Chestnut Hill, MA.- Boston College used two quick first period goals by Paul Carey and Pat Mullane to go up by two in the first eight minutes. From there they never looked back and defeated Vermont 5-1. Vermont played a strong game from start to finish and gave BC all the trouble that they could have asked for but it was not to be as Boston College used their speed to perfection.

Despite a good defensive effort by Vermont, Boston College was just too strong. HT Lenz scored late in the first period to give UVM hope at 2-1 going into the second period. It was there that Barry Almeida scored a goal midway through to make it 3-1. He scored his second of the night, one of the prettiest goals a hockey fan will ever see, midway through the third period to clinch the victory for BC, at 4-1. Steven Whitney added an empty net goal to make it 5-1, which would hold to the end of the game.

Boston College with the win moved one step closer to clinching the league regular season title but they will still need a win or a tie on Saturday night to do so. With Boston University’s win down the road at Agganis, Boston University still has a chance if Vermont were to take game two tomorrow night against the Eagles, as Boston University holds the tiebreaker. With the win Boston College stays in a tie for second place in the Pairwise rankings. These are ever changing so check out the Pairwise page for all the updates as games go final. (more…)

With one night to go in the Hockey East regular season, we know the eight teams that will be in the playoffs. The league title, the last home ice spot, and seeding are still up for grabs, though. Here is a breakdown of where each team stands entering its final game of the season.

Boston College (37 points)
-hosts Vermont.
-had already clinched home ice for the quarterfinals before this weekend.
-clinched a share of the regular-season title with Friday’s 5-1 win over Vermont.
-can clinch the one seed with a win or tie, or a loss and a BU loss or tie.

Boston University (35 points)
-travels to Northeastern.
-had already clinched home ice before this weekend.
-can clinch one of the top two seeds with a win or tie, or a loss and a Lowell loss or tie.
-can clinch a share of the regular-season title and the one seed with a win and a BC loss. (more…)

Before tonight’s games get underway, let’s take a look at what’s on the line for each Hockey East team. Please note that I am only looking at what can happen tonight. There will be another post tomorrow looking at what can happen on the final night of the regular season.

Boston College (35 points)
-hosts Vermont.
-has already clinched home ice for the quarterfinals.
-can clinch the regular-season title with a win and a BU loss or tie, or with a tie and a BU loss.
-can clinch a share of first with a win.
-can clinch one of the top two seeds with a tie.

Boston University (33 points)
-hosts Northeastern.
-has already clinched home ice.
-can clinch one of the top two seeds with a win and a Lowell loss or tie, or with a tie and a Lowell loss. (more…)

We have finally, albeit regretfully, entered the final weekend of the regular season. After 23 weeks of Hockey East regular season contests and exhibitions, it comes down to one weekend to decide the conference regular season title, the final home ice position and the final playoff spot.

Boston College is seemingly in the driver’s seat to take home the regular season title, as they hold a two point lead on Boston University and host Vermont this weekend. Boston University will play a home and home against a desperate Northeastern team that is fighting for the last playoff spot tied with UMass. If Boston College were to fall against the Catamounts and Boston University sweeps Northeastern, the Terriers would hold the head to head tiebreaker thus giving them the regular season crown and the number one seed heading into the tournament. UMass-Lowell would need two losses by Boston College and one by Boston University to have any chance. They are currently four points out of first and would need a three way tie. (more…)

Given that this upcoming weekend is the last of the regular season, this will be the final edition of Hockey East Power Rankings. From next week on, my focus will be on the postseason.

1. Boston College (23-10-1, 17-7-1 HE) — Last week: 1

The Eagles swept Providence with a 3-0 win Friday and 7-0 win Saturday, and have now won nine in a row. Barry Almeida led the way with a goal and four assists on the weekend, while Steven Whitney and Tommy Cross each registered a goal and three assists. Parker Milner stopped all 54 shots he faced to record his first two shutouts of the season. BC has clinched home ice in the quarterfinals and can clinch the regular-season title with three points against Vermont this weekend.

2. Boston University (20-11-1, 16-8-1 HE) — Last week: 3

After dealing with the fallout of Max Nicastro’s arrest all week, the Terriers went up to Vermont and swept the Catamounts. Sean Escobedo notched his first two goals of the season in Friday’s 5-0 win, while Alexx Privitera returned from a broken wrist to tally two points on the weekend, including the game-winning goal in Saturday’s 3-2 overtime win. BU has clinched home ice. It needs BC to get two points or fewer in order to have a shot at the regular-season title. (more…)

LOWELL, Mass. — Merrimack and Massachusetts-Lowell fought tooth and nail for 65 minutes Saturday night and walked away with a 2-2 tie. Merrimack’s Mike Collins opened the scoring 4:45 in when he tipped in a Kyle Bigos shot from the point. The River Hawks (20-10-1, 15-9-1 HE) answered midway through the second when Matt Ferreira found David Vallorani all alone in the slot. Collins struck again with 6:45 left in the game to give the Warriors (16-9-7, 12-8-5 HE) a 2-1 lead, but Josh Holmstrom tied it on a late power play when he slid home a Scott Wilson centering pass.

