Minneapolis, MN – For the first time this season, Minnesota came back to win a game in which they trailed. Redshirt junior captain Zach Budish scored the game winner with 14:20 left in regulation as the Gophers defeated in-state rival Minnesota State 3-2 Friday night in the first game of a home-and-home series.

The Mavericks took an early 1-0 lead when sophomore defenseman Zach Palmquist tapped home a pass from JP Lafontaine past Minnesota goalie Adam Wilcox 4:50 into the game. However, Gopher sophomore Travis Boyd tied the game six minutes later on the power play when his shot found a way past screened Minnesota State goalie Phil Cook.

Cook, who made 29 saves, shrugged off the goal and spent the next shutting down an offense that spent entire shifts in the Mavericks zone. Minnesota had chances to take a lead throughout the second period but it was Minnesota State freshman Teddy Blueger who came through for his team on a third effort midway through the second period. It proved to be the Mavericks’ high point, unfortunately, as goals by Minnesota sophomore defenseman Nate Schmidt and Budish gave the Gophers the lead for the good.

With the win, Minnesota improves to 5-1-0 (3-1-0 WCHA) while Minnesota State drops to 2-3-2 (0-3-0 WCHA). (more…)

Hanover, NH.- The first two periods were an offensive showcase, or a showcase in a lack of defense, as the teams skated to a 6-3 Dartmouth lead after two. In the first six and a half minutes the teams combined for four goals. The lead was enough for Dartmouth and they would hold on to win 7-4. Dartmouth improved to 2-0-1 (1-0-0) and Yale falls to 1-1-1 (0-1-0).

Dartmouth raced out to an early lead three minutes and 27 seconds in as Matt Lindblad scored on a bad rebound off the pad of Yale goaltender, Nick Maricic. The 1-0 lead would not last long as Yale’s, Stu Wilson, would send a puck from right below the goal-line off the shoulder of Dartmouth goaltender, Charles Grant, to tie the game at one. The tie would last all of 47 seconds as Eric Robinson received a feed in the high slot and sent a wicked wrister past the Yale goaltender to make it 2-1. Dartmouth would again be the beneficiary of a bad rebound by Maricic as Dustin Walsh and Eric Linblad came in on a 2 on 1. Walsh took the original shot and Linblad put it under Maricic to make it 3-1 and end the goalies night. Yale would again make it a one goal game off a rebound goal scored by Antoine Lageniere late in the first period.

In the second period, Dartmouth would add three more to their total, while Yale added another. Brandon McNally and Eric Robinson scored even strength and Tyler Sikura scored a shorthanded goal for Dartmouth. Antoine Laganiere added his second of the night for Yale at 12:35 of the second to make it a three goal game after two. Dartmouth had three players with two goals, as Tyler Sikura, Matt Lindblad and Eric Robinson all had two markers in the game.

What I Saw

Yale struggled on defense for much of the first two periods. Defensive breakdowns were abounded throughout, even when   Dartmouth wasn’t scoring. From leaving skaters wide-open in the slots and just bad positioning the Yale defense fought the puck the whole night.

The first full conference game weekend is in the books and little is decided on the fate of certain teams. It is too early to see if UNH’s strong, undefeated October will lead to anything in terms of success. If one thing is for certain we should have known that Boston College would emerge as the early favorite and this has been the case. This week’s power rankings saw a lot of movement but those two teams continue to hold the top two spots.

While most teams are engaging in conference action this weekend, Boston University will head west for the matchup of the week nationally when they tangle with national power North Dakota. I think most fans in Hockey East would love to be in North Dakota, but in any case there are many games locally that might catch your attention. Here’s to previewing all the action from Hockey East: (more…)

At the end of the season’s first month, some teams are right where we thought they’d be, while others have started faster or slower than we expected. One thing we know for sure is that there will continue to be some surprises in November. Here’s how the teams stack up heading into the new month.

1. Boston College (4-1-0, 4-1-0 HE) — Last week: 1
The Eagles swept Lowell, winning 1-0 on Friday and 6-3 on Sunday. Parker Milner made 38 saves Friday to earn his second straight shutout and steal two points in a game in which BC was outshot 38-20. The offense certainly picked it up Sunday, though. The second line of Kevin Hayes, Bill Arnold and Destry Straight combined for four goals and four assists, and freshman defensemen Teddy Doherty and Michael Matheson combined for five assists. The power play went 3-for-5 in the game.

2. New Hampshire (4-0-1, 2-0-1 HE) — Last week: 2
The Wildcats remained undefeated with a 4-3 win over Northeastern on Friday, followed by a thrilling scoreless tie on Saturday. Kevin Goumas and Austin Block each had a goal and an assist in Friday’s win, and John Henrion scored the game-winner with less than a minute to go in regulation. Casey DeSmith saved all 34 shots he faced Saturday to earn his first shutout of the season. The Wildcats did a great job avoiding the penalty box, as they gave Northeastern just two power plays all weekend. (more…)

The top three remain the same, but that’s about it. Due to the fact that there wasn’t a single split last weekend, everyone else is either rising or falling.

