BOSTON – Northeastern took one much needed point from tonight’s 1-1 tie with Hockey East sixth place Providence College at Matthews Arena. The Friars struck early, less than thirty seconds in, with a goal from Tim Schaller. Northeastern answered less than ten minutes later when Garrett Vermeersch beat Alex Beaudry to tie it up.

The scoring would end there for the night, and neither team could connect throughout the next 2 periods and overtime, leaving the Huskies and the Friars to split two crucial Hockey East points at a time when Northeastern needs every point they can get.

What I saw

When PC’s Schaller scored just 29 seconds in, it looked like we might see a Chris Rawlings slide akin to that of the first round of the Beanpot against Boston College, but Northeastern’s starting goalie stayed strong after letting that one by. He made 22 saves and was able to handle odd angles from the Friar offense. Granted, the Husky defense looked stronger in front of Rawlings, which always makes the goaltender’s game come with more ease.

Coaches say it all the time, but what I saw tonight from Northeastern was a decent compete level. It seemed to be completely nonexistent the past two Mondays and Madigan had made it clear he was extremely unhappy with his team’s effort, or lack thereof. Some lineup changes, including the “coach’s decision” of sitting Rob Dongara and Dan Cornell, prove that Madigan is going to play those who put in the effort and want to play. While nothing can replace Northeastern’s injured top scorers, having players on the ice who are there to compete at their highest level looked like an improvement for the Huskies tonight.

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The WCHA has caught a bunch of grief for being a pretty weak conference nationally this season. And generally, it has been.

But as I write this, the WCHA would have four teams in the NCAA Tournament if it started tomorrow (Minnesota Duluth, Denver, Minnesota and North Dakota).  Four teams is the same number Hockey East would have in. Only the CCHA, with five, would have more. Obviously, there is a lot of hockey yet to be played. A whole bunch can change between now and Selection Sunday. Heck, a whole lot can, and will, change between now and this time tomorrow night.

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CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — On a night overshadowed by Boston College coach Jerry York’s 900th win, the Eagles defeated Merrimack, 4-2, in one of their most thorough and dominate performances to date.

BC maintained ground in its race for first place, while Merrimack slipped to fifth with the loss.

The Eagles controlled the game from the start of the first period and built a 4-2 lead by the end of the second. A hard-fought final frame was not enough for the Warriors to overcome the deficit.

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**SELF-PROMOTION UPDATE: My Twitter handle has changed. It is now @MyersHockey. If you’re already following me, thank you, and you will not have to make any changes. But if you have told friends and family to follow me and they aren’t yet, well, you’ll have to let them know.**

A full slate of WCHA action this week, as things tighten up and only three weeks left until playoff time. I will be at Mariucci Arena tonight for Minnesota-Bemidji State. I will provide more commentary on the unusual situation the Gophers are in heading down the stretch.

For now, here are this week’s power rankings:

1 — Minnesota Duluth (Last week: 2)

The top of these power rankings are so close, you could really draw any team out of a hat for any spot and you wouldn’t be wrong. The Bulldogs are back on top thanks to a split with North Dakota. With a trip to Mankato this weekend and no J.T. Brown, it wouldn’t be a shocker to see UMD struggle, especially because the Mavericks have been flat out better in recent weeks.

2 — Denver (Last week: 4)

The Pioneers, courtesy of their sweep of Minnesota, move to No. 2. DU started slow and has flown under because of it. But the Pios, all alone in third place, are only two points back of first place Minnesota. And their sweep of the Gophers last weekend assured them of the tiebreaker advantage.

3 — Minnesota (Last week: 1)

The Gophers are still in good position. They are still in first place, they control their own destiny and they have 4 of their final 6 games at Mariucci Arena. This weekend’s contests against the Beavers should be interesting — BSU is one of the hottest teams in the league and just swept Colorado College last weekend.

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BOSTON — True to form, Boston College and Boston University battled deep into overtime in tonight’s 60th Beanpot Championship. The game was ended by sophomore Bill Arnold with a slapshot goal to win the third Beanpot in a row for the Eagles with just 6.4 seconds left in the twenty minute OT period.

BC struck early at 8:54 in the first when junior Pat Mullane took a feed from junior Chris Kreider to put the Eagles on the board while shorthanded. The next three goals would be scored with either a power play or a 5 on 3 advantage, the first being a BU equalizer from sophomore Garrett Noonan.BC regained the lead when Kreider took a wrister off a pass from freshman Johnny Gaudreau on the power play, but the Terriers answered in the third period when Noonan notched his second goal of the night — just as BU was coming off a 5 on 3 advantage to the power play.

