The ascent of Providence, Massachusetts-Lowell and Merrimack to the top of the Hockey East standings this season led many to point to goaltending as the deciding factor in success or failure in college hockey. Certainly, having a high-quality, reliable netminder is important, and the impact of a great goalie is unquantifiable, especially in the postseason. More than just the man between the pipes, though, Providence, Merrimack and Lowell have another thing in common: they win games because the skaters in front of their goaltender play strong defense.

The way these teams defend are different. They are equally effective, though. Connor Hellebuyck, Sam Marotta and Jon Gillies are very good players. The skaters on these teams, however, are vital to the goalies’ ability to win games. Last weekend, Lowell swept Boston University in a series that brilliantly illustrated the value of a strong defensive philosophy. BU didn’t play poorly in either game. Still, they managed very little offense — just one goal in 120 minutes — and seemed entirely inept offensively. This is uncharacteristic of the Terriers, even during this run of bad play that has been their second half. Lowell simply prevented BU accomplishing anything, especially once they established a lead. The River Hawks executed their system perfectly both nights, and BU had almost no answer for it.

Similarly, Merrimack and Providence play strong defense as well. They allow more shots than Lowell, but they don’t give up many quality scoring chances. At the moment, Lowell allows the fewest shots on goal per game in the league (27).

Compare that to Massachusetts, which allows a shade more at 27.2 per game. The Minutemen, though, have one of the league’s worst defenses in Hockey East. They give up far more grade-A scoring chances than Lowell. Moreover, whatever combination of Kevin Boyle, Jeff Teglia and Steve Mastalerz just isn’t as good as Hellebuyck and Doug Carr. UMass allows far more quality scoring chances than other clubs and has looked defensively uninterested for most of the season.  Read the rest of this entry »

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It is hard to believe that we have reached the final week of the regular season in the ECAC, as it seems very recent that Quinnipiac opened up the regular season schedule against Maine on the road picking up a win at the famed Alfond Arena. This guy would have not have foreseen the successes watching that game from the press box that night, but the rest is history and the Bobcats had the Cleary Cup clinched entering last weekend. Quinnipiac enters the weekend with just one loss in conference play, as they face Harvard and Dartmouth on the road.

Coming into the weekend seven teams will fight for three first round byes, as the top four teams get a bye. Currently Rensselaer, St. Lawrence and Yale control their own destinies as they enter this weekend with those positions joining Quinnipiac who has long clinched. Dartmouth, Union, Clarkson and Brown also have numerical shots at byes, but will need help from those above them. Home-ice advantage goes to positions five through eight in the standings, which numerically 11 out of 12 ECAC teams could end up hosting. See the current standings and I will go into the possibilities for each team.

If the NCAA tournament began today four ECAC teams would be included, but the scary part of it for the ECAC is the fact that Yale and Rensselaer are tied for 16th in the Pairwise Rankings that determine the NCAA Tournament field. This is the last entry without any surprise teams earning a berth from outside the top 16 and usually there is at least one from outside the top 16 that makes it. Realistically that means that one team, Quinnipiac, is a number one seed, while Dartmouth (13th), Yale (15) and Rensselaer (16) are all on the bubble. Read the rest of this entry »

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We’re down to two weekends left in the regular season (plus two Tuesday night makeup games this week), meaning it’s do-or-die time. There are a handful of teams fighting not just for home ice, but also for the regular-season title. Three teams are in pretty good shape in the Pairwise, while three others have some work to do if they hope to get an at-large bid. Then at the bottom of the league, four teams continue to battle for the final two playoff spots. In this week’s power rankings, I take a look at each team’s postseason situation.

1. Boston College (18-8-3, 13-7-2 HE) — Last week: 1
Quinn Smith scored 2:23 into overtime to give BC a huge 2-1 win at Merrimack on Sunday. The Eagles are now in a three-way tie for first, but they have a game in hand on both UNH and Providence. That game in hand comes Tuesday against Lowell, and a weekend series against Providence follows that. Sunday’s win also jumped the Eagles ahead of UNH for the final one-seed in the Pairwise. Parker Milner stopped 43 of 44 shots and now has a .940 save percentage since the start of February.

