With the Beanpot over, everyone is now focused on the last three weekends of the regular season. Only four teams are on the move in this week’s power rankings, and there is still very little separating the one through five spots. There is, however, a little bit more separation between the seven and eight spots.

1. Massachusetts-Lowell (19-8-0, 14-7-0 HE) — Last week: 1

The River Hawks extended their winning streak to five with a 3-0 win over Merrimack on Friday, but then had it snapped with a 2-1 loss to Maine on Saturday. The two points on the weekend were enough to move them into sole possession of first place in Hockey East. The line of Scott Wilson, Riley Wetmore and Derek Arnold has combined for nine goals and 17 assists in six games since being put together.

2. Boston College (19-10-1, 13-7-1 HE) — Last week: 4

The Eagles beat Vermont 6-1 on Friday and then won the Beanpot championship when Bill Arnold scored with 6.4 seconds left in overtime to give them a 3-2 win over BU. Chris Kreider notched three goals and two assists in the two games this week, while Pat Mullane and Beanpot MVP Johnny Gaudreau contributed four points apiece. Parker Milner is 5-0-0 with a .928 save percentage since reclaiming the starting job. (more…)

BOSTON — With 6:16 left in the third, Harvard’s Luke Greiner scored what proved to be the Beanpot consolation game-winner when he entered the offensive zone and beat Northeastern goalie Clay Witt (36 saves) five-hole for a shorthanded goal. Luke Eibler cut the lead to one just 23 seconds later, but the Crimson held on for the 3-2 win. With the loss, Northeastern has now finished fourth in 30 of the 60 Beanpots all-time.

What I saw

-The Crimson outplayed Northeastern in the first. The consolation game is always a tough game to get up for, especially when neither team is really in serious contention for an at-large NCAA bid, and the Huskies clearly struggled to find their skating legs. Harvard controlled play for much of the first period and took a 1-0 lead 11:44 in when Alex Killorn took in a pass at the right doorstep and waited out Witt before tucking the puck inside the right post. The Crimson outshot Northeastern 12-6 in the first and also hit two posts.

-The second period was more evenly-played and featured a lot more back-and-forth action. Robbie Vrolyk tied the game 4:07 into the period when his wrister from the high slot bounced off Steve Michalek’s (24 saves) arm and trickled over the line. The Crimson reclaimed the lead with a late goal when Alex Fallstrom stormed over the blue line fired a snap shot inside the left post. (more…)

With just four games remaining in the regular season (and just two remaining for Ohio State and Alaska), Ferris State holds a 5 point lead in the CCHA standings. But with every league win potentially worth three points, there are plenty of opportunities remaining for the teams chasing the Bulldogs for the regular season crown.

As the season winds down, here are some things to know:

• Unbeaten now in 12 games (three shy of the program record), Ferris State is currently the No. 1 team in the nation according to the Pairwise Rankings and — as a result — would be the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament if the tourney began today. I expect Ferris State to sweep Bowling Green (currently in an impressive 0-for-30 power play slump) this weekend to set up a final weekend home-and-home showdown with second-place Western Michigan. The Broncos swept the Bulldogs earlier this season, and the CCHA regular season crown could be decided on the final night of the season. Ferris State vs. Western Michigan — just like we all predicted months ago…

• Six of the Pairwise’s Top 15 teams and 9 of the top 20 are CCHA members. But having seen how these things tend to play out year after year, I don’t expect more than five of the league’s teams to ultimately make the NCAA tournament. Ohio State and Miami are currently hanging on to the final two spots, and the Buckeyes and RedHawks play a pivotal final weekend home-and-home series as well. Ohio State finally won a game on Saturday, splitting their weekend series with Western Michigan and thereby ending an 11-game winless streak that saw the Buckeyes tumble from first-place in the league. Ohio State needs a strong finish perhaps more than anyone in the league. (more…)

Air Force – The Falcons are undefeated in their last eight games and continue to sit atop the standings. Stephan Carew scored twice for the Falcons. Kyle De Laurell had an assist and is just one point shy of tying his career high. Tim Kirby also scored. He now has 23 points on the season, tying his career high.

AIC – The Yellow Jackets score just three times en route to being swept by Bentley. They have now lost four straight. Adam Peskach, Steve Mele, and Nick Grasso accounted for all the Yellow Jackets scoring. Pleskach leads the team with 12 goals on the season.