Goaltenders were huge for both BC and BU in tonight’s game, with each team’s goaltender facing 34 and 47 shots, respectively. Kieran Millan made 44 saves in almost 80 minutes of hockey, but it was Parker Milner’s 32 saves for BC that would prove to be victorious in the teams’ twenty second meeting in the Beanpot Championship.

What I saw 

Special teams were essential for both teams tonight. With four goals resulting from a penalty, special teams won and lost tonight’s game. The teams were really allowed to battle in the overtime period when calls were sparse.

The BC first line of Barry Almeida, Bill Arnold, and Steven Whitney played tonight like one of the best lines in Hockey East, and the way Whitney connected with Arnold at the last second for the game winner speaks to that. These three could be dangerous for contending Hockey East teams down the stretch.

Goaltending tonight on both ends of the ice was beyond superb. Even though he didn’t come out with the win, Kieran Millan was a rock for BU and allowed his team to play with the utmost confidence with him behind them in net. 44 saves is nothing to scoff at, especially not with two teams playing at this level.

What I thought

As much as BC and BU have dominated Beanpot Championship games, tonight’s game proves why both teams deserve to do so. Matchups like tonight’s make the Beanpot Tournament what it is. It’s a game everyone will be talking about, and it certainly gave a boost to college hockey in Boston tonight.

That being said, BU didn’t look like they were really in it until they scored the second period equalizer to tie the game at 1. Then, it looked like a fire had been lit and the Terrier offense looked just as hungry as that of the Eagles.

There was a level of competitiveness tonight that isn’t always seen, but in the 19th minute of overtime it looked as though the Terriers and the Eagles could have played another three periods before one began to crack and allowed the other victory.

What they said

“Over the last few years people talk about, has the Beanpot kind of lost its luster, how are the crowds, and where is college hockey in the Boston Area. Well I’ll tell you what’s a statement, is that place was jammed with fans of college hockey, whether they’re associated with BU or BC or Harvard or Northeastern. I think the Beanpot’s in good hands. It has been for a long time and it’s going to continue, especially with that kid of hockey game tonight.”

— Jerry York on the Beanpot in Boston

“It was awesome. There were penalties at the beginning of the game and heck, there were good calls and at the end they let them go and both teams got to play. I thought that was the way hockey is supposed to be played and it was certainly fun to be a part of.”

— Tommy Cross on the lack of penalties during overtime

“We definitely took a stride forward in our effort. That was playoff hockey at its best, those are the types of games you play in March and April, and we’ll be well prepared for them down the road, but hats off to BC. It was just a good, hard fought game between two good hockey teams.”

— Chris Connolly

“I’m hoping we’re in championship games later on and they’re probably hoping they will be, too. We both feel like we have two very, very strong teams, but neither one of us are even in first place in our league. We’ve got to go play Lowell next week and they’re in first place so it’s a real battle all the way from everything that’s going on here to down the stretch, from home ice to the top eight…It’s a long way to get to another championship, that’s for sure.”

— Jack Parker on seeing BC in the future

What they didn’t say

No one came right out and said it, but officiating determined so much of what happened in this game. The only goal to come for either team not resulting from a penalty was, fittingly, Bill Arnold’s game winner. By the end of the second period, 13 penalties had already been called, eight of them coming in that second period alone.

What else you should know

This was the twenty-second meeting of BC and BU in the Beanpot Championship game and BC’s third Beanpot win in a row.

BC and BU are tied for second in Hockey East as they look down the final stretch of the season.

Looking back to conference play, BU plays Hockey East first place Mass. –Lowell in a home and home series this Friday and Saturday. BC has a crucial home and home series of their own against Merrimack, a team tied for fourth in the conference with Maine and just one point behind both BC and BU.

Back to normal posting here on a Thursday… but because of a death in the family, I will not be able to watch much hockey this weekend. For any breaking news in the WCHA check out the main page — Adam and the gang are the best in the business.

Without further ado, here are this week’s rankings, including a new No. 1:

1 — Minnesota (Last week: 2)

The Gophers were idle last week but jump a spot because UMD split in Anchorage. The week off could do wonders for guys like Kyle Rau and Nick Bjugstad, who because of the World Junior tournament, have been going almost nonstop since mid-September. This bye week comes not too early, but not too late, and should allow the Gophers to get into quite a rhythm starting this weekend in Denver.

