There is plenty of movement in this week’s rankings, as only four teams remain in the same spot as last week. Among the changes are a new first-place team and a new last-place team.

1. Boston College (2-1-0, 2-1-0 HE) — Last week: 2
The Eagles overcame a 3-0 third-period deficit to beat UMass 5-4 in overtime on Friday, then beat Northeastern 3-0 after raising their national championship banner on Saturday. The top line of Johnny Gaudreau, Pat Mullane and Steven Whitney combined for five goals and six assists on the weekend. After allowing three or more goals in each of his first two starts, Parker Milner earned a 26-save shutout Saturday. One concern for BC is that its third and fourth lines have yet to register a point this season.

2. New Hampshire (3-0-0, 1-0-0 HE) — Last week: 4
The Wildcats continued to roll with a 4-1 win over BU on Saturday. They’ve now scored at least four goals in all three of their games. Saturday featured a balanced attack, as all four lines scored and 10 different players registered a point. UNH scored a power-play goal for the third straight game and killed all five BU power plays. In net, Casey DeSmith stopped 24 of the 25 shots he faced.

3. Massachusetts-Lowell (1-1-1, 0-0-1 HE) — Last week: 1
The River Hawks suffered a 5-1 loss at Denver on Friday, but bounced back with a 3-1 win at Colorado College the next night. Norm Bazin made the questionable decision to start Connor Hellebuyck in net Friday, and it didn’t pay off as the freshman gave up five goals on 28 shots. Doug Carr fared much better the next night, stopping 27 of 28. Josh Holmstrom has points in all three games, and is currently the only River Hawk with multiple points.

4. Boston University (1-1-0, 1-1-0 HE) — Last week: 3
The Terriers struggled in their first road game, losing 4-1 at UNH. Sean Maguire gave up four goals on 14 shots in first career start, and at least two of those goals were softies. Matt O’Connor stopped all 15 shots he faced in relief and now has a .953 save percentage, but Jack Parker said the freshman rotation will continue for at least another weekend. The line of Wade Megan, Cason Hohmann and Evan Rodrigues has combined for two goals, six assists and a plus-9 rating through two games.

5. Providence (1-2-1, 0-1-0 HE) — Last week: 5
The Friars went to Miami and took the RedHawks to overtime twice, tying 1-1 on Friday before losing 4-3 on Saturday. Ross Mauermann scored the lone goal Friday and he now has three goals and two assists on the season. Noel Acciari’s first career goal came with 48 seconds left Saturday to force overtime. Providence’s penalty kill was a perfect 7-for-7 on the weekend.

6. Northeastern (2-1-0, 2-1-0 HE) — Last week: 6
The Huskies couldn’t make it two in a row against BC, falling 3-0 on Saturday. Special teams were the biggest problem, as Northeastern went 0-for-8 on the power play while the Eagles went 2-for-6. The Huskies now have a 4.8-percent power play and 73.3-percent penalty kill on the season, putting them near the bottom of the league in both categories.

7. Massachusetts (1-1-0, 0-1-0 HE) — Last week: 7
The Minutemen took a 3-0 lead into the third period against BC, only to wind up losing 5-4 in overtime. Rocco Carzo led the offense with two goals, while Steven Guzzo notched his third point in two games. UMass went 1-for-3 on the power play and 4-for-4 on the penalty kill, and now sits at 23.1 percent and 91.7 percent, respectively, on the season.

8. Vermont (0-0-1, 0-0-1 HE) — Last week: 10
The Catamounts didn’t play last weekend, but they move up two spots because the two teams that were in front of them got swept. Consider it a belated reward for earning a tie at Lowell two weekends ago.

9. Merrimack (1-3-0, 0-1-0 HE) — Last week: 9
The Brice Alaska Goal Rush wasn’t kind to the Warriors, as they lost 3-2 to Alaska on Friday and 6-3 to Alaska-Anchorage on Saturday. Sam Marotta stopped 30 of 33 shots Friday and now has a .940 save percentage in two starts. Meanwhile, Rasmus Tirronen struggled on Saturday, giving up six goals on just 24 shots. Merrimack’s penalty kill went just 8-for-12 on the weekend.

10. Maine (1-4-0, 0-0-0 HE) — Last week: 8
The Black Bears had an absolute nightmare of a weekend, getting outscored 10-1 while being swept at home by St. Lawrence. They’ve scored one or zero goals in all four of their losses, and their power play is now 0-for-26 on the season. Even Dan Sullivan, who played well in his first two starts, now looks like a question mark after allowing seven goals on 28 shots and getting yanked in both games.

Wednesday, October 24th, 2012 - 7:00 am | Blogs, Hockey East, Notes, Thoughts, Ramblings