Amherst, Mass. – Massachusetts-Lowell scored three first period goals on its way to a 6-3 rout of Massachusetts Friday night at the Mullins Center.

Junior defenseman Joe Houk found Derek Arnold twice for goals, and Riley Wetmore’s third period tally gave him his 100th career point.

Freshman Connor Hellebuyck made 26 saves for the River Hawks in the win, while Kevin Boyle struggled for UMass, making 13 saves on 19 shots for the game.

With the win, Lowell remains in the six spot in the Hockey East standings and sits at 15th in the Pairwise. The Minutemen fall to eighth in the standings with a Vermont win on Friday.

What I Saw

• There were points in the game where UMass played well — the Minutemen outshot Lowell 19-11 in the first two periods — but the River Hawks got the better of the scoring chances and capitalized on UMass’ mistakes. The backbreaker came late in the second period when Houk found Arnold wide open in the neutral zone for a breakaway goal to give Lowell the 4-2 advantage heading into second intermission. The Minutemen were caught with three players stacked to one end of the ice with the two others pinching, leaving Arnold wide open at the far blue line. That one sequence told the story of the game as the River Hawks capitalized one UMass mistake after another in the win. (more…)

Thanks to the blizzard that swept through the region on Friday and Saturday, there wound up being just three games over the weekend, plus the Beanpot on Monday. Combine that with a busy week for me, and these power rankings are a little shorter than usual. I promise I’ll make up for it next week.

1. Boston College (17-7-2, 12-6-1 HE) — Last week: 1
The Eagles won their fourth straight Beanpot on Monday, beating Northeastern 6-3. With the win, BC’s seniors became the first class in program history to collect four Beanpot titles. Johnny Gaudreau had two goals and an assist in the game, while Steven Whitney had a goal and two assists. The Eagles now have a three-game winning streak.

2. New Hampshire (16-7-3, 11-6-2 HE) — Last week: 2
The Wildcats tied Providence 3-3 on Sunday, pulling within one point of first-place BC in the process. Scott Pavelski scored the tying goal with 3:26 left in the third, while Grayson Downing and Maxim Gaudreault each had two points. UNH gave up two power-play goals in the game, marking just the seventh and eighth they’ve allowed all season.

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BOSTON — Boston College defeated Northeastern, 6-3, on Monday night to win the 61st Beanpot championship. The victory gave BC its 18th title and fourth in a row.

After a scoreless first period, BC scored twice in 1 minute, 15 seconds in the second period to establish a 2-0 lead. The goals came from Bill Arnold and Johnny Gaudreau. Kevin Roy halved the lead at 15:04 of the period, but the Eagles struck twice more before the end of the period and carried a 4-1 advantage into the third.

Roy scored his second of the game — fifth of the tournament — 11 seconds into the third and Braden Pimm redirected a Vinny Saponari shot past Parker Milner 2:45 later to make it 4-3. The Huskies created several scoring chances on Milner, but they failed to tie the game. Gaudreau’s second of the game at 14:37 of the third gave the Eagles a 5-3 lead, and Pat Mullane’s empty-net goal sealed the 6-3 win with 1:28 remaining the game.

Mullane, the Eagles’ captain, heads a senior class that became the first at BC to win a Beanpot all four years. Roy picked up the tournament’s MVP award despite playing on the losing team. He scored three goals in NU’s 3-2 win over Boston University last Monday to go along with the two he managed against BC.

What I Saw

• Three of BC’s second-period goals resulted directly from Northeastern defensive mistakes. The Eagles thrive on pressuring the puck at all times. Whether on the penalty kill, forechecking or fighting for a tying goal late in the game, BC’s forwards never make it easy for the opposition. Northeastern navigated the waves of forwards effectively for the most part. The Huskies’ few mistakes, however, quickly turned into goals. On BC’s first goal, Mike Gunn in a race for a puck, which left him out of position. A similar lapse from Cody Ferriero cost NU on the Eagles’ third goal. The Huskies didn’t make too many defensive mistakes on Monday night. Then, BC doesn’t need many to capitalize. (more…)

Durham, NH – UNH came out flying in the early going, running out to a 17-6 shot on goal advantage in the first period. But it was Providence College that took a 1-0 lead into the intermission on a power-play goal by John Gilmour at 13 minutes, 27 seconds of the period. UNH would score at 14:52 of the second period to send the game to the third period knotted at one. UNH wasted no time in the third period taking an early 2-1 lead on a goal by Dan Correale at 30 seconds of the period, but PC would respond 5 minutes later on the power-play to tie the game at two, again.

