Last weekend featured the series we’ve all been waiting for — UNH vs. BC. Although the split certainly wasn’t unexpected, the way the series played out was. The Eagles rolled to a 5-2 win on Friday, while the Wildcats outshot BC 39-23 in a 2-1 win on Saturday. In the end, that series didn’t change much about how I view the top of the conference. There’s still a clear top two, but the top spot could still go either way. Elsewhere in the conference, sweeps by Lowell over Vermont and Providence over UMass have helped solidify some other spots.

1. New Hampshire (14-4-2, 9-3-1 HE) — Last week: 1
Thanks to their bounce-back win on Saturday, the Wildcats hang onto the top spot. Kevin Goumas and John Henrion each had a goal and an assist in the series, while the third line of Dan Correale, Jay Camper and Matt Willows scored in both games. UNH went 4-for-4 on the penalty kill and is now 63-for-67 (94.0%) on the season. One point of concern is that Casey DeSmith has an .886 save percentage since his school-record shutout streak came to an end back on Nov. 18.

2. Boston College (13-4-2, 10-3-1 HE) — Last week: 2
The Eagles’ big win on Friday certainly helped silence some of the talk about their recent struggles. Had they won or tied Saturday’s game, they would’ve moved back to the top of these rankings, but Henrion’s late goal prevented that from happening. Johnny Gaudreau registered a goal and two assists in his return to the lineup on Friday, while Pat Mullane scored twice. On Saturday, Michael Matheson picked up his second game misconduct in as many weekends.

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NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. — A three-goal second period propelled Merrimack College to a 6-0 victory over the Maine Black Bears on Saturday night in front of 2,489 fans at Lawler Arena. Junior Sam Marotta made 30 saves in his second career shutout.

Merrimack blew the game open in the second period as John Heffernan picked up his third goal of the season off of a rebound after a shot from Shawn Bates. Just over four minutes later, Vinny Scotti made the score 4-0 in favor of the home team with the assists going to his line mates John Gustafsson and Connor Toomey. Collins picked up a power-play tally with 1:20 left in the second period as he beat Matt Morris under his blocker.

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Durham NH – UNH responded well after a 5 -2 loss on Friday night to the same Boston College team that they played on this night. The teams would play an even first period that saw BC leave with a 10-9 advantage in shots, but nothing to show for it and the teams tied at zero. The second period was much different however as BC freshman defender, Michael Matheson, would take two ill-advised penalties; first a hitting from behind two minute minor and then a contact to the head on a blindside hit as he exited the penalty box on his first penalty. UNH would then get a five on three power-play for two minutes midway through the five minute major. They sent shot after shot at Parker Milner but the BC goaltender stood tall and UNH wasted opportunities to take a 1-0 lead. 53 seconds after the penalties had expired, the Wildcats would get their revenge as Dan Correale faked a defender on a two on one and found Matt Willows all alone in front, where Willows gave New Hampshire the 1-0 lead with just 47 seconds left in the second period.

The third period was evenly played as Brooks Dyroff would tie the score at seven minutes, 57 seconds. UNH would get a late power-play on  a Kevin Hayes tripping call and would capitalize. Justin Agosta took a one-timer from the point and John Henrion found the puck in front of the Eagle net and put it past Parker Milner to give UNH the late 2-1 lead with 4:48 remaining.

The Wildcats would hang on for the 2-1 win over Boston College sending home the sellout crowd of 6501 at the Whittemore Center home happy. The win improves New Hampshire to 14-4-2 and 9-3-1 in Hockey East, as Boston College fell to 13-4-2, 10-3-1. The win pulls UNH within two points of BC in the Hockey East standings with a game in hand and also pulls UNH into a tie with this same BC team and Quinnipiac for first in the Pairwise rankings. (more…)

NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. — There was no blown lead this time. Two nights after seeing a 5-2 third-period lead turn into a 6-5 overtime loss to Harvard, Boston University picked up a 4-1 win over Merrimack. Wade Megan led the way with a goal and an assist, and he was the one who opened the scoring 12:20 into the first on a shorthanded goal. The Terrier captain picked up a loose puck in the neutral zone, beat two Merrimack (7-9-4, 5-5-1 Hockey East) defenders, and fired a wrist shot over Rasmus Tirronen’s glove.