Army – The Black Knights saw their three game winning streak snapped while being swept by Holy Cross. The Black Knights surrendered 10 goals while scoring just three. Mike Hull was involved in a three Black Knight goals, scoring twice and assisting on another. Andy Starczewski scored the other Black Knight goal and picked up an assist as well. Starczewski leads the team with a career best 19 points and 11 goals. (more…)

Strong weekends from Providence and New Hampshire have cemented the field for the 2012 Hockey East Tournament to an extent. The Wildcats’ three-point weekend has them in seventh place in Hockey East, one point back of Providence in sixth. More importantly, UNH has opened up a four-point lead over Northeastern and Massachusetts, currently deadlocked in eighth place.

For the Friars, a four-point weekend has essentially guaranteed them a playoff spot. However, fifth-place is likely unreachable with Maine and Merrimack five points clear of the Friars. Despite the certainty of the seven of the eight playoff teams, the races for seeding will be as contested as they’ve been in recent years, with just two points separating Merrimack and Maine from first-place UMass Lowell.

This weekend’s matchup between Boston University and UMass Lowell will be among the most important series of the season and have serious implications in conference and on the national scene. Currently, BU is No. 2 in the PairWise, with UML in a three-way tie for fourth.

Schedule gives Northeastern advantage over UMass

Both Northeastern and UMass have six games remaining in Hockey East, with Northeastern having a seventh to play in Monday’s Beanpot Consolation Game against Harvard. However, five of the Huskies’ six remaining conference games will come at Matthews Arena, traveling only to BU to open a regular season-ending, home-and-home pair with the Terriers. (more…)

AMHERST, Mass. — Despite a valiant effort, Massachusetts ran out of time in trying to overcome stretches of woeful team defense, falling to Providence, 5-4, at the Mullins Center Saturday night. For the Friars, the win gave them a sweep of the weekend after they knocked off Maine at Schneider Arena Friday night.

A four-point weekend helped PC overcome a three-game losing streak that ended January and began February, moving ahead of New Hampshire into sixth place in Hockey East. Five different PC players scored in the win, including Tim Schaller who has goals in three of four games since returning from six games sidelined with mononucleosis. Senior goaltender Alex Beaudry made 15 third period saves, with UMass pressing heavily after cutting the Friar lead to at 14 minutes, 51 seconds of the third period.

Sitting in sixth in the Hockey East standings, PC leads UNH by a point, with one game in hand on the Wildcats. UNH tied at Merrimack on Saturday night. UMass, meanwhile, remains deadlocked with Northeastern in eighth place in Hockey East. The Huskies own the tiebreaker over the Minutemen with seven conference wins to UMass’ six at the moment. The clubs enter the final three weeks of the regular season in a dead heat for the last playoff spot.

What I Saw

• Three of the four goals UMass scored were highlight reel goals. Mike Pereira’s marker to bring UMass within one, his third of the game, was the type of scrappy goal teams need to win games. Overall, however, the Minutemen failed to create chances on second and third opportunities with a lack of grit around the net. There were more than enough opportunities to bang rebounds past Beaudry late in the game, but PC won battles to loose pucks at the goalmouth throughout the game. At the other end, the Friars won the same battles in front of the UMass goal. The Friars can score the pretty ones, but they’ll take the ugly goals just as well. After all, those goals are among the many reasons they left Amherst with two points. (more…)

BOSTON — Massachusetts picked up its first road of the season and thrust back into the Hockey East playoff picture with a 3-2 over Boston University Friday night at Agganis Arena.

Freshman goaltender Kevin Boyle made 33 saves in the win, which halted an untimely four-game losing streak for UMass. While Mike Pereira’s empty-net goal ended up being the game-winner for UMass, Joel Hanley’s strike at 12 minutes, 27 seconds of the third period gave UMass the 2-1 lead that resulted in Pereira’s empty-netter. Alex Chiasson scored with 4.5 seconds left in regulation to cut the margin of victory.

The win lifted UMass into an eighth-place tie with Northeastern with a game in hand. The Huskies fell to New Hampshire Friday night. BU drops to second place, tied with Boston College, which defeated Vermont, 6-1, at 27 points. Both BU and BC trail UMass Lowell by a point, after the River Hawks beat Merrimack, 3-0.

