Durham, NH- In a game that was the difference between hosting a first round game and going on the road for the first round, UNH had everything on the line. They responded early with a crisp game from the start and were rewarded with a first period lead, as Max Gaudreault sent a pass to a wide open Scott Pavelski, who scored to give UNH the 1-0 lead at 15 minutes, 59 seconds of the first. That lead would be doubled at 14:06 of the second to give UNH a 2-0, but then the flood gates opened. Joey Diamond, Grayson Downing and Adam Shemansky all scored in the latter five minutes of the second to send UNH into the second intermission with a 3-2 lead.

Maine would score at 5:58 of third, as Joey Diamond beat Casey Desmith on a rebound to give Maine life and a tied game with 14 minutes remaining in the contest. Connor Riley would score a go-ahead goal at 7:14 of the third to give the Black Bears their first lead of the night, but it was short-lived as Eric Knodel tied the game at four for UNH with 3:38 remaining in regulation. Neither team took control in the overtime period, as UNH and Maine would finish in a 4-4 tie.

The tie puts UNH in a wait and see mode in terms of the Hockey East playoffs. Maine will finish with the seventh or eighth seed in the Hockey East, which is quite the remarkable comeback considering they started the season 1-5-2 in league play. UNH,with the tie, still sits in a tie for fifth place in the Pairwise rankings. (more…)

I’ve gotten some questions on Twitter about different playoff scenarios heading into tonight, so I figured it would be a good idea to just run through some of them here. First, let’s take a look at what has already happened.

-Lowell has clinched home ice. Incredibly, it is still the only team that has done so.

-The top eight teams have all clinched playoff spots. Northeastern was already eliminated before this weekend, while Massachusetts got eliminated last night.

OK, now let’s take a look at who can clinch what tonight. Vermont and Maine are the only two playoff teams that have no chance of getting home ice. They will be the seventh and eighth seeds in some order. If they finish tied for seventh, Vermont holds the tiebreaker.

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NORTH ANDOVER — Considering how crazy the Hockey East race has been this season, we should have only expected these final few games to finish in an equal frenzy.

UMass, which needed at least a tie to keep its playoff hopes alive after Maine beat UNH, scored three goals in the last 4:01 — all three with its goaltender pulled — to force overtime. But Merrimack, which needed a win to keep its home-ice hopes alive, got an extra-session goal from Connor Toomey to beat the Minutemen, 4-3, at Lawler Arena on Friday night.

What I saw

– The Minutemen potted three extra-attacker goals in the final 4:01 of the third period. On a power play with more than five minutes to go, UMass head coach John Micheletto pulled his goaltender for the 6-on-4 advantage. The Minutemen cut Merrimack’s 2-0 lead in half before Mike Collins tacked on what looked like necessary insurance later in the period. But, UMass struck twice in the final two minutes, both again with goaltender Steve Mastalerz on the bench, to tie the score.

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Durham, NH – On a night that could have separated UNH from the pack in Hockey East, as UMass-Lowell lost earlier in the night, the Wildcats laid an egg against rival Maine in front of a national audience on NBCSN. The Black Bears took an early 1-0 lead on UNH on the shorthand as freshman Devin Shore sent drew defenders to the wall and sent a beautiful saucer pass to fellow freshman Steven Swavely who was true to give Maine the early lead. This lead would hold through the intermission and Maine would play a masterful, defensive second period to take a 1-0 advantage into the the final period.

The flood gates opened in the final 11 minutes of the contest, as Kyle Beattie would score a crucial go ahead goal at the nine minute, 18 second mark to put the Black Bears up 2-0. UNH would answer four minutes later, as Dalton Speelman would tip home an Eric Knodel shot to give UNH some life. But Maine would score two quick goals, 20 seconds apart to give Maine a late 4-1 lead. UNH would then respond with two late goals, but it was not enough and Maine would pick up the 4-3 win.

With the win, Maine clinches the eighth and final spot in the Hockey East playoffs and with the loss UNH falls to a third place tie in Hockey East, one point ahead of fifth place Boston University. UNH needs two points on Saturday night against this same Maine team to clinch home ice in the first round the Hockey East playoffs and are assured of not finishing with the one seed. The best UNH could do is a share of a Hockey East title, if Providence and UMass-Lowell tie. But UNH cannot gain the number one seed because they lost the season series against Providence.  (more…)

LOWELL, Mass. — Led by Jon Gillies’ 31 saves, Providence beat Massachusetts-Lowell 3-0 on Friday to move into a tie with Lowell for first place in Hockey East. The Friars and River Hawks conclude the season Saturday night in Providence with the regular-season title on the line. The winner of the game would win the title outright, while a tie would leave both teams with a share a title.

Providence opened Friday’s scoring 12:50 into the first when Ross Mauermann buried a rebound generated by a Paul de Jersey shot. The Friars made it 2-0 on another rebound goal 6:16 into the second, this time with Kevin Hart following up a Mark Jankowski shot. The lead hit 3-0 on a third-period power play, when a Tim Schaller drive to the net led to a loose puck that Tom Parisi buried.

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BOSTON — Boston University defeated Northeastern, 4-2, on Friday night at Matthews Arena. The win kept the Terriers alive in the race for home ice in the Hockey East tournament. Northeastern was eliminated from contention last weekend, but the loss was still difficult for the Huskies to handle.

