The Hockey East returned with some intraconference play on Friday night following the conclusion of the World Junior Championship. 1^st ranked Boston College carried their stars’ momentum from the WJC in an absolute walloping of 9^th ranked Providence College by a score of 7-1. Gauthier, Smith, and Perrault stayed hot for the Eagles by recording 2 points apiece in the contest, and Fowler maintained his play from WJC by stopping 31 of 32 in the victory.

               7^th ranked Maine took care of business in a 5-3 victory over UConn with big performances from Brandon Holt, Lynden Breen, and Josh Nadeau. UConn fell to 8-10-2 in the loss, but on a positive note for them, Nashville prospect Matthew Wood recorded 2 assists in the defeat, indicating that his offense is getting going in the new year. 13^th ranked UMass defeated Merrimack College in a tight one 4-3. Aydar Suniev went off for 3-assists in the victory, including the primary assist on Ryan Ufko’s game-winning goal. Once again, the Nashville Predators must be feeling good about their future with Ufko and Wood’s play to open the year.

               The 4^th contest of the day in the Hockey East was a matchup between Vermont and Northeastern that ended in a 5-4 victory for the Catamounts. Massimo Lombardi and Ryan Miotto had 2 goals each for Vermont. Cam Lund was phenomenal for Northeastern again in the loss scoring 2 goals, while Vinny Borgesi contributed 3 assists in the comeback bid. This win pulled Vermont to 10-8-1 on the season, which must feel great in the room for a team who was projected to be dwelling at the bottom of the conference in preseason polls.

               Looking ahead to Saturday night’s contests, Providence needs to play much tighter against the Eagles to save face in the national standings. The other three victors from last night will look to duplicate their results and continue to ascend the pairwise rankings. Finally, 2^nd ranked Boston University will rematch the 16^th ranked UNH Wildcats who stunned them at the start of the year. Look for this to be a game that will the set the pace for the rest of the season in the Hockey East.