NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – Merrimack College and Colgate skated to a 1-1 tie on Friday afternoon at J. Thom Lawler Arena. A first-period goal by Mike Collins put the Warriors on the board and Joe Wilson knotted things up early in the second period.

Freshman netminder Spencer Finney stopped 23 shots for the Raiders (6-6-2) while the Warriors (4-6-2) were backstopped by Rasmus Tirronen, who made 21 saves.

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If non-conference action is what you like this weekend will be a dream for you. Hockey East action takes a back seat this weekend to the 11 games that will be played against the WCHA and ECAC. These games do not play a role in the Hockey East standings, but this weekend will be absolutely crucial for many teams if they have hopes of making the NCAA tournament come seasons end. This may be one of the most important weeks in terms of the conference there will be, so here is my try at it.

Colgate at Merrimack (Friday)

The Warriors have been lackluster in non-conference action, with just a victory on opening night to Union in their hands. Since a four game unbeaten streak Merrimack has three straight losses. Last weekend they took a 3-0 lead against Boston College seven minutes, 39 seconds into the second only to have that lead disappear five minutes later. They would eventually lose that game to the Eagles 4-3.

Merrimack will need a bounce-back from that game but can take some positives, as they took a 3-0 lead against arguably the best team in the country. Their opponent this weekend is playing some great hockey and ranked fourth in this week’s CHN ECAC Power Rankings. Colgate defeated both Dartmouth and Harvard at home last weekend, but a silver lining that Merrimack might be able to take advantage of is the Raiders lack of prowess on the road. They are winless in five games on the road this season, going 0-4-1.

Prediction: Gate 4-3 (more…)

The top three continue to solidify their positions, while everyone else struggles to find any sort of consistency.

1. Boston College (9-1-0, 8-1-0 HE) — Last week: 1
The Eagles fell behind Merrimack 3-0 on Friday, but they came storming back to earn a 4-3 victory and extend their winning streak to nine games. Steven Whitney scored two goals, including the game-winner, and Johnny Gaudreau registered two assists. Gaudreau continues to have at least a point in every game this season, and he is now tied for the conference lead with 14 total. BC is first or second in Hockey East in offense, defense, power play and penalty kill.

2. New Hampshire (8-1-1, 6-1-1 HE) — Last week: 2
Casey DeSmith and the Wildcats earned their third straight shutout on Friday, beating Lowell 3-0. They extended their program-record shutout streak to 204:40 before BU scored on them Sunday, but UNH still won the game 3-1. DeSmith now ranks second nationally with a .961 save percentage, a mark that’s 20 points better than anyone else in Hockey East. The Wildcats went 8-for-8 on the penalty kill and now rank second in the country at 94.6 percent on the season.

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New Hampshire’s win at Agganis Arena on Sunday cemented the Wildcats as a contender in Hockey East. UNH entered the game on a three-game winning streak, allowing a single goal in that span. The offense-by-committee approach Dick Umile counted on before the season had worked effectively, while goaltender Casey DeSmith continued the dominant play that almost carried UNH to a first-round upset of Boston University in last year’s Hockey East tournament.

Sunday, the Wildcats again found themselves on the road against BU with something to prove. The combination of opportunistic scoring and DeSmith’s brilliance carried UNH to a late 2-1 lead before Kevin Goumas sealed it with an empty-net goal. DeSmith stopped 45 shots on Sunday, and the goals came from Goumas, twice, and third-liner Maxim Gaudreault. Goumas is the Wildcats’ clear leader on offense. Even with Austin Block’s tem-high eight goals, Goumas’ playmaking and possession-driving ability have propelled UNH in October and November. His pair of goals on Sunday gave him three for the year to go along with his 10 assists and a plus-11.

