, a couple wins over UMass would make help Merrimack even further.

Regardless, the Warriors’ 8-3-3 run in the second half has made the playoff race in Hockey East entertaining we’ve seen in years.

(After the jump: BC’s MVP, Merrimack dynamic duo and the key to Vermont’s success.) (more…)

Dear Hockey East,

Please reconsider the new playoff plan you’re implementing next season. Vermont just swept Northeastern in a huge series. Northeastern now heads to UMass on Tuesday for what is essentially a must-win game. Then this coming weekend, UMass hosts Maine in a series that could wind up deciding both teams’ seasons. Why are all these games so important? Because of that race for the eighth and final playoff spot. Because not all of those teams are going to make the postseason.

This is what makes the Hockey East regular season better than the regular season in any other conference. In other leagues, none of those games I just mentioned would be nearly as important. Sure, they might decide seeding, but they wouldn’t decide seasons. I think I speak for a lot of fans when I say that in a league where everyone makes the playoffs, I don’t really care if someone finishes ninth instead of 10th. Home ice in that new first round is something to shoot for, but there’s no way that race will ever be as exciting or as meaningful as a race for the final playoff spot.

I’m not saying you have to stick to the same eight-team format. In fact, I’d be worried that an eight-team playoff in a 12-team league would lead to too many meaningless games at the end of the regular season for the bottom couple teams. A 10-team playoff would be ideal in my opinion. There are several ways to make this work. One would be the old WCHA format, with first-round series pitting 1 vs. 10, 2 vs. 9, etc., followed by a play-in game between the two lowest remaining seeds prior to the semifinals. Another would be having two play-in games pit 7 vs. 10 and 8 vs. 9 prior to the quarterfinals.

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