Providence would take advantage of a power-play midway through the third to take a 3-2 lead. That goal was scored by freshman Nick Saracino and was his second of the game. Scott Pavelski would score a late tying goal as UNH and Providence would hold on for the three all tie. The tie puts UNH one point behind Boston College for first in the Hockey East standings, while it puts PC in a tie with Boston University for the final home playoff spot. The tie did little to move UNH in the Pairwise rankings, as they still sit in fifth place. (more…)

The first Beanpot Monday is behind us, which means we are about one week away from the stretch run. The standings have done nothing but tighten up over the last few weeks, as Boston College, Boston University and New Hampshire have struggled for consistency. Interesting to note since coming back from break the top three have combined to go 13-15-3, while Maine (who was in last place) has gone 6-3-3 in that same time frame. The top six are now separated by a mere seven points and the fight for home-ice is going to be an interesting battle to the end, but I guess so will the fight for the regular season title.

At press time, there is a huge storm figuring to wreck havoc on the Friday Contests, so please check ahead before you head out to your local rink and of course please be safe. I am going to go ahead and preview the games as if all the games were going to happen as scheduled, but at this time that is seriously doubtful. I will post another blog later if any games are postponed, as the information becomes available. CHN will keep you up to date. (more…)

Is it possible that Hockey East will only send two teams to the NCAA tournament this year? It’s something that has only happened once in the last 14 years. BC and UNH still look like safe bets, but no one else is any better than a bubble team right now. Lowell dropped out of the top 16 in the Pairwise over the weekend. Merrimack and Providence are being held back by poor non-conference records. BU is still in the top 16, but given the way the Terriers have been playing, you have to wonder how much longer that will last.

My gut feeling is that at least one of those bubble teams will make it. If the Terriers can get back to playing at least close to the level they played at during the first semester, they have a pretty easy schedule that should help them save face. The River Hawks play all Teams Under Consideration the rest of the way, so they can definitely move up if they get hot. The Warriors and Friars have the steepest climb, both because they need the most wins and because they have pretty tough schedules.

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In case you missed it, the 61st annual Beanpot kicked off Monday night in the city I call home.

Northeastern defeated Boston University in the tournament for the first time in 25 years. Boston College defeated a fledgling Harvard team without any trouble, receiving a pair of goals from grinder Quinn Smith. The games set up next Monday’s matchups with BU and Harvard playing the consolation game, and Northeastern and BC battling for a Beanpot championship.

The storylines for each club couldn’t be more starkly contrasted. BC is looking for its fourth straight Beanpot title, a feat the program has never accomplished. Northeastern, on the other hand, seeks its first tournament championship since 1988. None of the players on Northeastern’s roster were born the last time the club won the tournament. Despite the dominance of BU and BC in the last two-plus decades, it’s shocking, really, that 25 years could pass without Northeastern winning. The fact that it’s now 20 years without a championship from Harvard is equally astounding.

The “Harvard is all about academics argument” doesn’t hold water in regard to hockey, since its one of the few sports an Ivy League school can still attract top talent in. Similarly, Northeastern’s problems are strange given the improving talent level on St. Botolph Street. Even with their struggles in Hockey East in the last four seasons, the Huskies’ roster features several high-end players.

Watching the two games last night really made the last 20 tournaments even stranger than I already thought they were. There are countless examples of a lesser opponents beating a better team during college hockey’s regular season and even into the regional and national playoffs. Never in the Beanpot, though. BC and Northeastern will play for the tournament championship next Monday, and history tells us the game is in the bag for the Eagles. As does the 9-3 drubbing they handed the Huskies on Jan. 19.

Northeastern coach Jim Madigan, his captain Vinny Saponari and freshman star Kevin Roy — who tallied a hat trick in Monday’s win over BU — unanimously agreed that a quarter decade of failure has nothing to do with next week’s game. They’re right, of course, but a loss would only add to the stigma and frustration for the program and those that follow it.