1. Minnesota (4-1-0, 1-1-0 WCHA) — Last week: 1
It wasn’t pretty, but the Gophers survived a scare from Canisius and came away with a 1-0 win Sunday. Kyle Rau scored the game’s lone goal 12 seconds in and Adam Wilcox made 20 saves to pick up his first career shutout. The gap between first and second in these rankings certainly shrunk this weekend, but I’m not going to drop Minnesota after a win, even if the game was closer than it should’ve been.

2. Denver (4-0-0, 2-0-0 WCHA) — Last week: 2
The Pioneers remained perfect after wiping the floor with Michigan Tech, winning 5-1 on Friday and 5-2 on Saturday. They’ve scored five goals in all four of their games, and they haven’t allowed more than two in any of them. Nick Shore tallied four points on the weekend to give him nine in four games, good for first in the league in points per game. David Makowski also had a four-point weekend, while Shawn Ostrow and Joey LaLeggia chipped in three apiece. (more…)

All ECAC teams have finally played a game so things are starting to take shape. Cornell had a big weekend defeating Colorado College twice and Dartmouth won the annual Ivy Shootout. This week has two top movers as Dartmouth and Colgate both jump two spots. Quinnipiac and RPI both fell two positions on the week.

ECAC hockey has had a strong start to the year in terms of non-conference play. In the first three weeks of the season, the teams have a combined 16-10-5 record against teams in the other conferences, including a 3-1-0 record against Hockey East and a 7-4-2 record against the CCHA. This weekend will mark the beginning of the conference season for most teams and the teams that belong at the top will begin to stick out while the others will start to fall. (more…)

NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. — Mike Collins scored twice for Merrimack as the Warriors forced a 2-2 tie against Vermont to take three of four points on the weekend. The Warriors (2-3-1, 1-1-1 Hockey East) opened the scoring with 3:05 left in the first when Brendan Ellis walked in from the left point and found Collins at the back door.

They held the lead for nearly a full period before the Catamounts (0-1-2, 0-1-2 HE) tied it. Pete Massar poked the puck past a Merrimack defender, walked in alone and beat Rasmus Tirronen (31 saves). Vermont took the lead just 34 seconds later when Nick Luukko shot through a pile of bodies on a delayed Merrimack penalty.

The Warriors battled back in the third, though. Josh Myers drew a penalty while charging hard to the net on a 2-on-1, and Merrimack capitalized on the ensuing power play. After Brody Hoffman (32 saves) turned away one quality chance, Collins found a loose puck in the left circle and buried his second goal of the game. The Warriors got another power play in overtime, but they couldn’t capitalize. (more…)

LOWELL, Mass. — Parker Milner stopped all 38 shots he faced to lead Boston College to a thrilling 1-0 victory over Massachusetts-Lowell on Friday. The River Hawks (1-2-1, 0-1-1 Hockey East) controlled play for the vast majority of the game and nearly doubled up BC (3-1-0, 3-1-0 HE) in shots, but they couldn’t solve Milner, who earned his second consecutive shutout. Steven Whitney scored the game’s lone goal 3:17 into the third when he took a pass from Johnny Gaudreau in the high slot and beat Doug Carr (19 saves) with a quick snap shot.

What I saw
-The River Hawks dominated most of this game, but just couldn’t get one past Milner. They outshot BC 12-4 in the first (at one point it was 9-1) and registered eight grade-A chances to BC’s three. Some of the River Hawks’ best looks came on their first power play, just over a minute into the game, but they put a few shots wide and Milner stopped the rest. Even 5-on-5, Lowell was able to pin the Eagles in their own zone for extended stretches. The second and third periods were more of the same. The River Hawks continued to win the lion’s share of foot races and puck battles. Although shots were closer in the second (15-11 Lowell), grade-A chances were 13-4. In the third, it was 11-5 in shots and 7-3 in quality chances. Getting shots but not goals has been a problem all season for the River Hawks — they’ve registered at least 38 shots in all four of their games, but they only have five goals to show for it. (more…)

This week in Hockey East is for once a normal weekend in terms of games as there will be five, two game series’ going on throughout the conference. This will become the norm in the last two months of the season, but this one week early will give us an idea of who the strong teams are in the conference. This week Boston College again held the top spot in the CHN Hockey East Power Poll, but New Hampshire is nipping on their heels with a strong 3-0-0 start. This week could be the week where separation and teams begin to stand out. This week also features a new format with an added prediction after each preview. (more…)

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. (more…)