Sahir Gill made it 2-0 BU 3:51 into the second when he found some space at the top of the crease and redirected a nice slap pass from Alexx Privitera. The Terriers (12-7-0, 9-4-0 HE) upped the lead to 3-0 later in the period. Megan led a rush down the left wing before sending a saucer pass to the front that Cason Hohmann poked past Tirronen. Matt Nieto added to the lead midway through the third when he buried a pass from Evan Rodrigues. The Warriors finally got on the board with 6:22 left in the game when Kyle Bigos fired a slap shot through traffic.

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CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — Boston College defeated New Hampshire, 5-2, at Conte Forum on Friday night. The game marked Johnny Gaudreau’s first back with the Eagles since leading the United States to a gold medal in Ufa, Russia, at the World Junior Championships. Gaudreau scored a goal and assisted on a pair of Pat Mullane tallies to lead BC to victory.

Senior goaltender Parker Milner made 31 saves in the win, including 12 in the third period with UNH desperately trying to erase a four-goal deficit. The Wildcats scored the game’s first goal, when Jay Camper redirected a Matt Willows centering pass by Milner. BC scored the games next five goals to earn the win.

What I Saw

• At this point, it’s no surprise that Gaudreau is among the best players in the nation — probably the world as far as amateur players go. Comparing BC’s play on Friday with its performance last Friday against Yale illustrates the importance of Gaudreau to this BC team. A season ago, the Eagles rolled three lines that could score against anyone in the country. The lineup isn’t quite as deep as it was then, and Gaudreau’s ability to create scoring chances from almost nothing is what separate BC from other teams. On Friday, his return to the lineup was felt instantly. The Eagles weren’t at their best early on, but they managed chances every time Gaudreau was on the ice. The rest of the Eagle forwards caught up as the period progressed, and the line of Kevin Hayes, Bill Arnold and Destry Straight was especially effective. Needless to say, any team will suffer when its best player is removed from the lineup. Gaudreau is such a unique player, though, his role simply can’t be replaced.  (more…)

BOSTON — In a battle between a pair of struggling Hockey East squads, Northeastern and Maine skated to a 1-1 tie at Matthews Arena Friday night. The contest remained close for the first two periods, despite seemingly adequate power play opportunities for each team.

Senior Chris Rawlings offered a strong performance in net for the Huskies, making 42 saves. His counterpart, Martin Ouellette, was also impressive stopping 31 opportunities. But the Black Bears decidedly generated more of the chances.

What I Saw

In overtime, both teams traded scores chances but neither could break the stalemate. Maine played its strongest period in the third but failed to generate the one opportunity that could solve Rawlings. The Black Bears likely were more deserving of the two points, but ties in Hockey East on the road are almost always a commendable achievement — especially for the last place team.

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I haven’t done one of these since the first half, and for that I am completely sorry. Real world catches up on all of us I suppose and last week I was catching up on Dartmouth Ledyard Bank Tournament coverage by keeping all of you in the know with features and what not in the days after.

This week marks the return of this preview and I couldn’t have picked a better week to restart, as there is an absolutely huge matchup between the top two teams in Hockey East. New Hampshire and Boston College will meet this weekend in a crucial conference matchup, which will have huge implications on the national picture as well. Another crucial matchup will be UMass and Providence facing off in a home and home series that could have a big impact on the final home-ice spot come Hockey East tournament time. There are many other crucial matchups as well as the teams now get into the meat of the Hockey East schedule, without further ado let’s get to previewing the matchups. (more…)

BOSTON — Harvard overcame a 5-2 third period deficit and scored with 48 seconds remaining in overtime to defeat Boston University, 6-5, at Agganis Arena on Wednesday night. The win halts a six-game winless streak for Harvard; most of which came during a tumultuous month that saw four players leave the university due to their role in an academic dishonesty scandal.

Conor Morrison picked up his first goal of the season on a breakaway to win the game for the Crimson. Goals from Marshall Everson, Luke Greiner and Colin Blackwell led the third-period surge for Harvard. BU held leads of 3-0 and 5-2, but the Terriers failed to hold or build on these leads.

