BOSTON — Boston College came away victorious in the first edition of this year’s B-Line Rivalry, beating Boston University 4-2 at Agganis Arena on Sunday. With the win, the Eagles extended their winning streak to eight and completed a weekend sweep of two of their biggest rivals, as they also beat Notre Dame on Friday.

BC (8-1-0, 7-1-0 Hockey East) opened the scoring just 43 seconds in when Kevin Hayes carried the puck behind BU’s net behind before finding Destry Straight at the top of the crease for an easy tap-in. The score stayed that way for the next 50 minutes before Hayes and Johnny Gaudreau scored 1:22 apart midway through the third to make it 3-0.

Matt Grzelcyk gave BU (5-3-0, 4-2-0 HE) a glimmer of hope when he scored with 4:40 remaining, but then Bill Arnold sealed the BC win with an empty-netter. BU’s Alexx Privitera capped the scoring with 1:17 to go. Despite not seeing a ton of shots, both Parker Milner (25 saves) and Matt O’Connor (20) made a number of big stops when their teams needed them to. (more…)

Coming into the season, Dave Burkholder and Niagara had no clue who was going to be the No.1 goalie. Well, there is no doubt who’s No. 1 now. Carsen Chubak continued his torrid run this week, posting his third straight shutout on Friday before finally letting in a goal with 5:30 left in the third period Saturday. Chubak played 247:59 between goals. Throw in the shutout of Clarkson on Oct. 26 and Chubak has played 307:59, surrendering just two goals. He has clearly cemented himself as the No.1 in net for the Purple Eagles. He leads the nation in both save percentage (.966) and goals against (1.09). With Chubak in net, the Purple Eagles are a perfect 5-0 in conference play and are the only team not to lose an Atlantic Hockey game this year. (more…)

LOWELL, Mass. — Maine hung onto a 4-3 win over Massachusetts-Lowell on Saturday, bringing an end to a miserable seven-game losing streak. Kyle Williams, a freshman defenseman-turned-forward, scored the winning goal with 8:50 left in the game when he tipped home a Mike Cornell shot from the point.

Lowell (2-4-1, 1-3-1 Hockey East) opened the scoring 10:09 into the game when Derek Arnold redirected a Joseph Pendenza pass. Maine (2-9-0, 1-5-0 HE) scored the next three, though, as Connor Leen, Adam Shemansky and Devin Shore all found the back of the net. The River Hawks came storming back late in the second and got goals from Riley Wetmore and Pendenza to tie the game heading into the third. (more…)

Durham, NH- UNH raced out to a 2-0 first period lead on Vermont, on a shorthanded tally by Grayson Downing at five minutes, 27 seconds and a power-play goal by Eric Knodel at 12:07. Austin Block had his second consecutive two goal game for UNH as he scored a goal in each of the last two periods. UNH overmatched the Catamounts to take home the win 4-0, in a game that didn’t even feel that close.

Casey Desmith earned his second shutout in a row. Desmith made 27 saves on the night, while his counter-part Brody Hoffman made 25 saves on 29 shots. Hoffman had the more difficult night and kept UVM in the game for much of the first two periods. UNH improves to 6-1-1 on the season and 4-1-1 in Hockey East, while Vermont falls to 1-3-2 and 1-3-2. (more…)

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Boston College defeated Notre Dame, 3-1, at Conte Forum Friday night. Second-period goals from Pat Mullane and Johnny Gaudreau carried the Eagles before an empty-night marker Gaudreau sealed the win in the third. Notre Dame freshman Thomas Di Pauli scored his second of the season at 7 minutes, 10 seconds of the third period to bring the Fighting Irish back into the game.

BC goaltender Parker Milner and Notre Dame’s Steven Summerhays performed well in the game. Neither team managed a great deal of shots, but quality scoring chances were plentiful for both sides.

What I Saw

• The skill of Gaudreau and Mullane gave BC the win on Friday night. The linemates’ second-period goals came on odd-man rushes – Mullane’s a breakaway and Gaudreau’s a 2-on-1 – and ended with nifty moves to beat Summerhays. For the most part, the teams played even hockey. Chances came and went, but BC capitalized on its opportunities. Mullane scored the Eagles’ first goals at 4:41 of the second period, winning a faceoff in the UND zone and immediately heading up ice. BC defenseman Patrick Wey hit the streaking Mullane, who walked in on Summerhays and fine space in the five-hole for the goal. Gaudreau, meanwhile, walked in with Steven Whitney, and beat Summerhays with a wrist shot to the near-side top corner. (more…)

AMHERST, Mass. – Massachusetts scored three goals in the second period and never looked back, holding on for the 4-0 win over Providence Friday at the Mullins Center. Michael Pereira scored his first goal of the season and also had an assist for his first multi-point game since recording a hat trick against the Friars Feb. 11 last season. Troy Power had his second straight multi-point game with a goal and an assist.

