BOSTON — A three-goal first period lead Wednesday looked like it might turn into the same old story for Northeastern when Merrimack battled back in the second period and left the Huskies fighting for the win in the game’s final minutes. An empty netter from assistant captain Robbie Vrolyk sealed it for Northeastern with a 4-2 victory over the Warriors.

After missing the postseason by a point last season, the Huskies began this year’s conference play with a big first period offensively. Fifty three seconds into play, freshman defenseman Colton Saucerman passed to senior forward Garrett Vermeersch from the right point and Vermeersch deflected it over the shoulder of Merrimack goaltender Rasmus Tirronen. Northeastern struck again within five minutes of puck drop when forward Joseph Manno took a feed from freshman Kevin Roy to make it 2-0.

The offensive contribution from Roy continued in the first period, this time with a goal of his own on the power play. With that the Huskies ended the first period with a 3-0 lead, but the Warriors answered in the second period. First, sophomore forward Quinn Gould beat senior goaltender Chris Rawlings on a bouncing puck in front of the net to put Merrimack on the board. Justin Mansfield made it 3-2 with just under five minutes to play in the second.

Northeastern managed to hold on throughout the third period, picking up their first two extremely valuable Hockey East points of the season.

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Minneapolis, MN – Minnesota’s return to the rink went according to plan Saturday night as the Golden Gophers defeated the University of Lethbridge 7-0 in an exhibition game at Mariucci Arena.

The defending WCHA champions, who led college hockey last year in goals per game, didn’t take long to get going. A five minute major to Lethbridge forward Mark Hall for checking Zach Budish from behind 4:17 into the game proved to be the catalyst for two of sophomore Christian Isackson’s three goals. He completed the hat trick 1:08 into the second period while fellow sophomore Sam Warning added another goal 25 seconds later to make it 4-0 Minnesota.

Not to be outdone, the Gopher defense got involved in the scoring five minutes later. Freshman Mike Reilly set up junior Mark Alt at the top of the point and the Carolina Hurricane prospect slapped a one-timer past Lethbridge goalie Dylan Tait. The third period saw emotions escalate on both sides, amounting to 31 minutes in penalties between the two teams. It didn’t change Minnesota’s momentum, however, and two goals by Ben Marshall and Seth Ambroz completed the scoring barrage.

What I saw

-With everyone except for defenseman Blake Thompson (who the team is thinking about redshirting) and backup goalies Ryan Coyne and Matt LaPrade dressing, University of Minnesota head coach Don Lucia unveiled new line combinations. Isackson, who was pointless in 11 games last year, was on the first line right wing alongside Kyle Rau and Nick Bjugstad. Last year’s top right winger, Zach Budish, was instead slotted into the second line with Sam Warning and Erik Haula.

On defense, all three pairs from 2011-2012 were split up while Lucia tries to figure out how to fit eight defensemen into six spots. Freshmen Brady Skjei, a 2012 first round pick by the New York Rangers, and Mike Reilly, who led all BCHL defensemen in points last year, join the six defensemen from last year’s squad.

The power play, meanwhile, looked similar to last year with Bjugstad, Rau and Budish reunited and Haula once again finding himself on the point.

– Skjei had a “welcome to college hockey” moment after getting caught looking at a pass by Lethbridge’s Kyle Mclachlan that he could have gotten away on the USNTDP. He also wasn’t afraid to dish it out and the 6’2”, 197 lbs freshman came to the defense of Nick Bjugstad in the third period.

What I thought

-Lucia mentioned after the game that he believed to the key to this season would be a few of the sophomores stepping up and specifically named Christian Isackson, Travis Boyd and Seth Ambroz. All three did that Saturday but no one more than Isackson. Although the Buffalo Sabres prospect was given a great opportunity playing on the first line, Isackson proved to hold his own. Each of his first two goals was set up Boyd and Ben Marshall rather than Bjugstad and Rau. He had two more great chances to score in the first that were stopped by Tait; however, like Boyd at the end of last year and Nate Schmidt (who went from 1 point as a freshman to 41 as a sophomore) it looks like the sophomore may have turned a corner in his development.

-While Gopher goalies Mike Shibrowski and Adam Wilcox combined for a shutout, neither was tested much. Lethbridge struggled to create offense when they were at even strength and ended up being out-shot 65-16. Shibrowski, a junior who played twenty minutes last season behind the departed Kent Patterson, and freshman Wilcox each made eight saves in their 30 minute stints although Shibrowski faced the tougher chances of the two. It was only an exhibition but having two goalies stand tall and not give Lethbridge rebounds in their few scoring opportunities is big for a team whose biggest question mark coming into the season was goaltending.

What they said

-Christian Isackson on his summer between freshman and sophomore year: “I talked to (Nate Schmidt) a lot. I worked hard. I really put my head to the grindstone over the summer and came in trying to be as positive as I can.

-Nate Schmidt on Mike Reilly: “He’s an ‘Alex Goligoski-type’ player.”

