Opening day for most of the Hockey East got going yesterday, and seven out of eight squads picked up their first win of the season. Most notably, Boston College and Providence stunned a pair of pre-season top 4 opponents in Quinnipiac and Michigan (2^nd and 4^th respectively). On the downside, UMass Lowell dropped a 3-2 game in Overtime to the University of Alaska Anchorage.

              Looking at the Boston-based programs, Cutter Gauthier was a miracle man, scoring an overtime game winner at Quinnipiac, the defending national champions. Also, Freshman goaltender Jacob Fowler was exceptional, stopping 29 out of 30 shots. Boston University had a close call against the unranked Bentley University with a 3-2 Overtime win. Macklin Celebrini posted 2 assists in his debut, and Lane Hutson put the game away with the OT game winner. Mathieu Caron stopping 21 of 23 shots is mildly concerning (as alluded to in my Terriers primer) because it could be an indicator that this team will not be able to get away with scoring 2 or 3 goals a game and picking up wins, even against lesser competition. Northeastern dominated Stonehill College (As they should) with Alex Campbell, Vinny Borgesi, and Cam Lund each recording three points in a 7 to 0 beatdown.

              Moving to the Massachusetts based team, UMass Lowell and UMass Amherst had two very different days. On the positive note, the Minutemen knocked off American International 5 to 3. Michael Cameron picked up the game winning goal early in the 3^rd when the team went up 4 to 1, and they managed to hold off a late rally from American International when Ryan Ufko recorded his second point of the game with the empty-net dagger. UMass Lowell, as mentioned earlier, dropped their opener. Matt Crasa scored two goals, which was a great season debut for him, but Henry Welsch can’t have too many more outings where he posts an 0.850 save percentage, or this team will be finishing at the bottom of the conference.

              Outside of the Bay State, Vermont, Connecticut, and Providence all took care of business on opening day. Maata, Buyalsky, and Carriere did what they are expected to do for the Catamounts. Maata and Buyalsky both recorded 2 points, and Carriere stopped 15 out of 15 enroute to a 4-0 win against McGill College. UConn topped Colgate 4-2, with Samu Salminen picking up two goals, including the game winner, in an exceptional season opener. Providence, unlike their peers, took on the 4^th ranked Michigan Wolverines in Ann Arbor, and walked out with a regulation win. Philip Svedeback was great stopping 30 of 32 shots, and Duran, Poisson, and Schimek delivered as needed on offense (with Schimek picking up the GWG).

              UMass Lowell gets a chance at redemption later today (October 8^th), UConn has a chance to pick up a second win in their series with Colgate, and Providence has a high stakes (more so for their opponent) rematch with the Wolverines. A loss for the Riverhawks could be disastrous for their National Championship aspirations, and the same could potentially be said for the Wolverines. It’s fair to say that the Hockey East is off to an exciting start.