The regular season is complete, and all of New England’s Division 1 men’s college hockey teams are firmly entrenched in playoff action.
Holy Cross upset American International in the best-of-three Atlantic Hockey quarterfinal round this past weekend, setting the table for a full week of postseason games ahead across all three conferences.
Hockey East tournament action begins with three first-round games on Wednesday and will continue on Friday, with the winners heading to TD Garden for the semifinals. The top local teams in ECAC Hockey will be in action for three-game quarterfinal series starting Friday.
With the regular season complete across all three conferences, here is New England Hockey Journal’s latest look at the top teams in the region in power ranking form:
1. Quinnipiac (28-3-3, 20-2-0 ECAC)
The best teams in the ECAC earned a bye to this weekend’s quarterfinal round, and the Bobcats were first among them after concluding the regular season on a 10-game win streak. The Cleary Cup regular-season crown was their third in a row and fourth in five years. Sophomore Collin Graf (Lincoln, Mass.) leads the team with 49 points, including two in the final game as Quinnipiac earned a pair of 4-1 wins at Union and Rensselaer. Sophomore Yaniv Perets boasts a .927 save percentage and has allowed just a single goal in each of his last four starts, a span that has followed back-to-back shutouts.
Previous ranking: 1
2. Harvard (21-6-2, 18-4-0 ECAC)
The Crimson take a seven-game unbeaten streak into the postseason. Sophomore defenseman Ian Moore (Concord, Mass.) finished on a high note, beating the second-period buzzer with the deciding goal in a 3-2 win at Clarkson on Feb. 25. Junior Alex Laferriere has 14 points in his last 10 games. Sophomore Matthew Coronato and junior Sean Farrell (Hopkinton, Mass.) capped the year with a team-best 19 goals and 47 points, respectively.
Previous ranking: 2
3. Boston University (24-10-0, 18-6-0 HEA)
Following this past weekend’s home-and-home sweep of Providence, the Terriers will be the No. 1 seed in Hockey East for the first time since 2015. Freshman brothers Lane and Quinn Hutson each scored twice as BU overcame a first-period deficit and won 6-4 Friday. The latter Hutson, who is tied with senior teammate Matt Brown for the Hockey East lead in points, became the first freshman defenseman to reach the 40-point plateau since Harvard’s Adam Fox in 2016-17.
Previous ranking: 3
4. Merrimack (21-12-1, 16-8-0 HEA)
The second-place Warriors clinched their highest-ever Hockey East finish with Saturday’s 4-1 win over Vermont and now find themselves one victory away from TD Garden for the first time since 2011. Junior Alex Jefferies (Lunenburg, Mass.) and senior Ben Brar each extended their team-leading goal total to 14, while sophomore Matt Copponi (Mansfield, Mass.) and graduate Ottoville Leppanen had two assists apiece. Jefferies finished as one of just three 40-point scorers in all of Hockey East. Junior Zachary Borgiel, who improved to 12-4-1, made 15 saves in the win.
Previous ranking: 5
5. Northeastern (17-12-5, 14-7-3 HEA)
The Huskies poured in a season-high seven goals Saturday against UMass Lowell, securing a split of their second consecutive series at the end of the regular season. Senior Matt DeMelis (Hingham, Mass.) netted a pair and sophomore Justin Hryckowian logged a goal and two assists to lead six different goal-scorers in the 7-3 home win. Senior captain Aidan McDonough (Milton, Mass.) also found the back of the net for the first time in five games and finished the regular season as the lone 20-goal scorer in Hockey East, one ahead of Maine’s Lynden Breen. It was another busy game for stellar junior goaltender Devon Levi, who made 40 saves, including 21 in the third period.
Previous ranking: 4
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6. Connecticut (20-11-3, 13-9-2 HEA)
UConn won two of its last three games to reach the 20-win mark again and earn the No. 4 seed in Hockey East. As a result, the Huskies will not play Wednesday but already have their quarterfinal opponent (No. 5 UMass Lowell) set for Saturday. Graduate Justin Pearson (Nashua, N.H.) led the Huskies with a hat trick and freshman Jake Black (Pomfret, Conn.) netted his first collegiate goal in Saturday’s 6-5 win over BC. Junior Ryan Tverberg has scored three goals during the season-ending stretch, reaching a team-best 15 this season.
Previous ranking: 6
7. UMass Lowell (17-14-3, 11-10-3 HEA)
The River Hawks enter the “second season” with just one win in four games, having taken the first of a home-and-home set against Northeastern at home Friday. Sophomore Gabe Blanchard was key in the 3-1 win, accounting for a goal and two assists to set a new career-high with three points. Senior Brian Chambers (Weymouth, Mass.) returned to the lineup for the first time in a month and logged three points including one goal in each game against the Huskies. Alaska grad transfer Gustavs Davis Grigals made 17 saves in the victory, but none was more impressive than a penalty-shot stop on Northeastern’s Matt Choupani that earned a spot on ESPN’s SportsCenter.
Previous ranking: 7
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8. Boston College (13-15-6, 8-11-5 HEA)
It has been the ultimate up-and-down month for BC, which swept UMass, got swept in Maine and split a home-and-home with UConn since beating rival BU in the Beanpot consolation. The Eagles’ win this past weekend was a 5-3 Friday decision in which they coasted ahead with a three-goal third period. Two defensemen — sophomore Aidan Hreschuk and freshman Charlie Leddy (Fairfield, Conn.) — scored the tying and winning goals, respectively, and both added an assist. BC dominated both the faceoff (43-19) and shot (45-31) departments. On Saturday night, a three-goal third was not enough as UConn scored twice in each frame and beat junior Henry Wilder (Needham, Mass.), who made 27 saves in his first start.
Previous ranking: 9
9. Massachusetts (13-16-5, 7-14-3 HEA)
The Minutemen saved some of their best hockey of the regular season for last, splitting with Northeastern and sweeping games at Maine to clinch the No. 9 seed in Hockey East. UMass has won three of its last four games. Sophomore Scott Morrow (Darien, Conn.) has 31 points, making him just the second defenseman in UMass history to record multiple 30-point seasons.
Previous ranking: NR
10. Providence (14-13-7, 9-9-6 HEA)
The Friars have plenty of tools to make a Hockey East run, but they will need more consistent results. The uneasy year finished with three straight losses including a sweep at the hands of BU after a three-game unbeaten streak. Providence had early momentum in Friday’s 6-4 loss in Boston as junior Brett Berard (East Greenwich, R.I.) had a goal and an assist that helped Providence take a 2-0 lead. Freshman goalie Philip Svedeback left the game with an injury and did not return. Omaha transfer Austin Roden took the net and got the Saturday start.
Previous ranking: 8
