Portland, Maine- The first period was evenly played as Mercyhurst and Maine traded goals. Mercyhurst would score the first goal at three minutes, two seconds of the period on the power-play, as Nick Jones would take a point shot and Paul Chiasson would get the tip. Maine would score the second goal of the period as Steven Swavely won a faceoff right back to Joey Diamond and Diamond ripped one past the Laker goaltender, Jordan Tibbett to send the game into the first intermission knotted up at one apiece. The second period was a stalemate where neither team scored a goal to send the game into the third period tied at one.

In the third period Maine would score the only goal on the power-play as Kyle Beattie passed from the right corner to Ryan Lomberg, and Lomberg buried it to make it 2-1. Maine would hold on to that lead and defeat the Lakers, 2-1. Maine improves to 5-11-2 on the season and wins their third game in a row, while Mercyhurst falls to 8-7-1. (more…)

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — Yale outshot Boston College 48-22 on Friday night, but the teams ended up with a 3-3 tie. The Bulldogs held a 16-7 shot advantage in the first, but it was the Eagles who took a 1-0 lead into the break after Bill Arnold buried a rebound in front. BC added to its lead 5:31 into the second when Brendan Silk led a rush down the left wing and knocked in his own rebound. Colin Dueck cut the lead in half just 17 seconds later when he fired a shot trough traffic that found its way past Parker Milner.

The Bulldogs (7-4-3) tied the game six minutes after that when Ryan Obuchowski collected a BC (12-3-2) turnover and beat Milner from the point for his first career goal. Just 1:13 later, Andrew Miller gave Yale a 3-2 lead with a snipe from the left circle. Steven Whitney netted the equalizer with 3:27 left in the second when his one-timer deflected off a Yale defender and past Jeff Malcolm. Milner made a career-high 45 saves in the tie.

(more…)

It’s safe to say no one expected Thursday’s semifinal to play out like that. Team USA dominated Canada in every facet and advanced to the World Junior Championship gold medal game with a commanding 5-1 victory. It was the most lopsided win by the U.S. against Canada in WJC play since a 7-3 triumph in 1981.

Team captain Jake McCabe scored the game’s first two goals and assisted on the third. Johnny Gaudreau also tallied two goals and an assist, giving him seven goals and two assists in the last three games. Jimmy Vesey scored his first goal of the tournament and also had an assist, while J.T. Miller registered two assists. John Gibson stopped 33 of 34 shots to raise his save percentage for the tournament to an incredible .954 mark.

The Americans will play the winner of Thursday’s Sweden-Russia game at 8 a.m. ET on Saturday. Canada will play the loser in the bronze medal game at 4 a.m. ET.

(more…)

It is tough to judge teams right out of the break and this will be taken into account in these power rankings. The top two seem relatively clear after the results over the weekend, with Quinnipiac and Dartmouth getting the nod. The former swept Nebraska Omaha in a two game set at home and the latter defeated in-state rival UNH before falling to UMass the next night. Between those two and the next ten a gap has developed. The matchup of the week will be the top two meeting in conference action on Friday, as Dartmouth travels to the Q.

1. Quinnipiac (14-3-2, 8-0-0)- Before Break 1

There is no hotter team in the country than Quinnipiac right now. The Bobcats are on a 12 game unbeaten streak. They have won 11 of those 12 games and had no trouble disposing of WCHA foe Nebraska Omaha in a weekend two game set. On Friday, the Bobcats took a 5-4 decision and on Saturday they defeated Omaha 3-1. Friday will loom large and a win on Friday would all but put Quinnipiac in complete control of the ECAC standings, as they already have a seven point lead in the standings over Dartmouth. (more…)

Johnny Gaudreau registered a hat trick and Riley Barber scored twice as Team USA cruised to a 7-0 win over the Czech Republic in the quarterfinals of the World Junior Championship. The U.S. led just 1-0 after one, but five second-period goals put the game out of reach. J.T. Miller notched a goal and two assists, while Jacob Trouba and Seth Jones each tallied four assists. John Gibson made 31 saves in the shutout. The U.S. will meet Canada at 4 a.m. ET on Thursday in the semifinals.

What I saw
-After not registering a single point in Team USA’s first three games, Gaudreau now has five goals and an assist in the last two games. All three of his goals on Wednesday came from him just getting open around the net. The first two came on broken plays — the first a deflected Trouba pass, the second a blocked Jake McCabe shot — that ended with the puck bouncing right to him on the doorstep. The third came on a great feed by Miller, as the center waited for a passing lane to open up before finding Gaudreau in front. Gaudreau has gotten hot at the right time, and the U.S. would love for him to keep it going on Thursday.