Sophomore Kevin Boyle made 17 saves and recorded his first career shutout for the Minutemen. Jon Gillies made 28 saves on 32 shots and suffered his fourth loss of the season.

What I Saw

• It appears UMass has finally gotten that monkey off its back. The Minutemen have made a bad habit of blowing leads, especially in the third period, all season long. But Friday night UMass kept its foot on the gas in third period and found a way to not only hold on, but build on its lead with a backbreaker 17 minutes, 46 seconds into the third period off an unassisted goal by Power to give UMass the 4-0 cushion late in the game. The Minutemen outshot Providence 32-17 for the game, but put up its greatest shot differential in that third period (12-5), something they have rarely been capable of doing all season.  (more…)

NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. — Matt O’Connor improved to 5-0-0 and Wade Megan tallied a goal and two assists as Boston University beat Merrimack 3-1 on Friday. After a scoreless first, BU (5-2-0, 4-1-0 Hockey East) took a 1-0 lead 1:22 into the second. Cason Hohmann made a beautiful pass from the left corner to set up Ahti Oksanen for a rocket of a one-timer from the top of the right circle. Megan added to the lead seven minutes later when he raced down the left wing and beat Sam Marotta (22 saves) five-hole for his fifth goal of the season.

Merrimack (4-4-1, 3-2-1 HE) cut the lead in half 14 seconds into the third when John Heffernan beat O’Connor (34 saves) short-side. The Warriors kept the pressure on, but couldn’t get another past O’Connor. Evan Rodrigues sealed the victory with 7:14 remaining when he deposited a rebound past a down-and-out Marotta. (more…)

Cambridge, Mass. — Union got off to a quick start against Harvard taking a quick 2-0 lead in the first three minutes of the game, on goals by Charlie Vasaturo and a power-play tally by Greg Coburn. The Dutchmen never looked back as they would go on to defeat the Crimson going away 6-2. Union improves to 6-1-1 on the season and 3-0-0 in ECAC, while Harvard falls to 2-2-0, 1-2-0.

For Union all eyes will turn on the status of their star goalie, Troy Grosenick, who went down early in the second period.  This marks the second weekend in a row that a star has gone down for Union, as defenseman Mat Bodie went down last week and will miss at least a month. The response by Union was fantastic and they went on to outscore Harvard 4-1 after the injury. Harvard was unable to put any sustained pressure on Colin Stevens until late in the third period. (more…)

Early in the season, there have been a few teams that have stood out and some that are just struggling. Boston College is again at the top of the standings, but has played the most games as well. Maine has been the biggest surprise on the season and their struggles have continued.

The marquee matchup of the weekend is another non-conference tilt, as Boston College hosts Notre Dame on Friday night. But not to be out-done there is also this small matchup in Boston on Sunday, which pits Boston University and Boston College. Both of those matchups will be fantastic ones but they aren’t the only ones that have interesting story-lines. Enjoy the hockey folks (more…)

This week’s rankings feature a new No. 1 and a bunch of movement among the bottom seven teams. Let’s get right to it.

1. Denver (5-1-0, 3-1-0 WCHA) — Last week: 2
The Pioneers suffered their first loss Friday, falling 3-0 to St. Cloud, but they bounced back with a 6-1 win Saturday. Normally a split wouldn’t be enough to move into first, but Minnesota’s split was worse than Denver’s, and those two were neck-and-neck before the weekend. Chris Knowlton had a hat trick Saturday, while Nick Shore continued his strong start with two points. Denver is first in the WCHA in both offense and defense.

2. Minnesota (5-2-0, 2-2-0 WCHA) — Last week: 1
The Gophers fall out of the top spot after splitting with Minnesota State. They won 3-2 on Friday before losing 5-3 on Saturday. Saturday marked Adam Wilcox’s first loss and first game in which he’s allowed more than two goals. Erik Haula had four points on the weekend, while Nate Schmidt had three. The Gophers went 4-for-11 on the power play and are now second in the league at 22.6 percent on the season. (more…)