Currently, UNH’s 8-1-1 mark and 6-1-1 record in Hockey East has them three points back of Boston College for the top spot in the league standings. Nationally, UNH is currently No. 2 in the Pairwise, behind WCHA leader Denver, which the Wildcats happen to visit this weekend. Defeating BU for the second time this season removed any doubt about UNH as a regional contender. Friday and Saturday’s games with Denver and Colorado College will put their position as a national contender into perspective. (more…)

AMHERST, Mass. – Five different River Hawks scored a goal against two different goaltenders as Massachusetts-Lowell rolled past Massachusetts, 8-2, Sunday night at the Mullins Center. Riley Wetmore recorded a hat trick for the River Hawks, the first by a UML player since David Vallorani did so Dec. 5, 2009, also against the Minutemen.

UMass got poor goaltending efforts from both Jeff Teglia and Steve Mastalerz. Teglia lasted 16 minutes, 26 seconds and gave up three goals on eight shots. Mastalerz replaced him and also struggled, making just 10 saves on 15 shots in his first appearance since his last start Oct. 26 in a 5-2 loss to Boston University.

Doug Carr was solid in net for the River Hawks, making 24 saves on 26 shots. Carr’s two goals allowed both came on a 5-on-3 advantage for UMass when the game was well out of reach.

What I Saw

• UML has struggled to find its scoring touch all season long, but certainly found it in a big way Sunday, scoring eight times despite being outshot 26-23 on the night. The River Hawks clearly brought significantly more energy on both ends of the ice, which helped lead to high-quality scoring opportunities while UMass had to settle for a majority of its shots from the outside. UML scored its first three goals with relative ease while Teglia clearly looked uncomfortable between the pipes. The first goal was scored by Dmitry Sinitsyn on a soft shot that went off the pad of Teglia and right through him to the net. With six players scoring 10 or more goals last season, the River Hawks found a way to get back to what made it successful last season with five different players scoring Sunday, while Wetmore and Joseph Pendenza each had multi-goal efforts. Pendenza’s second tally came shorthanded on a breakaway following a UMass turnover which gave UML a 7-1 advantage at the time.  (more…)

BOSTON — New Hampshire earned its fourth straight win Sunday, beating Boston University 3-1. Before giving up BU’s goal, the Wildcats broke the program record for longest shutout streak. UNH opened the scoring with 8:26 left in the first when Dalton Speelman forced a turnover in the BU zone, allowing Kevin Goumas to grab the puck in the high slot and beat Matt O’Connor glove-side. Maxim Gaudreault added to the lead a few minutes later when he collected a rebound off Justin Agosta’s point shot and put it home for his first collegiate goal.

The Terriers (6-4-0, 5-3-0 Hockey East) cut the lead in half 4:40 into the second when Matt Grzelcyk led a rush down the right wing and put a shot on net that produced a rebound for Danny O’Regan to bury. BU badly outshot UNH (8-1-1, 6-1-1 HE) the rest of the way, but couldn’t manage to get another one past DeSmith. Goumas sealed the victory with an empty-netter. (more…)

Providence, RI – A first period goal from assistant captain Tim Schaller gave the Friars the early advantage in their first meeting of the season with Northeastern. That goal, shot off the glass before rebounding in front of Rawlings, might have been flukey but the five that followed were not, bringing the Friars to a 6-2 win over the Huskies.

Northeastern head coach Jim Madigan opted for Clay Witt after starting goaltender Chris Rawlings gave up three, but the damage was done. Chris Rooney and Derek Army each notched an even-strength goal in the second to make it 3-0. Then the second worst power play unit in Hockey East capitalized on the one-man advantage when Mark Jankowski got one past Witt at 13:06 in the second.

Army went for two on the night when he flew one past Witt’s shoulder at 4:44 in the third period, putting the Huskies in a whole they wouldn’t be climbing out of. He upped it to a hat trick about four minutes later, bringing PC to a 6-0 lead.

Despite four power play opportunities through the second, the Huskies remained 0-4 with the advantage. Finally, they were able to capitalize in the third with power play goals from Cody Ferriero and captain Vinny Saponari to keep the Huskies from being shut out.

With the win, Providence moves to 4-3-0 in conference play while Northeastern falls to 2-5-1.