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The standings are becoming a little more clear. Niagara clinched the regular season title a few weeks ago and now Air Force has joined them in the first round bye. The Falcons hold a three point lead over third place UConn. If the Falcons just win, they’ll clinch the number two seed. This leaves two first round byes left, with UConn, Holy Cross and Robert Morris all in the running. Mercyhurst, RIT and Bentley can also gain the first round bye, but they need some help.

UConn has been on a roll at the right time, going 6-2 in February so far. That streak has propelled them to third in the standings and in position for a first round bye. A lot of the credit goes to Matt Grogan, who has gone 11-3-2 since taking over for Garrett Bartus. Grogan had played just 10 games entering this season. Read the rest of this entry »

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NORTH ANDOVER — Quinn Smith found an opening on a rebound with 2:32 remaining in overtime as Boston College beat Merrimack College, 2-1, in OT on Sunday afternoon at Lawler Arena.

Parker Milner made 43 saves for the Eagles while Sam Marotta stopped 26 shots for the Warriors, including two of the best saves you’ll see all season in the third period, robbing both Bill Arnold and Danny Linell of point-blank opportunities.

Shawn Bates scored Merrimack’s only goal in the first period, hammering home a loose puck in the crease after his initial shot was blockered away by Milner.

The Warriors fall into fourth place in Hockey East, one point back of a three-way tie for first between BC, New Hampshire and Providence. Merrimack suffered a devastating loss in the Pairwise rankings, falling from 18th to 23rd. Boston College meanwhile, climbed to No. 4.

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LOWELL, Mass. — Massachusetts-Lowell beat Boston University 3-1 on Saturday to complete its first season sweep of the Terriers since the 2000-01 season. With the win, the River Hawks pulled within two points of first place and moved up to 11th in the Pairwise. BU dropped to 23rd in the Pairwise and now sits two points out of a home ice spot.

Lowell’s Scott Wilson opened the scoring for the second night in a row, once again firing a slap shot into the top corner from about 40 feet out. Chad Ruhwedel made it 2-0 midway through the second when he finished off a 4-on-1 power-play rush. BU’s Evan Rodrigues cut the lead in half with a shorthanded goal 8:25 into the third, but then Joseph Pendenza provided an insurance marker with 7:55 to go.

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Amherst, Mass. – With the eighth and final Hockey East playoff spot on the line, Massachusetts used a three-goal third period to top Maine 5-2.

Joel Hanley led the Minutemen with three assists, two of which came in the third period on goals by Zack LaRue and Conor Sheary. Kevin Czepiel finished it with an empty-netter with 44 seconds remaining in the game.

Down 2-0 after the first period, the Black Bears scored twice in less than two minutes to even things up. First Jake Rutt put home a power play goal on a wrist shot 5 minutes, 36 seconds into the second period. Then Bill Norman put home the equalizer at 7:16.

Steve Mastalerz got the win in goal for UMass, making 23 saves. Martin Ouellette started for Maine coming off a big night on Friday, but wasn’t the same player between the pipes, making 22 saves in a losing effort.

What I Saw

• This was not the same Martin Ouellette that was in goal for Maine the night before. The junior netminder single-handedly beat the Minutemen with his 30-save shutout performance that included a pair of stops on breakaway chances and one of the saves of the year on Friday. However, Ouellette found himself in trouble early when Adam Phillips buried home a rebound off a Rocco Carzo shot 5 minutes, 51 seconds into the first period. Branden Gracel added to that less than two minutes later when he scored on a scorching snapper from the left wing that beat Ouellette glove-side high. After settling down and making some more key saves to keep the game tied after the second period, Ouellette struggled again in the third. First one a goal by Zack LaRue after failing to cover Gracel’s initial shot, Then another on a one-timer from Hanley to Sheary. Ouellette was clearly not playing with the same confidence out there that he had on Friday, much of that can be credited to the fact that the Minutemen got to him early.  Read the rest of this entry »

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MINNEAPOLIS- The Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs began the third period in great shape Friday night at Mariucci Arena. They were ahead in the shot department and scored 3 goals in the second period – including Austin Farley’s second of the game with 44 seconds left in the period – to tie the game at 3.

