Going into Thanksgiving, we still have a clear top six and a clear bottom six. Within those two bands, there continues to be plenty of movement, aside from at the top, where Denver has put some space between itself and the rest of the pack.

1. Denver (9-1-0, 7-1-0 WCHA) — Last week: 1
The Pioneers strengthened their hold on the top spot by sweeping Colorado College, winning 6-5 on Friday and 6-2 on Saturday. They’ve scored three or more goals in all but one game, and they now lead the country with 4.50 goals per game. Ten different players registered multipoint weekends, with Chris Knowlton’s three goals and two assists leading the way. Knowlton now has eight goals in the last five games. Denver went 3-for-7 on the power play in the series.

2. Minnesota (7-2-2, 4-2-2 WCHA) — Last week: 2
The Gophers stay at two after taking three of four points from Wisconsin. They tied 2-2 on Friday before coming away with a 3-1 win Saturday. Adam Wilcox stopped 38 of 41 shots on the weekend and now ranks third in the conference with a .924 save percentage. The Gophers are first in the WCHA in team defense with a 1.91 goals against average. Erik Haula registered a goal and two assists in the series and is now tied for second in the league with 14 points.

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AMHERST, Mass. — Massachusetts shook off an 8-2 loss two nights earlier to rival UMass Lowell to earn a 3-1 victory over Vermont Tuesday night at the Mullins Center. Junior Branden Gracel scored twice for the Minutemen against a Vermont team that strove to limit scoring chances for its opponent.

UMass goaltender Kevin Boyle earned the start after the spending the entire 8-2 debacle watching from the bench. The sophomore made 24 saves and killed off four Vermont power plays along with his defense.

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Up

Chris Knowlton, Forward, Denver

Knowlton had a very respectable year in 2011-12 – he recorded 19 points in 30 games – but his stats to this point in 2012-13 are blowing those out of the water. Through 10 games, Knowlton has eight goals and 13 points, including seven points in his last three outings. His breakout is one reason why the Pioneers are the WCHA’s best team at this point in the season.

Adam Wilcox, Goaltender, Minnesota

After letting four pucks past him in a Saturday night loss in Mankato a few weeks ago, Wilcox has been lights out. In the four games since then, he’s allowed just five tallies and he’s making game-changing stops to help Minnesota pull out wins even when it hasn’t played its best hockey.

Danny Kristo, Forward, North Dakota

With North Dakota trailing UMD in Saturday night’s third period, Kristo did what Kristo does best and simply made plays. When the Danny Kristo show was over, UND had pulled out a come from behind overtime win to salvage a three-point weekend against the Bulldogs. For the series, Kristo had five points and was the best player on the ice for either team whenever he stepped on it.

Down

Josh Thorimbert, Goaltender, Colorado College

Thorimbert hasn’t seen a lot of rubber in the past four games (only 88 shots, or about 22 per night), but he’s let quite a few pucks behind him during that stretch (13 goals against, good for an .852 saves percentage). For a team that thought it had the problem of two good goalies, the Tigers have to be hoping for more out of the Thorimbert-Joe Howe duo in the near future.

John Ramage, Defenseman, Wisconsin

Wisconsin’s best defender has exactly zero points as his team reaches Thanksgiving, but that’s not the player he is asked to be and no one is expecting Ramage to be a point-per-night guy. Instead, he’s supposed to be the shutdown, in your face blue-liner that plays the hard minutes against the other team’s best forwards. So how well is Ramage doing his job lately? In the last three games, he’s been on the ice for five of the eight goals the Badgers have given up, including the game-winner on Saturday against Minnesota when he went for a big hit, missed and allowed the Gophers the time and space to capitalize in crunch time.

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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. Read the rest of this entry »

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This is going to sound really familiar, because it’s how this weekend recap has started the last two weeks, but can anyone beat Carsen Chubak and Niagara. In the last six games, Chubak has given up just two goals and leads the nation with an incredible .970 save percentage and 0.99 goals against. His five shutouts also lead the nation. It helps that the Purple Eagles are averaging just under four goals a game during that the stretch. The Purple Eagles are a perfect 7-0-0 in conference play and have a six point lead over third place Bentley and one point up on second place Holy Cross. Read the rest of this entry »

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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.  Read the rest of this entry »

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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. Read the rest of this entry »

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Minneapolis, MN – What appeared to be a high scoring game with two goals in the opening 4:15 turned into Wisconsin’s Landon Peterson having a remarkable night. The sophomore goaltender, starting for only the second time this season, made 41 saves Friday as the Badgers tied WCHA and Big Ten rival Minnesota 2-2 at Mariucci Arena.

The Gophers got on the board first after a rare Wisconsin defensive breakdown saw redshirt junior captain Zach Budish all alone in front of Peterson. Their lead was short-lived, though. 19 seconds later Badgers junior Michael Mersch scored the first of his two goals when he roofed a rebound past Minnesota goaltender Adam Wilcox to tie the game at one.

Wilcox, who made 22 saves, wasn’t as tested as his Wisconsin counterpart. He made a few good saves to keep his team tied yet also gave up a lot of rebounds that the Badgers took advantage.

The Gophers regained the lead 48 seconds into the second period following a Frankie Simonelli penalty for tripping Kyle Rau. Solid puck movement between Rau, Nick Bjugstad, Nate Schmidt and Zach Budish resulted in Erik Haula being open for his team-leading sixth goal of the season. However, it was the lone bright spot for a power play that went 1-5 – including two five minute majors – a week following Minnesota scoring 5 power play goals against Alaska-Anchorage.

While Peterson and the Badgers were out-shot 32-15 over the final 40 minutes, they weren’t outscored. Mersch scored his second goal 5:06 into the second when the Gophers were unable to clear the puck out of the zone and a pass by Jake McCabe found him wide open to Wilcox’s left. Minnesota had 8:35 of power play time on two separate 5 minute majors (to Joseph Labate and Tyler Barnes) and multiple opportunities but was unable to get past Peterson.

With the tie, Wisconsin moves to 1-2-2 in the WCHA (1-4-2 overall) while Minnesota is 3-2-2 in conference play (6-2-2 overall). Read the rest of this entry »

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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.

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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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