What I Saw

• Gillies, a Northeastern de-commit, singlehandedly warded off a flurry of Northeastern offensive opportunities during their first period power play. Pimm and Ferriero created chances with back-to-back shots, but Gillies was on top of both. He stayed strong through four power play chances for the Huskies, even when his defense wasn’t solid in front of him.

What I Thought

• The Northeastern power play unit still needs serious work, and will continue to be a main area of focus for the team moving forward. While Ferriero and Saponari were able to get the Huskies on the board late in the game, it was too little, too late. If they had been able to take advantage sooner, the Huskies might have been able to avoid the 6-0 hole they found themselves in by the middle of the third period. On the season, Northeastern is 7 for 48 on the power play. That’s a conversion rate of .146.

What They Said

• “I thought we played well in the first period. We worked hard, got pucks in deep. We didn’t get a sustained forecheck going, but we started riding it out down there. The first goal was a fluke goal, but we’re given up two many bad goals during the course of a season, and it was a bad goal that gave them some momentum.” – Northeastern head coach Jim Madigan

What Else You Should Know

• This was the first game in which Northeastern has scored multiple power play goals this season.

• Northeastern returns to action Sunday on the road at Vermont. The Friars will get some non conference action at Quinnipiac on Tuesday.

Lowell, MA.- The first 35 minutes of the game were played to a scoreless tie, until Trevor van Riemsdyk worked his way down the right slot, received a pass from Kevin Goumas and roofed it to give UNH the 1-0 second period lead. UNH would increase that lead midway through the third period on a goal by Grayson Downing. From that point on the game was never in doubt and UNH would win it 3-0.

Casey Desmith shutout his third straight opponent, becoming the first UNH goaltender with three consecutive shutouts since the 1928-1929 season. The 178 minutes, and 52 seconds of shutout hockey is also the longest such streak for UNH in over 40 seasons. UNH improves to 7-1-1, 5-1-1 in Hockey East, while the River Hawks fall to 2-5-1, 1-4-1.

What I Saw

• Both UNH and UML played a desperate defensive game. Both teams were willing to put body and limb on the line to block shots. The teams combined for 28 blocked shots in the game, with UNH having the edge with 18 of those. Many of them would have been quality opportunities on net if they had gone through, but both defenses played committed on this night.

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Last weekend kept Hockey East in a rank and file Boston College, Boston University and New Hampshire world. This weekend is filled with lots of conference matchups and a weird scheduling quirk, as no teams will play on Saturday night. It will be highlighted by one matchup, on Sunday, which will pit Boston University and New Hampshire at Agganis Arena. Here’s to my weekly try of previewing the games: (more…)

A lot can and will change over the next few months, but it’s starting to look like Hockey East features a clear top three, and then a bunch of question marks. Lowell was in that top tier before the season, but didn’t hang around too long. Northeastern, Providence and Merrimack have all fumbled away chances to join the club. Now it looks like UMass might be the closest, but the Minutemen still have some work to do — getting over .500, for one.

1. Boston College (8-1-0, 7-1-0 HE) — Last week: 1
The Eagles extended their winning streak to eight by beating Notre Dame 3-1 on Friday and BU 4-2 on Sunday. Johnny Gaudreau scored three goals on the weekend and now has a 12-game point streak dating back to last season. Pat Mullane, Bill Arnold, Kevin Hayes and Patrick Wey all had two-point weekends. BC has now allowed just 10 goals in its last seven games. The only negative this weekend was that the power play, which came in at 40 percent, went 0-for-12.

2. New Hampshire (6-1-1, 4-1-1 HE) — Last week: 2
The Wildcats beat Vermont 4-0 on Saturday in their only game of the weekend, marking their second straight win by that score. Casey DeSmith stopped all 27 shots he faced to earn his third shutout in the last four games. He now leads Hockey East with a .953 save percentage and 1.36 goals against average. Austin Block scored twice on Saturday, and Kevin Goumas had three assists. Block is tied for the league lead in goals, while Goumas is first in assists. (more…)