But as has been the norm lately for UMD, it wasn’t enough over the final 20 minutes.

Gopher sophomore Kyle Rau scored the game-winning goal with 6:35 remaining as Minnesota (21-6-4, 13-6-4 WCHA) defeated the Bulldogs 5-3 in the first of a two-game series. The loss left Minnesota-Duluth (10-7-4, 8-13-4 WCHA) winless in their last 8 games and looking to once again right the ship.

Nate Condon began the scoring for Minnesota 4:05 into the game when his shot trickled past Bulldogs goalie Matt McNeely and crossed the line on a second effort. That was followed by a shorthanded goal by Erik Haula 7:50 into the second before Justin Crandall evened things out 27 seconds later on the same power play. The two teams once again traded quick goals 5 minutes later as Farley tied the game at 2 and Sam Warning responded to give the Gophers back the lead before the UMD freshman’s second of the game near the end of the period.

Giving up a goal in the last minute of a period can be a rallying cry for the team who scores but Minnesota never allowed that. Instead, they out-shot Minnesota-Duluth 16-4 over the final 20 minutes and made McNeely, who made 29 saves, work. Their persistence was eventually rewarded with Rau’s 14th goal of the season and first in 8 games. Haula then added his second goal of the game on an empty-netter with 5.4 seconds remaining to seal the deal.

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BOSTON — Connor Hellebuyck earned his third shutout and improved to 9-0-0 in his last nine starts, as he stopped all 25 shots he faced in Massachusetts-Lowell’s 3-0 win over Boston University on Friday. Lowell and BU are now tied for fifth in Hockey East with 24 points apiece, putting them three points out of first. As of 10:45 p.m., the River Hawks were 13th in the Pairwise, while the Terriers had dropped to 18th.

Scott Wilson gave Lowell a 1-0 lead 5:35 into the second when he pulled up in the right circle and fired a slap shot into the top corner. Joseph Pendenza upped the lead to 2-0 two minutes later when he took a shot that pinballed off two BU defenders and past Matt O’Connor (24 saves). Riley Wetmore closed out the scoring with a power-play goal late in the third. With the loss, the Terriers dropped to 0-4-1 in their last five home games, marking their first five-game home winless streak since they started playing on campus in 1971.

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AMHERST, Mass. — In a series that will contribute significantly to the determination of the final Hockey East playoff spot, Maine defeated Massachusetts, 2-0, at the Mullins Center Friday night. Junior goaltender Martin Ouellette offered an excellent performance in net for the Black Bears, including saves on multiple above-average UMass scoring chances throughout the game. This was the goalie’s second career shut-out, the result of 30 saves.

The teams will skate again on the same ice tomorrow night. With the victory, Maine moves into eighth place while the Minutemen fall to ninth. Meanwhile, Northeastern lost to Providence, 6-2, staying in the tenth position.

What I Saw

Ouellette made one of the season’s best saves near the beginning of the second period, robbing K.J. Tiefenwerth from very close range. The save maintained a scoreless game. For the next few minutes, the teams traded quality scoring chances through rapid end-to-end action. Several pucks sailed through each crease, as the pair of goaltenders supported their struggling defensemen.

More significantly, the save preserved the complexion of the game in Maine’s favor. The Black Bears finally started the scoring near the end of the second frame as the team took advantage of a power play opportunity. Freshman defenseman Ben Hutton launched a shot past a screened Boyle. Four minutes later, Maine doubled its lead as senior Mark Anthoine sent a perfectly-placed snap shot into the top-right corner above goalie Kevin Boyle’s glove side. The goal prompted UMass coach John Micheletto to replace Boyle with Steve Mastalerz.

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