The Beanpot still matters

BU captain Wade Megan is the most prominent member of the first BU class to graduate without winning the tournament since 1965. After last night’s game, he fought back tears to address the issue. Composing himself just enough to answer questions from them media, Megan expressed his genuine guilt at failing to bring the trophy back to the East End of Commonwealth Avenue. (more…)

BOSTON — Defeating Harvard Monday night, 4-1, at the TD Garden, Boston College will play for the Beanpot trophy next week. The Eagles won the second of the tournament’s semifinals. Northeastern defeated Boston University, 3-2, in the evening’s first game, both before a sell-out crowd of 17,565. Sophomore forward Quinn Smith scored twice for the Eagles, which offered an overall dominate defensive performance. In next Monday’s final, the Eagles have an opportunity to win their fourth-consecutive Beanpot title — the first school to earn that achievement since Boston University in the mid-1990s.

What I Saw

During the third period, the sense of comfort among the BC fans in the building was tangible as the Eagles seemed firmly in control (3-0 lead), while giving Harvard little space with which to operate. Danny Biega knocked the deficit to two, launching a slap-shot from the point on a screened Parker Milner mid-way through the stanza. Six minutes later, the Eagles firmly determined the outcome, as Steven Whitney skated from his own blue-line into the Harvard zone and scored on a stoic Crimson defense.

Harvard looked about to be escaping the second period only down one goal, having been vastly outplayed in the frame. With two minutes left, however, Smith scored his second of the game. This time it was a long rebound surrendered by Raphael Girard that the sophomore returned past the goalie. Then, just 44 seconds later, the Eagles converted a power play opportunity as defenseman Michael Matheson launched a one-time shot from the right face-off circle directly into the net.

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BOSTON — Advancing to the Beanpot finals, Northeastern defeated Boston University, 3-2, at the TD Garden Monday night. Freshman sensation Kevin Roy scored a hat trick, taking advantage of three crucial BU defensive breakdowns. This is the second time in three years that the Huskies have played in the tournament final. It also marks the first BU senior class since the 1960s to not win a Beanpot trophy. NU will face the winner of Boston College-Harvard next Monday, February 11th.

What I Saw

Playing in his first Beanpot, Roy scored a hat trick, notching goals in each of the three periods. The freshman is a special player and constantly puts himself in position to be successful. The performance was reminiscent of Boston College forward Johnny Gaudreau’s emergence into the national spotlight last year as a freshman, who had four points in BC’s pair of victories. Overall, Roy has a rare hockey vision and consistently creates scoring chances for himself and teammates. His second goal of the game was representative of Roy’s awareness. He got himself to the net on the rush and was rewarded with a simple goal, after BU carelessly turnover the puck. The third goal, however, was probably his most impressive. Roy, again, got himself to the net and was in perfect position to craftily convert the large rebound from BU goalie Matt O’Connor out of the air and into the net.

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Durham, NH – UNH had many chances in the first period but failed to capitalize throughout the period. Merrimack would score the first goal of the game six minutes, 18 seconds into the game as Clayton Jardine sent a pass to Shawn Bates all alone in the high slot and the latter fired over Casey Desmith’s glove to give Merrimack the 1-0 lead, which would hold through the first intermission. The second period would be dominated by UNH, where they would send 20 shots toward Merrimack goaltender Sam Marotta but they would be outscored 2-1 in the period. Merrimack took a 3-1 lead into the final stanza.

UNH continued to dominate the game through much of the third period sending another 20 shots toward Sam Marotta, but Marotta saved them all and was in the zone. Merrimack would add an empty-netter to up the lead to 4-1 and they would get the win in front of 5499 disappointed Wildcat fans.

Merrimack improves to 12-10-5 overall, 10-6-2 in Hockey East, while UNH falls to 16-7-2 and 11-6-1. UNH continues to sit in second place two points behind Boston College in the Hockey East standings. Merrimack jumps into third place one point back of UNH in second and one point ahead of fourth place. Despite the loss UNH actually rose in the Pairwise because RPI became a TUC. Merrimack now enters the national picture in a big way after a weekend sweep of UMass-Lowell and UNH. (more…)