The fourth weekend of Hockey East action finally gave us some interesting intraconference play. As has been the case, we also got to take in a handful of interconference games involving top-20 ranked opponents with Hockey East teams pulling out wins once again. 3^rd ranked Boston College’s back-to-back wins against 8^th ranked Michigan State were the most notable Hockey East contests of the weekend; however, every single game was meaningful for the conference, with only one Hockey East member failing to pick up a single win this weekend.

              Speaking of the Eagles’ sweep of Michigan State, with wins of 6 to 4 and 5 to 1, the Eagles saw exceptional, multi-point performances performances from Will Smith, Cutter Gauthier, Jack Malone, Ryan Leonard, and Oskar Jellvik. I would also be remiss if I failed to mention Jacob Fowler stopping over 40 shots in the 2^nd game of the series. I alluded to it in my pre-season primer for Boston College, and after the recent skid that Boston University has been on, it can not be overstated the impact that Fowler has had in elevating Boston College into the national championship picture this season so far. In addition, to Boston College, UNH was also able to pick up victories over 18^th ranked Northeastern and Dartmouth over the weekend. The most notable Wildcat player over the weekend was Jakob Hellsten, who in those two starts only surrendered a pair of goals total. Merrimack, in their only contest of the weekend (Also against 18^th ranked Northeastern) picked up a 4-1 victory that was powered by the efforts of Zachary Borgiel’s goaltending and Michael Citara’s goal scoring.

              Moving on to teams that were imperfect over the weekend, UMass Lowell played a home-and-home series against UConn which ended in the River Hawks picking up 4 standings points in the Hockey East, and the Huskies collecting 2. Both games were traditional, defensive grinds, with only 4 total goals scored between the programs in 120+ minutes of play. Providence and Vermont also played a two-game series, which resulted in a 4 to 1 victory for the Friars and a 2 to 2 tie (per Hockey East Standings Calculations). Tanner Adams continued his torrid scoring output with 2 assists in the 4 to 1 win on Friday, which should continue to lift Providence’s national profile. Boston University would put an end to UMass’ recent run of upsetting giants with a 5-2 win and a subsequent 3-3 tie. Macklin Celebrini continued his impressive Freshman season by recording 5 points across the two games, and further cemented himself as this year’s top prospect. Finally, Maine played an interconference series against 5^th ranked Quinnipiac, that saw them, in the same manner as Boston College and UNH before them, pull off a stunning overtime victory against the reigning national champions. Brandon Chabrier scored the winner on Friday night in a game where Victor Ostman stopped 17 of 18 shots on goal, a testament to a fantastic team effort. Unfortunately, they were defeated 4 to 1 on Saturday by Quinnipiac, but splitting a series with Quinnipiac will aid Maine in their pursuit of entering the top 20, as well as the Hockey East’s status when the pair wise rankings are used in the spring to determine the competition for this year’s national championship.

              Northeastern’s first weekend of Hockey East play did not go as expected. They played a great first forty minutes against the Wildcats before being exposed defensively in the third period, and they never really seemed like they were in the game against Merrimack on Saturday. Obviously, the season is still young for the Huskies, but these are crucial early season points in a stacked Hockey East. As we move to next week, there are two Hockey East series that I’ll be keeping an eye on: UNH against 7^th ranked Providence, as they are two of the hottest programs in the NCAA right now, and it should be a compelling matchup. The other Merrimack against Maine, as both programs play from the goal crease out, and whichever team comes out ahead will likely be positioned in the top half of the Hockey East.