CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Coming off of last weekend’s poor showing against Maine at home, BC looked to get things back on track Friday night at home against Vermont, which is just what they did with a 4-1 win.

Vermont actually led 1-0 after the first period after scoring just 4:14 into the game off of a slap shot from Anders Franzon, which went off of Parker Milner’s glove and into the net. BC had numerous scoring opportunities in the period, but couldn’t put the puck home.

BC eventually found the back of the net with two second period goals, less than a minute apart. Senior Pat Mullane got the first at 10:30, and Quinn Smith followed just 47 seconds later to give the Eagles a 2-1 lead. Boston College added two goals in the third period from senior Steven Whitney and sophomore sensation Johnny Gaudreau.

Milner was impressive in the BC goal making 38 saves, on 39 shots and UVM freshman goaltender Brody Hoffman played well despite the loss finishing with 26 saves.

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NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. — Massachusetts-Lowell’s 11-game unbeaten streak came to an end Friday, as Merrimack (11-10-5, 9-6-2 Hockey East) downed the River Hawks 1-0 in a defensive struggle. Justin Hussar scored the game’s lone goal with 12:20 left to play when he took a pass from Rhett Bly and beat Doug Carr (26 saves) with a wrist shot from the left circle. Sam Marotta stopped all 25 shots from Lowell (14-8-2, 8-7-2 HE) to earn his second shutout of the season.

What I saw
-Lowell went 0-for-8 on the power play, and that was clearly the story of the game. Most notably, the River Hawks had two power plays in the final 2:24 of the game, including 10 seconds of a 5-on-3. They pulled Carr before the start of the first power play, so it was really 6-on-4 for 2:24 and 6-on-3 for 10 seconds. Marotta made a few big saves, the Merrimack penalty kill came up with some key blocks, and the River Hawks struggled to get to rebounds. That was really the story of the whole game when they were on the power play. They’d get a chance or two, but they weren’t quite aggressive enough to turn it into sustained pressure. At one point in the second period, they had four power plays in an 8:32 span and failed to capitalize.

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Amherst, Mass. – Michael Pereira scored two goals and two assists to lead Massachusetts to a convincing, 5-1 win over Boston University on Friday night at the Mullins Center.

Having big nights along with Pereira were linemates Branden Gracel and Conor Sheary, finishing with a goal and assist apiece.

Gracel got UMass on the board first with a goal 17 minutes, 21 seconds into the first period from the slot following a nice feed from Pereira on the odd-man rush. Kevin Czepiel scored the Minutemen’s second goal at 18:30 of the second period after redirecting a slapshot from Mike Busillo.

UMass proceeded to pour it on with three goals in the final period of play, including a shorthanded tally by Pereira at 11:03 to make it 5-0.

Ben Rosen scored the Terriers only goal of the night at 15:38 of the third with the game well out of reach.

Goaltender Kevin Boyle finished with 19 saves in his first start since Jan. 11. BU’s Sean Maguire was just a strong, if not better, but didn’t get the same defensive support as his counterpart.

With the loss and a New Hampshire win, the Terriers fall to third in the conference standings and now sits 15th in the Pairwise. UMass remains seventh in Hockey East with the win.

What I Saw: 

• Boyle got the nod for the first time since Jan. 11 in a 5-4  loss to Providence, with fellow sophomore Steve Mastalerz starting the last four, and showed no signs of rust. The sophomore made some big saves in the first two periods, including a big one with just over four minutes remaining in the first. Evan Rodrigues had a nice breakaway opportunity and tried to beat him blocker side with the backhand, but Boyle made the save with his blocker hand then secured it with the glove. It was shortly after that big save that UMass broke the scoreless tie and seized momentum from there. Boyle was also effective by making saves with the pads and secured the puck well in order to prevent second-chance opportunities. (more…)

Orono, Maine- Maine and Providence locked into a defensive battle early and stuck with it most of the contest. The Friars took a 1-0 lead 11 minutes, seven seconds into the first period on a goal by Mark Jankowski. Providence would  hold that lead through the first and second intermissions, as neither team was able to solve the opposing goaltender. Joey Diamond finally solved Jon Gillies with 7:27 left in the third period on the shorthand and he would also score a goal with three minutes to go on the power-play to send the game into overtime.

The overtime was uneventful until the waning seconds where Noel Acciari would come in on a breakaway, but Maine goaltender, Dan Ouellette would make the huge save to preserve the tie. Providence goes to 10-10-5 overall, 8-6-4 in Hockey East, while Maine moves into a tie for ninth in the standings at 7-14-5, and 3-9-5 in Hockey East. The Black Bears now sit a single point out of a playoff spot and Providence sits in a tie for fourth place. (more…)

BOSTON — New Hampshire defeated Northeastern, 3-1, at Matthews Arena on Friday night. John Henrion’s goal at 1 minute, 46 seconds of the third period gave UNH a two-goal lead that they held onto. Second-period goals from Grayson Downing and Eric Knodel staked the Wildcats to a 2-0 lead before Vinny Saponari cut it to 2-1.

UNH winger Kevin Goumas added a pair of assists for the Wildcats. Sophomore goaltender Casey DeSmith made 47 saves in the win for the Wildcats. (more…)

The Hockey East playoff picture became increasingly muddled over the weekend. With Maine heading to Conte Forum, most, including myself, expected at least one team, Maine, to end the weekend more or less eliminated from playoff content. The Black Bears unexpected sweep of BC changed all of that.