2 — Minnesota Duluth (Last week: 1)

Anchorage is never an easy place to play, but the Seawolves had gone two months without a victory. The Bulldogs are stuggling right now and if not for J.T. Brown last weekend, the Bulldogs might have been swept. His four-goal outburst in Friday’s win provided the entire margin of victory in a 4-1 victory. He added another goal Saturday to make things interesting but UAA scored just two minutes later to put things away. North Dakota comes to Amsoil this weekend in what could be a very entertaining series.

3 — North Dakota (Last week: 3)

The Fighting Sioux have their name back (at least until the next twist in this story) and are locked in a three-way tie for fifth in the WCHA entering this weekend. With the other two teams tied with UND set to play each other this weekend, North Dakota has a chance to pull ahead of both with three or four points in Duluth.

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As the second half of the season races by and most teams are in hot pursuit of crucial conference points, four Boston teams gather at TD Garden in pursuit of something else, hardware and bragging rights.

The first Monday of February is upon us, and it’s Beanpot time.

The tournament brings with it storylines of Beanpots past: this year all four coaches have won the tournament as players for their respective teams.

All four teams also enter the tournament coming off wins. The only team with the weekend off, Boston College defeated University of New Hampshire 3-2 last weekend. Boston University took two points from #4 Merrimack with a 4-1 win on Friday while Northeastern secured a more comfortable position for playoff hopes by breaking their 7^th place tie with University of Massachusetts with a 4-3 overtime win. In ECAC play, Harvard trumped Quinnipiac 6-3, also on Friday.

These four teams are coming in hot, all poised for playoff contentions in their respective leagues.

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BOSTON — In another close battle at Matthews Arena, Northeastern defeated Massachusetts, 4-3, in overtime. With the victory, the Huskies dealt a devastating blow to UMass and its place in the Hockey East standings.

The Minutemen played well during the second and third periods, but allowed a game-winning goal resulting from a defensive breakdown behind the net. The goal undid several periods of hard work for the Minutemen and left the team without any tangible benefit for the third-consecutive game.

The win also earned Northeastern a split of the season series at 1-1-1. Both teams fought to a 2-2 tie in the first game of the season for each on October 7 in Boston.

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A nearly-full slate of games on the WCHA docket this week, with only Minnesota and North Dakota with the week off. The other 10 teams will be in action against each other, so barring a whole bunch of splits, we could get some clarity to the playoff picture come Sunday morning.

1 — Minnesota Duluth (Last week: 1)

The Gophers have a solid lead in the WCHA standings and the Bulldogs had their worst weekend in a while against Tech. But I still give the edge to UMD, by a nose, because of the other factors — overall record, Pairwise ranking and KRACH ranking. The ‘Dogs are No. 1 in both sets of computer rankings and I think most teams would love to go through a “rough patch” consisting of a 2-2-1 record. Heck, that’s reason to celebrate in Anchorage.

2 — Minnesota (Last week: 2)

Despite leading the league and sweeping St. Cloud State, a feat not nearly as impressive with the Huskies being down SIX FORWARDS from the start of the year, the Gophers still sit perilously close to the Pairwise bubble, entering play this weekend ninth. That’s comfortable for now, but say the Gophs run into their own “rough patch” down the stretch. If they enter the WCHA playoffs in 11th or 12th, that will cause some nerves to be frayed in Minneapolis. And with games at Denver and at Nebraska-Omaha, a “rough patch” isn’t, you know, entirely out of the question.

3 — North Dakota (Last week: 3)

Sweeping Wisconsin in Grand Forks isn’t that great of an accomplishment, when you consider the Badgers have won just once on the road all season. But a sweep is a sweep and four points in late January, especially in a league as tightly contested as this one, will be huge come mid-March. The victories also moved UND onto the verge of the Pairwise bubble, but NoDak still has plenty of work to do in that area. UND enters the weekend tied for fourth, but could conceivably exit it in seventh place. And with the bye, there is nothing it can do about it.

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Good evening from the north woods of Minnesota.

Is the fat lady belting out her Do-Re-Mi’s when it comes to the regular season title? It very well could be the case. Minnesota wins tonight at St. Cloud capping a series sweep. Michigan Tech rolls, shockingly, to a 5-0 win over Minnesota Duluth, taking three points from the defending national champions at the house Jack Connolly built.

Minnesota now holds a five-point edge over the Bulldogs in the race for the league title as we head into the final month. Impossible to overcome? Not by any means. I once saw the Gophers overcome an 8-point deficit in the span of 8 days. And with UMD’s rather pedestrian schedule left, anything is possible.

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