With the tie, the Warriors took three of four points on the weekend, following their 5-2 win Friday. The Merrimack River rivals concluded their season series at an even 1-1-1. The River Hawks now sit in third in the standings with 31 points. They can clinch home ice for the Hockey East quarterfinals with one point next weekend against Providence. The Warriors sit in fifth with 29 points, one behind Maine for the fourth and final home-ice spot. They have a game in hand on the Black Bears and can clinch home ice with three points next weekend against Massachusetts. As of 12:35 a.m., Lowell is tied for fourth in the PairWise and Merrimack is tied for 14th. (more…)

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — Boston College scored five goals in the first period and cruised the rest of the way, earning a 7-0 win over Providence on Saturday afternoon at Conte Forum. BC senior Barry Almeida scored one goal, picked up three assists and finished the win a plus-5.

Freshman Johnny Gaudreau and sophomore Bill Arnold each scored twice for the Eagles.

The win pushes BC’s lead in the race for the regular season championship to four, with second-place Boston University set to take on Vermont tonight. Meanwhile, Providence sits in seventh, three points clear of eighth-place Northeastern. (Note: BU defeated UVM to cut BC’s lead to two points.)

Nationally, the Eagles sit second in the PairWise, behind Minnesota-Duluth.

What I Saw

• The first period ended horribly for the Friars, trailing the Eagles, 5-0. BC was obviously the better, more opportunistic team in the first 20. Still, the Friars were hardly horrible, even as the Eagles poured goal after goal past Alex Beaudry. The first BC goal came 51 seconds into the game, with Steven Whitney beating Beaudry with a wrist shot from the high slot off the rush. Like most of the BC chances in the first, it came immediately after a lengthy PC cycle or extended possession. The Friar defensemen failed to identify the proper time to hold their position or retreat, allowing BC breakaways and odd-man rushes. All five of the Eagles’ first period goals came off the rush. Some of which PC could have prevented with a little more caution at the blue line and in the neutral zone. The fourth and fifth BC goals came seconds after Providence power plays expired, and  Friar defenseman Myles Harvey manned the point in both of those instances. The 6-foot-5 junior has improved as a triggerman on the power play, but his puck management and poise are still major concerns. Playing a high-pressure club like BC, Harvey is especially susceptible to the dangerous turnover. (more…)

Amherst, MA. –  The UNH defense gave up 51 shots to a hard charging UMass team, but Casey Desmith would come up huge stopping 48 of those 51 shots en route to a 4-3 New Hampshire victory over the Minutemen.  Trevor van Riemsdyk scored the first two goals for UNH giving them a 2-0 lead early in the second period. Conor Sheary scored midway through the second period and Joel Hanley scored early in the third period to knot the score at two apiece but New Hampshire’s first line would answer two and a half minutes later with goals by Nick Sorkin and Kevin Goumas 17 seconds apart to put the game away.

With the win New Hampshire improved their record to 14-15-3 on the season overall and 11-12-2 in Hockey East. The two points also clinched them a playoff berth and moved them into sixth place in the Hockey East standings, one point ahead of Providence. UMass falls to 11-15-5 overall and 7-13-4 in Hockey East. The loss put a serious damper on their playoff chances as Northeastern defeated Maine 4-2, which moved the Minutemen into ninth place in the standings, two points out of a playoff position. (more…)

NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. — Led by a dominant first period, Merrimack picked up a much-needed two points with a 5-2 win over Massachusetts-Lowell on Friday. Elliott Sheen opened the scoring when UML (20-10-0, 15-9-0 HE) goalie Doug Carr misplayed a dump-in, allowing Sheen to tap the puck in before Carr could get back to his crease. Kyle Bigos scored 1:18 later and Jeff Velleca knotted another tally before the end of the period to give the Warriors (16-9-6, 12-8-4 HE) an insurmountable three-goal lead. Ryan Flanigan and Velleca scored in the third for Merrimack, while Chad Ruhwedel and Shayne Thompson scored for UML.

With the win, the Warriors are now tied with Maine for the fourth and final home-ice spot with a game in hand. They are 16th in the PairWise as of 10:25 p.m. The River Haws dropped to third with the loss, three points behind first-place Boston College and two points ahead of Merrimack and Maine. They are now sixth in the PairWise. (more…)

Two weeks remain in the regular season and the regular season crown could still mathematically go to five different teams.  Boston College has the slimmest of margins over second place UMass-Lowell, at one point. Boston University is in third place, one point behind UMass-Lowell and two points back of Boston College. Maine has a hold on the final home ice spot and is two points ahead of fifth place Merrimack. (more…)