The game marked the first meeting of the O’Regan brothers. Both BU freshman Danny (two goals and an assist) and Harvard sophomore Tommy (a goal and two assists) picked up three points on the night. The crosstown rivals may meet again this season. However, both will need to win their opening Beanpot games. Harvard takes on Boston College, while BU plays Northeastern on the first Monday in February.

What I Saw

• Boston University defensemen played their worst game of the season as a group. Not a single BU blue liner played well in his own zone on the night, leaving freshman goaltender Matt O’Connor in some tough spots. Lax play on breakouts or zone entries led to frequent turnovers and odd-man rushes for Harvard. Following the game, BU coach Jack Parker pointed to his defensemen as an especially sore spot in the game. Throughout the season, BU has come to rely on its defenders given their consistent play and contributions on both ends of the ice. Wednesday, the group looked disinterested at times, neglecting its responsibilities to join rushes and leaving Crimson forwards open below the circles as a result. (more…)

Conference play is back in full swing this weekend, so let’s see how everyone’s shaping up as the stretch run begins. I didn’t have time to write up a post last week (apologies if that ruined your week), but I did tweet out my rankings. So the “Last week” actually does refer to last week and not pre-break.

1. New Hampshire (13-3-2, 8-2-1 HE) — Last week: 1
After a tough Ledyard Bank Classic that saw them lose to Dartmouth and squeak by Bemidji State in overtime, the Wildcats bounced back with a 5-2 win over Rensselaer on Saturday. Kevin Goumas had his 10-game point streak snapped against Dartmouth, but still leads Hockey East with 18 assists and 26 points. Fourth-liners Dan Correale and Jay Camper each had two points against RPI.

2. Boston College (12-3-2, 9-2-1 HE) — Last week: 2
Coming off an 8-1 beatdown at the hands of Minnesota, the Eagles got outshot 48-22 by Yale on Friday but managed to force a 3-3 tie. BC is now 2-2-2 in its last six, with one of those wins coming against lowly Alabama-Huntsville. Johnny Gaudreau’s return from World Juniors will help the offense, but the bigger questions right now are on defense, where the Eagles are trying to make up for the loss of Patch Alber.

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The first half of the season was fun. These last two weeks stuffed with holiday tournaments and non-conference matchups produced some memorable results. But, now, as January grows older, the season shifts and schedules slant to conference play. This weekend, the only non-conference games are a pair of exhibition series for Division I’s independent schools.

In Hockey East, two home-and-home series will prove vital to the final league standings and eventual playoff seeding. Boston College and New Hampshire play their first game of the season in Chestnut Hill on Friday night before heading to Durham for the back end. Meanwhile, Massachusetts and Providence finish their series for the year, starting at the Mullins Center Friday night.

League games are always important. Every point claimed this weekend will impact league play, as well as Pairwise positioning. However, these two series are particularly interesting. BC and UNH have been among Hockey East’s — and the nation’s — best this year. The four points available will help either side in the race for a top seed. Additionally, wins will solidify as either team in the race for more favorable NCAA Tournament positioning. With a regional in Manchester, N.H., we already know where the Wildcats will play. A strong performance this weekend could make their road to Pittsburgh slightly less bumpy, however.

For UMass and Providence, currently separated by three points, strong games are critical in the race for the final home ice spot in the Hockey East tournament. Moreover, both clubs have outside shots at earning at-large bids to the NCAA tournament. Losses could damn either cause. Nate Leaman and John Micheletto will have their clubs focused solely on taking points, and it’s sure to be an impactful weekend in the race for home ice.

BC’s defense needs to grow up fast

A 3-3 tie with Yale last Friday is hardly a bad result for Boston College. Despite the expectations of the Eagles’ faithful, the draw won’t harm BC’s NCAA tournament resume too much. The 65 minutes of hockey, however, showed one issue BC needs to address moving into the second half. Patch Alber’s injury prior to the first game of the Mariucci Classic made a thin part of BC’s lineup even more barren. The defenseman is likely out until late March with a torn meniscus. It’s a troubling situation for Alber, a senior who worked tirelessly to become a regular on the blue line at Conte Forum. (more…)