What else you should know

-Minnesota’s 7 goals were scored by five players who combined last year to score 20 goals or five less than Nick Bjugstad. On the other end of the spectrum, the top 5 returning scorers (Erik Haula, Bjugstad, Kyle Rau, Nate Schmidt and Zach Budish) from 2011-2012 combined for four assists Saturday.

-Saturday’s game was the first time someone other than Kent Patterson started for Minnesota in goal since December 3, 2010.

-Defenseman Justin Holl took a vicious hit at the end of the game but appeared to be fine and in good spirits after the game.

-Mariucci Arena received a few cosmetic changes in the offseason with a new HD scoreboard and sound system.

-Attendance was announced as 7,283.

Orono, ME. – Maine needed a rebound game after the disappointment last night, instead they managed a tie against a team that was handled by Boston College 6-0 on Saturday night. New Brunswick drew first blood at the seven minute mark of the first period as Cam Critchlow sniped one past Maine goaltender, Martin Ouellette. Maine would score the equalizer seven minutes later as Beattie took a pass from Devin Shore and buried it past the Varsity Reds netminder to tie the game at one.

The second period was controlled territorially by Maine but was an evenly played period by both teams. Devin Shore gave the Black Bears a 2-1 lead 1:11 into the second and the lead would stand for 20 minutes. Chad Denny would score for the Reds two minutes into the third to tie the game and that’s where the game would end, not without a little drama at the end. At the end of the overtime it appeared that the Varsity Reds had scored but it came 0.2 seconds after the final horn and thus the game ended in a draw. (more…)

BOSTON — Boston University beat the University of Toronto 5-0 in an exhibition game Sunday. The Terriers outshot the Varsity Blues 50-17 and completely dominated the game from start to finish. All five goals came on the power play, as the Terriers amassed 23 shots on 12 man-up chances. Alexx Privitera (3 assists), Cason Hohmann (1 goal, 1 assist), Matt Grzelcyk (2 assists) and Ahti Oksanen (2 assists) all posted multi-point games. BU opens the regular season against Providence on Saturday.

What I saw
-The Terriers scored five power-play goals and generated a ton of chances on the man advantage. Their entries were smooth, their passes were crisp, and they consistently had traffic in front of the net. The first goal came when Grzelcyk fed Matt Nieto for a one-timer, with Sahir Gill setting a screen in front. The second came off another Grzelcyk feed, this one to Oksanen. Gill and Evan Rodrigues were both at the top of the crease, and Rodrigues ended up with the deflection goal. Yasin Cisse added a third when he poked home a loose puck following a Privitera shot. Mike Moran scored on a rebound as well, and Hohmann’s came on a nice pass from Oksanen. The Terriers certainly have the weapons to have a strong power play, but it was a little surprising to see things clicking so well after just one full practice. Toronto’s penalty kill wasn’t good at all, but BU’s power play still deserves a lot of credit. (more…)

Orono, Maine. – Maine dominated the first period against Quinnipiac and scored a quick goal 3:41 into the game off the stick of Steven Swavely. The goal came off a face-off where his brother, Jon Swavely tipped the puck and Steven buried it under the arm of Quinnipiac senior goaltender Eric Hartzell. The goal was not enough as Quinnipiac would used a strong performance from their goaltender Eric Hartzell and defeated Quinnipiac 2-1.

The Quinnipiac goaltender was strong all night and helped Rand Pecknold’s troops to the win, possibly in some ways a steal win. The goal early in the second period changed the momentum of the game. When Travis St-Denis scored two minutes into the second it turned a game that Maine was dominating into a game that Quinnipiac actually had a shot to win. Despite not showing much for most of the third period, Quinnipiac got the game winner with 1:26 left to go in the game. The goal proved to be a dagger on opening night for Maine. (more…)

LOWELL, Mass. — Massachusetts-Lowell beat the University of Toronto 5-2 in an exhibition game Saturday. The River Hawks opened the scoring 7:54 in when freshman Michael Colantone buried a Terrence Wallin rebound. Toronto’s Paul Van De Velde tied the game at one two minutes later, but then Joseph Pendenza scored a pair of goals to give Lowell a 3-1 lead after one.

Scott Wilson scored late in the second and freshman defenseman Greg Amlong capped the scoring with a power-play goal in the third. Freshman goalie Connor Hellebuyck played the first half of the game and stopped 12 of 13 shots, while Doug Carr saved seven of eight in the second half. The River Hawks open the regular season against Vermont on Friday.

What I saw
-Redshirt freshman defenseman Dmitry Sinitsyn played his first real game in more than a year. The seventh-round pick of the Dallas Stars wasn’t playing anywhere to start last season due to visa issues, then he committed to Lowell and redshirted the second half while practicing with the team. Obviously both Norm Bazin and the Stars saw a lot of promise in the offensive blue-liner, and he showed flashes of that Saturday, notably leading a couple rushes up ice. Sinitsyn also looked a bit rusty at times, but that was obviously to be expected. Bazin said it will be good for Sinitsyn to watch some video and be able to see where he should be in certain situations. (more…)