Last week, I wrote a piece discussing the term “upset” and it’s validity for regular-season games in Hockey East. Now, it was certainly strange to see Maine take two wins from BC, and this result satisfies every criteria for an “upset.” But the real point is that a 27-game schedule is going to produce some unlikely results that, while interesting, don’t change too much. Personally, I like to save the term and the general idea of meaningful wins from lesser teams for the postseason. Any championship team is going to lose games. No team has ever made it through a Hockey East schedule undefeated, and I’d have no problem suggesting it will never happen; especially given the general improvement of the bottom half of the league in the last decade.

Maine’s wins were important for the club in its battle for a playoff spot. They weren’t, however, as damaging for BC as they were important for Maine. The Eagles are still in first place in the league. Even if they lose out on the top spot by the end of the regular season, there’s little difference between being a first seed and a fourth seed once the quarterfinals end. Last weekend’s losses to Maine hurt BC most in the Eagles’ race for a favorable seed in the NCAA tournament, but they still have time to fix that as well.

BC has a litany of problems to correct in these next few weeks. History suggests they’ll figure out in time to amaze us all in the postseason. Maine, however, needed some wins to save its season. The Black Bears got them, and the next few weeks will be even better because of it.

Review whatever coaches want reviewed

Saturday night, Boston University and Providence played to a 3-3 tie at Agganis Arena. The draw gave BU three of four points from its weekend series with the Friars and five out of six total from the clubs’ three games this season. The third goal BU scored in the game was initially waved off due to a player in the crease. Now, officials reviewed the play and awarded BU a goal because the player was held in the crease by a Providence player. It was the right call, and PC coach Nate Leaman agreed with the decision after the game. However, Leaman was rightfully upset about a play in the first period. (more…)

Well, there’s really only one place to start this week. In what has to be the most surprising result of the season, BC got swept by Maine at Conte Forum. The Eagles are now just 1-4-0 in their last five and 2-5-1 in their last eight. Some people have been quick to point out that the Eagles always have a tough stretch at some point in the season before turning it on down the stretch and steamrolling everyone in their path. In fact, just last year the Eagles were swept by Maine right around this same time. Then they didn’t lose another game the rest of the season.

It wouldn’t totally surprise me if the Eagles right the ship, go on one of their patented runs, and win a couple trophies. Considering they still have Jerry York at the helm, it would be foolish to rule that out. But I think they have a lot more question marks this year than they did last year or in any of their other national title seasons. Their top five forwards are as good as anyone’s, but the other seven can’t be counted on for any sort of consistent scoring. Most of BC’s national title teams have had three reliable scoring lines. This team has two, or more accurately, one and two-thirds.

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BOSTON — The puck came to Matt Nieto with a shade fewer than 3 seconds left in overtime. The gifted winger quickly fired on Providence goaltender Jon Gillies as the final moments of overtime disappeared. The puck did the same, sailing into Gillies’ pads just as the buzzer sound. Boston University 3, Providence 3. After the game, Nieto expressed frustration with his inability to steal an extra point for his team. In the end, BU coach Jack Parker was pleased with the result. PC skipper Nate Leaman, similarly, seemed happy with the point.

The Terriers found themselves down, 3-2, early in the third period. Shane Luke scored 39 seconds into the final regulation period to give PC the lead. Danny O’Regan tied the game at 13:21 of the third period on a controversial goal that officials initially waived off. BU winger Ryan Santana was in the crease, however, a replay determined a Providence defender prevented Santana from exiting the crease when the puck first left. O’Regan picked up the puck to Gillies’ left and wrapped it around the net and into the goal. Santana and the PC defender prevented Gillies from making the save, which initially warranted the call on the ice.

O’Regan finished the night with a goal and an assist on Nieto’s second period goal. (more…)

LOWELL, Mass. — For the second night in a row, Massachusetts-Lowell staged a third-period comeback to extend its unbeaten streak to 11 games. The River Hawks erased a 4-1 Northeastern lead and tied the game with 55.3 seconds remaining. Then with 1:53 left in overtime, Christian Folin blasted a one-timer into the top corner to send the largest crowd in Tsongas Center history into a frenzy.

Joseph Pendenza cut the lead to 4-2 with 11:07 left in the game when he raced down the left wing and beat Bryan Mountain (33 saves) glove-side. Five minutes later, Derek Arnold made it 4-3 with a power-play goal that came less than a minute after he had a goal waved off. The score remained that way until the final minute. With the extra attacker on, Riley Wetmore pulled the puck out of a scramble in front and fired it past Mountain.

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Manchester, NH- New Hampshire got an early five on three power-play seven minutes into the first period and they would capitalize as Austin Block through a puck toward the front of the net that hit a couple bodies and went into the net. The 1-0 lead would last until the intermission, despite Merrimack dominating the latter portions of the first period. The second period would see Merrimack control play and score an early tying goal off the stick of Ben Bahe, but UNH would score three goals in the final seven minutes, and 37 seconds to take a commanding 4-1 lead into the second intermission.

The teams would trade third period goals with UNH scoring an extra, as they cruised to a 6-2 win over Merrimack. UNH improves to 15-6-2 on the season and 10-5-1 in Hockey East, while Merrimack falls to 10-10-5 and 8-6-2. The win moves UNH within two points of Boston College for first in Hockey East and into a second place tie with Boston University. (more…)