Much like the rest of us, these power rankings didn’t do a whole lot of moving after Thanksgiving. UNH and Providence flip-flopped, but everyone else stayed where they were last week.

1. Merrimack (9-0-1, 6-0-1 HE) — Last week: 1

In its only game of the last week, Merrimack beat Alabama-Huntsville 6-0 on Wednesday. Joe Cannata registered his first shutout of the season and now ranks in the top three nationally in both goals against average (1.32) and save percentage (.944). Incredibly, the Warriors have still not given up more than two goals in a game yet this season.

2. Boston College (10-4-0, 7-2-0 HE) — Last week: 2

The Eagles fell behind 2-0 against Yale on Saturday, but Barry Almeida scored the tying goal with 2:19 to go in the third and Chris Kreider notched the game-winner with just 39 seconds remaining to give them the 3-2 victory. That snapped a two-game losing streak and helped BC avoid its first sub-.500 month since January 2010.

3. Boston University (7-4-1, 5-3-1 HE) — Last week: 3

The Terriers extended their winning streak to four games Saturday when Ross Gaudet scored 2:48 into overtime, giving them a 2-1 triumph over Cornell at Madison Square Garden. After being plagued by inconsistent defense and goaltending for the first month of the season, BU has allowed just five goals total during these four consecutive wins.

4. Massachusetts-Lowell (7-4-0, 4-3-0 HE) — Last week: 4

The River Hawks picked up their second straight shutout when they beat Alabama-Huntsville 3-0 on Friday. They have now won five of their last six and have averaged 4.60 goals per game during the five victories. Doug Carr has moved up to second in the conference behind only Cannata in both GAA (1.57) and save percentage (.933).

5. New Hampshire (6-6-2, 4-4-1 HE) — Last week: 6

The Wildcats capped off Hockey East’s domination of Alabama-Huntsville with a 9-1 beatdown of the Chargers on Saturday. Stevie Moses scored four goals to tie Kreider for the conference lead with 10 on the season, while Nick Sorkin tallied five assists and moved into a tie with Kreider and UMass’ T.J. Syner for the lead in points (18).

6. Providence (6-6-1, 4-3-0 HE) — Last week: 5

The Friars had a miserable go of it in the Denver Cup, as they lost to Miami 6-2 on Friday and Princeton 3-1 on Saturday. They have now dropped three games in a row and have been outscored 14-5 during that stretch. After allowing two goals or less in his previous four starts, Alex Beaudry was pulled for the second straight game Friday.

7. Northeastern (4-7-2, 3-7-2 HE) — Last week: 7

The Huskies have now won three in a row after pulling out a big 4-1 win at Michigan on Friday. The Steve Quailer-Braden Pimm-Cody Ferriero line led the way, as the trio netted all four goals while combining for eight points and a plus-7 rating. After scoring more than two goals just once in its previous seven games, Northeastern has tallied four or more in each of its last three.

8. Maine (4-6-2, 3-5-1 HE) — Last week: 8

Led by two goals from Adam Shemansky, Maine ended a five-game winless streak with a much-needed 4-3 victory over Clarkson on Saturday. It marked the first time in seven games that the Black Bears had scored more than three goals in an outing. They still rank just eighth in the conference in offense with 2.83 goals per game.

9. Massachusetts (4-7-3, 2-6-3 HE) — Last week: 9

The Minutemen suffered their third straight loss on Saturday, falling 4-2 to Quinnipiac. UMass’ offense, which ranked first in Hockey East just two weeks ago, has dropped to seventh after scoring just five goals in the last four games combined. The power play is an abysmal 1-for-23 (4.3 percent) during that stretch.

10. Vermont (3-8-1, 1-6-1 HE) — Last week: 10

The Catamounts lost to Colgate 4-1 on Friday before beating Dartmouth 5-3 on Sunday. They’ve won two of their last three games, but still have some work to do if they want to climb out of the basement. They continue to rank at or near the bottom of the league in every major category, and they’ve allowed four or more goals in all but two games.

Wednesday, November 30th, 2011 - 7:00 am | Hockey East, Notes, Thoughts, Ramblings