What I Saw

• BU struggled against a UMass forecheck that seemed slightly more aggressive than it normally plays. The Minutemen gave BU the usual 1-2-2 look, but the UMass forwards activated more frequently to pressure the Terrier breakout. Whether it was T.J. Syner or Mike Pereira, the Terriers always had a UMass player on their trail or forcing a bad pass. The remaining UMass players stayed true with their assignments well, maintaing shape to turn the Terriers’ questionable passes into turnovers and potential scoring chances. The option to pressure players always exists for the UMass forwards, but they rarely pursue as much as they did on Friday. Opting to play it more conservative is the easiest way to avoid rushes against more highly skilled teams, but changing it up gave UMass the advantage on Friday. (more…)

LOWELL, Mass. — Less than a year removed from the worst season in program history, UMass-Lowell is now first in both the Hockey East standings and the PairWise thanks to a 3-0 win over Merrimack on Friday. Derek Arnold scored two goals in the victory, Riley Wetmore tallied a goal and two assists, and Doug Carr stopped all 31 shots he faced.

Arnold’s first goal, which came 55 seconds into the third, was initially waved off, as the referee indicated he had knocked in a rebound with his arm. The call was overturned after video review, and Arnold said after the game that the puck did go in off his shoulder, but that he hadn’t moved his arm at all to redirect it.

Arnold’s second goal came on a power play with 2:57 to go when he blasted a one-timer through Joe Cannata’s (39 saves) five-hole from the top of the left circle. Wetmore sealed the victory with 1:34 left when he slid a backhander into an empty net from the neutral zone.

What I saw

-Merrimack had a power-play goal waved off with 4:24 left in the second. Dan Kolomatis threw a shot on net from the right point and Josh Myers tipped it past Carr, but video review showed that Myers’ stick was above the crossbar. It would’ve been a huge goal not just because it would’ve broken a scoreless tie, but also because it would’ve given the Warriors some much-needed momentum after Lowell dominated play for most of the second. (more…)

Durham, NH. – Northeastern scored a quick goal, 30 seconds into the game, off the stick of Robbie Vrolyk but failed to capitalize on the momentum falling to New Hampshire, 3-2. After failing down by one early UNH scored four minutes later on a goal off by, Stevie Moses. The goal was his 20^th of the season from a tight angle right through the pads of Husky goaltender, Chris Rawlings. UNH scored again later in the first on an Austin Block goal that caromed off of Northeastern goaltender, Chris Rawlings foot and into the net.

After an evenly played second period where UNH would receive another goal off the stick of Austin Block, a tip from a point shot by Damon Kipp, UNH would take a 3-1 lead into the third period. In the third period, UNH used a stifling neutral zone trap, where Northeastern was able to get off only five shots in the period. With Rawlings pulled, Northeastern would score a late goal with the net empty off the stick of Mike McLaughlin but it was not enough as UNH got the all important two points.

UNH with the win stayed in a tie for sixth place with providence, who defeated Maine on home ice 4-3 to keep pace with the Wildcats. With the win UNH moves three points ahead of Northeastern who dropped into a tie for eighth and ninth place with Massachusetts, who came up with a huge 3-2 victory against Boston University at Agannis Arena. (more…)

Back to normal posting here on a Thursday… but because of a death in the family, I will not be able to watch much hockey this weekend. For any breaking news in the WCHA check out the main page — Adam and the gang are the best in the business.

Without further ado, here are this week’s rankings, including a new No. 1:

1 — Minnesota (Last week: 2)

The Gophers were idle last week but jump a spot because UMD split in Anchorage. The week off could do wonders for guys like Kyle Rau and Nick Bjugstad, who because of the World Junior tournament, have been going almost nonstop since mid-September. This bye week comes not too early, but not too late, and should allow the Gophers to get into quite a rhythm starting this weekend in Denver.

2 — Minnesota Duluth (Last week: 1)

Anchorage is never an easy place to play, but the Seawolves had gone two months without a victory. The Bulldogs are stuggling right now and if not for J.T. Brown last weekend, the Bulldogs might have been swept. His four-goal outburst in Friday’s win provided the entire margin of victory in a 4-1 victory. He added another goal Saturday to make things interesting but UAA scored just two minutes later to put things away. North Dakota comes to Amsoil this weekend in what could be a very entertaining series.

3 — North Dakota (Last week: 3)

The Fighting Sioux have their name back (at least until the next twist in this story) and are locked in a three-way tie for fifth in the WCHA entering this weekend. With the other two teams tied with UND set to play each other this weekend, North Dakota has a chance to pull ahead of both with three or four points in Duluth.

(more…)