Hockey East once again delivered an excellent slate of games this past weekend filled with rivalries, upsets, and a rare Tuesday night showdown.
No. 4 Boston University wins season series versus Boston College
The Terriers avenged their 9-6 loss in the Battle of Commonwealth Avenue in early December with two convincing victories. Friday’s matchup took place at Agganis Arena, where BC’s Trevor Kuntar (Boston Bruins) opened the scoring on the power-play. BU proceeded to score the next six goals and fellow Bruins prospect Ty Gallagher led the way with two goals and two assists. Philadelphia prospect Cutter Gauthier and Paul Postma scored two late goals for the Eagles to make it 6-3 but that is all they could muster. BC goaltender Mitch Benson was replaced by Henry Wilder midway through the third period after allowing five goals on 31 shots.
The series shifted to Chestnut Hill on Saturday. After a scoreless first period, senior Wilmer Skoog and New Jersey prospect Case McCarthy put BU up 2-0. Boston prospect Andre Gasseau cashed in when the Eagles had a two-man advantage to bring them within one. Freshman Jeremy Wilmer put the game out of reach midway through the third for the win. Chicago prospect Drew Commesso came up big with 40 saves and was named Hockey East Goaltender of the Week. Emotions run high in rivalry games and that was evident this weekend as the two squads combined for 25 penalties in two games. Lane Hutson (Montreal Canadiens) continued his stretch of dominance as he compiled four assists and sported a plus six rating on the weekend. Hutson was named Hockey East Rookie of the Week. BU continues to climb up the rankings as they are now No. 3 and will travel north to Maine on Friday and then take on Northeastern in the first round of the Beanpot.
Maine upsets No. 17 Providence
The Friars had an awful weekend in Orono as they suffered two costly losses. On Friday, the two teams were tied at two going into the third period courtesy of juniors Didrik Henbrant and Lynden Breen for Maine. Providence got goals from senior Craig Needham and junior Nick Poisson. Graduate student Jakub Sirota broke the tie in the third period and his tally stood as the game winner. Goaltender Victor Ostman made 29 saves in the win. Statistically, Providence deserved to win the game as they put 52 shots on goal. New Jersey prospect Patrick Moynihan had a team-high nine shots on goal. Ostman stood tall all night as Maine shutout PC 3-0. Breen netted a power-play goal then setup Donavan Villeneuve-Houle for another power-play goal. Henbrant closed it out with an empty netter. The Swedish netminder put the Blackbears on his back this weekend as he made 81 saves on 83 shots and was to no surprise this week’s Hockey East Player of the Week. Maine will once again be on upset alert as they host No. 3 BU on Friday and then No. 15 Merrimack on Sunday. Providence slid out of the top 20 in the national polls, but they will get a chance to fix that as they will host UMass-Amherst Friday and then travel to Vermont on Sunday.
No. 18 UMass-Lowell shutouts UMass
The Minutemen continue to struggle against Hockey East opponents as they were shutout Friday night in Lowell. Freshman Dillan Bentley gave the Riverhawks the lead in the second. Gustavs Davis Grigals did the rest as he turned away all 28 shots for his second shutout of the season. Luke Pavicich put on a strong display in the other net as he only allowed one goal on 38 shots. UMass-Lowell moved up two slots in the national rankings at No. 16 and will host BC on Friday and then UNH on Sunday. UMass-Amherst will travel to Schneider Arena to take on Providence.
Vermont splits with No. 16 Merrimack
Merrimack scored three unanswered goals in the second period on Friday as they cruised to a 4-2 road victory. Goals were scored by Mick Messner, Alex Jefferies (NY Islanders) and Ben Brar who scored twice. From Vermont were Nashville prospect Isak Walther, who scored on the power-play, and junior Will Zapernick who had a short-handed goal in the loss. The Catamounts avoided the sweep on Saturday as they pulled out a 2-1 overtime victory. Walther once again cashed in on the power-play and Jeffries responded with a goal of his own, but it was Columbus prospect Robbie Stucker who sniped in overtime to give Vermont the win. Freshman Oskar Autio made 29 saves for his second victory of the season. No. 15 Merrimack will head up north to take on UNH Friday and then Maine on Sunday. Vermont will host Providence on Sunday.
Northeastern extends win streak to five games versus Boston College
Northeastern took care of business on Tuesday at Matthews Arena. Sophomore Matt Choupani opened the scoring when he hammered home a loose puck in front of the net. BC responded in the second period when graduate student Christian O’Neill evened the score at one. Ottawa prospect Jakov Novak put a sweet backhander by Boston College Mitch Benson which stood as the game winner. Buffalo’s top goaltender prospect Devin Levi continued his stretch of strong play as he made 29 saves. Northeastern has their trilogy with No. 14 UConn on Friday at home. Boston College will travel to No. 16 UMass-Lowell. Both teams will have the annual Beanpot tournament to look forward to on Monday. BC will take on No. 8 Harvard while Northeastern will take on No. 3 BU.