(more…)

Hanover, NH- The game was penalty filled, but in the end it turned out to be a thriller as UMass scored an early third period goal, off the stick of Branden Gracel, to take home the Ledyard Bank National Classic. UMass had a strong first period but left the period with nothing to show for it and trailing the Big Green 2-1. Connor Sheary opened the scoring at three minutes, four seconds into the first period giving UMass an early 1-0 lead. The lead was short-lived as Dartmouth would respond shorthanded at 9:50, a goal by Brett Patterson to tie the game at one apiece. The Big Green would pot another one 1:23 later to take the 2-1 lead into the first intermission.

The second period was penalty filled and UMass scored the only goal, a shorthanded marker from Eddie Olzcyzk, to send the game into the second intermission tied at two. 15 seconds into the third period Branden Gracel, the tournament MVP, scored the eventual game winner and UMass escaped with the 3-2 win. The Minutemen improve 7-9-2 on the season, while Dartmouth drops their first home game of season falling to 8-3-2. (more…)

Hanover, NH- In the consolation game of the Ledyard Bank National Classic, Bemidji State took an early 1-0 lead two minutes, 12 seconds into the game on a goal by Markus Gerbrandt. UNH would respond 13 minutes later, as Grayson Downing would get a feed from Trevor van Riemsdyk in the right circle and he stayed true to tie the game at 1. The Wildcats would score the lone goal in the second period, as Jay Camper would send the game into the third period a 2-1 game in favor of UNH.

The third period was much different than the first two, as Bemidji made it a game when Jordan George tied the contest at two nine minutes into the third period. That tie would hold and send the game into overtime where Trevor van Riemsdyk fired a shot from the high slot past Bemidji goaltender, Andrew Walsh to give UNH a much needed win. UNH improves to 12-3-2 on the season, while Bemidji State falls to 5-10-3. (more…)

Team USA advanced to the quarterfinals of the World Junior Championship with a resounding 9-3 win over Slovakia on Monday. Johnny Gaudreau and Vince Trocheck scored two goals apiece, while Jimmy Vesey contributed three assists. Alex Galchenyuk, J.T. Miller and Jake McCabe all had multipoint games as well. Slovakia tied the game at 1-1 just 14 seconds after Cole Bardreau opened the scoring, but the U.S. scored the next four goals to take control of the game. Jacob Trouba scored his fourth goal of the tournament, while Mike Reilly scored his first. John Gibson made 26 saves in the win.

What I saw
-Gaudreau and Trocheck got off the schneid in a big way. They were expected to be two of Team USA’s top scorers before the tournament, but neither of them had a single point entering Monday’s game. They each posted three points against Slovakia and looked dangerous in the offensive zone all game. Both were able to make plays down low and find open space around the net. Gaudreau and Trocheck, who aren’t on the same line 5-on-5, hooked up for two power-play goals. Trocheck picked up the second assist on a highlight-reel goal by Gaudreau, then Gaudreau made a nice pass from below the goal line to find Trocheck in the slot.

(more…)

MINNEAPOLIS – On a day that saw Jerry York break the all-time record for college hockey wins, the second game of the Mariucci Classic saw a family affair. Air Force (5-8-3, 4-4-2 AHA) head coach Frank Serratore faced his son, Minnesota junior forward Tom, and it was the Gophers (12-3-3, 6-3-3 WCHA) who came away with a 4-0 win.

It was a team effort for the Gophers on Saturday night. Four different Minnesota players scored, led by two points from Erik Haula (1G-1A) and Nick Bjugstad (2A), and freshman goalie Adam Wilcox made 18 saves for his third shutout of the season. Haula started off the scoring when he banked a shot off of Jason Fabian’s skate 6:58 into the game. That was followed in the second period by Ryan Reilly’s first goal as a Gopher when he roofed in a Christian Isackson pass over Air Force goalie Jason Torf. After a breakaway attempt by Stephen Carew was stopped by Wilcox, third period goals by Minnesota’s Kyle Rau and Nate Condon put the game out of hand for the Falcons.

Minnesota next faces Boston College Sunday at 7 p.m. CT while Air Force goes up against Alabama-Huntsville at 4 p.m in the final day of the Mariucci Classic.

(more…)

For the second straight game, Team USA struggled to finish around the net and wound up with a 2-1 loss, this time to archrival Canada. Canada took a 1-0 lead 7:13 into the game when Ryan Nugent-Hopkins found some open space off a faceoff and beat John Gibson from the high slot. The Canadians added to the lead seven minutes later when Brett Ritchie wrapped around the net before finding Ryan Strome alone in front.

The U.S. cut the lead in half with 8:58 left in the game when Alex Galchenyuk fed Jacob Trouba for Trouba’s third goal of the tournament. The Americans stymied their own comeback by taking four penalties in the next five minutes, but they killed all of them and managed to earn a power play of their own with 1:37 to go. They generated several good looks, but couldn’t net the equalizer.

(more…)