BU winger Jake Moscatel, a walk-on, notched his first-career goal to start the scoring for the Terriers at 12 minutes, 19 seconds of the first period. Wade Megan, Danny O’Regan and Matt Lane also scored for BU, with O’Regan becoming the game-winner. NU received goals from Cody Ferriero and  Adam Reid in the loss.

What I Saw

• The Terriers created good traffic in front of Rawlings and sent shots in from the blue line to take advantage of second and third chances. Rawlings’ rebound control has always been issue. BU’s first goal came on a shot from freshman defenseman Ahti Oksanen that Rawlings’ initially saved. Moscatel picked up the rebound and beat Rawlings. The Terriers defensemen are an especially active group offensively. Goaltenders with rebound problems are especially east targets for the group, which wasted little time taking advantage on Friday.

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Ten games take place in Hockey East next weekend. Boston College heads to Burlington, Vt., for a pair. Massachusetts-Lowell and Providence, Boston University and Northeastern and Massachusetts and Merrimack play home-and-homes. Maine travels south for two with New Hampshire.

These 10 games will, finally, clarify the field for the 2012 Hockey East tournament. In a way, this installment is the end of an era for the conference. Notre Dame’s arrival next season will lead to new playoff format that includes automatic qualification for every team. Connecticut comes the year after, which will bring yet another format change. The current plan, which includes the elimination of the ninth- and 10th-place teams, is my preference. After all, the regular season loses some of its value if everyone qualifies just by showing up, but the new formats won’t be any less exciting. We’ll just have to wait an additional week to see teams’ seasons end.

At the moment, Northeastern is the only Hockey East team eliminated. Massachusetts could see its season end on Friday if it fails to earn a point, and Maine wins its first game with New Hampshire. Fortunately for the Minutemen, UNH still has a lot to play for this weekend, and the Wildcats are always looking for a win when the hated Black Bears are in town.

Even Northeastern will see this weekend as a point of pride. A year ago, the Huskies were in the same position, eliminated heading into the final night of the season. However, their overtime win over BU cost the Terriers at least a share of the Hockey East regular season title.

Regardless of a fan’s allegiance, the drama of the weekend will lead to yet another unforgettable end to Hockey East’s final regular season as a 10-team, New England-only league.

(After the jump: A fitting end to a disappointing year for Northeastern, BC’s vulnerability and UML readying to win a championship.)

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NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. — For the first time ever, Massachusetts-Lowell is alone in first heading into the final weekend of the regular season. The River Hawks took over the top spot and clinched home ice by beating Merrimack 3-1 on Sunday. They also moved up to fourth in the Pairwise. The Warriors remain in sixth place, three points out of a home ice spot.

Josh Holmstrom scored twice in the first period to give Lowell (21-9-2, 15-8-2 HE) an early 2-0 lead. The first goal came 6:58 in when he set up in front of the net and redirected a Joe Houk shot from the left halfwall. A little more than four minutes later, he scored on the power play when Scott Wilson found him alone in front. Lowell upped the lead to 3-0 seven minutes into the second when Joseph Pendenza fed a charging Greg Amlong for the freshman defenseman’s first career goal. Shawn Bates cut the lead to 3-1 early in the third, but that was as close as Merrimack (14-14-6, 12-10-3 HE) would get.

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BOSTON — Vermont beat Boston University 5-2 on Saturday to gain some separation in the race for a playoff spot. The Catamounts are now two points ahead of eighth-place Maine and three points ahead of ninth-place Massachusetts. The Terriers, meanwhile, missed out on a chance to keep pace with the top pack. They are now three points out of first and two points out of home ice.

The Catamounts opened the scoring 3:24 into the game when Matt White capitalized on a shorthanded breakaway. Brett Bruneteau added to the lead three minutes later when he beat Sean Maguire (37 saves) from a seemingly impossible angle. Matt Nieto cut the lead in half late in the second on a power-play goal — his sixth goal in the last three games. Michael Paliotta made it 3-1 early in the second, and the score stayed that way until Garrett Noonan scored a shorthanded goal 7:29 into the third to pull BU within one.

Kyle Reynolds gave Vermont some insurance with 1:38 to go, then Chris McCarthy scored an empty-netter in the closing seconds. Brody Hoffman made 26 saves in the win. With the loss, the Terriers dropped one spot, to 17th, in the Pairwise.

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Durham, NH – UNH and UMass skated to a tentative 0-0 tie after one period, but UNH would take advantage in the second period with two goals. John Henrion opened the scoring at one minute, 10 seconds of the second period as Casey Thrush and him came in on a two on 1. Thrush sent a pass to a wide open Henrion and the score would be 1-0 UNH. Henrion later scored on the power-play coming around the net on a wicked wrister that beat Masterlerz glove side, high to send UNH into the second intermission leading the Minutemen 2-0.

Matt Willows would open the scoring in the third period, as Dan Correale sent him in behind the UMass defense and Willows beat Masterlerz through the five-hole and it was 3-0 UNH. UNH would add an empty-net goal on the John Henrion hat-trick marker and the Wildcats picked up the 4-0 win.

UNH moves into a one point lead in the Hockey East Standings ahead of BC, Providence, and UMass-Lowell, while UMass falls into ninth place out of the playoffs with the loss. UNH’s lead could be short-lived as Lowell will take on Merrimack in a 4 pm matinee at the Lawler Arena tomorrow. With games still pending UNH moves up to fourth place in the ever important Pairwise Rankings, which would give them a number one seed if the NCAA tournament were to begin today. (more…)