It was a crazy weekend for the region’s Division 1 men’s college hockey teams, as six of New England Hockey Journal’s previous top-10 teams are coming off of at least one loss.
There is a new look as the New England Hockey Journal power rankings return this week, with two top-of-the-nation clubs trading places and a new team entering the fold.
The latest results in Hockey East allowed a new leader to emerge in the standings, one that has been sparked with consecutive league wins as of late. With the month of January coming to a close, the NCAA tournament picture will soon start to take a firmer shape.
Here is New England Hockey Journal’s latest look at the top teams in the region:
1. Boston University (17-6-0, 11-4-0 HEA)
BU made it four straight wins to begin a five-game homestand as the Terriers swept Maine, 5-1 and 9-6, this past weekend. Senior Matt Brown became the first Terrier to score double-digit goals this season and finished the series with six points, including four in Saturday’s wild game. Brown’s 34 points lead Hockey East.
Senior Wilmer Skoog and freshman Jeremy Wilmer each had two goals and an assist in the 9-6 win over Maine. In the win, seven different players found the back of the net in a game for the second time this season. Both teams’ goaltenders were pulled in the midst of the back-and-forth affair, and Vinny Duplessis ended up earning his fifth win of the season. Stellar freshman defenseman Lane Hutson is on a seven-game point streak.
Previous ranking: 2
LAST RANKINGS: Check out how the last power rankings looked
2. Quinnipiac (18-3-3, 12-2-0 ECAC)
The top-ranked Bobcats will host this weekend’s four-team Connecticut tournament after seeing their eight-game winning and 17-game unbeaten streaks end during an empty ECAC set at Cornell and Colgate. Their first regulation loss since Oct. 20 at Maine came in 4-0 shutout fashion Friday at Cornell. Goals by sophomores Colin Graf (Lincoln, Mass.) and Christophe Fillion built up a 2-1 lead against Colgate, but the Raiders scored twice on Yaniv Perets in the third period to come back for the win.
On a recent scoring run is freshman Sam Lipkin, who has recorded points in seven of his last eight games. Perets had a rare off weekend in goal, allowing three goals in back-to-back games for only the second time in his career.
Previous ranking: 1
3. Harvard (13-5-1, 11-3-0 ECAC)
The Crimson went 1-1 on the weekend, edging past Yale, 3-2, in a Friday overtime contest, but falling to Brown by the same score the following night. Sophomore Matthew Coronato was the hero scoring with 19.4 seconds left in Friday’s overtime, making a winner out of Mitchell Gibson following a 23-save effort.
First-year forward Joe Miller led the team with 11 goals after scoring Friday, though junior Sean Farrell (Hopkinton, Mass.) jumped past him with his two-goal effort in Saturday’s loss. Farrell has seven points in his last four games and has surpassed his season total from a season ago with 29 points already in 2022-23.
Previous ranking: 3
4. Connecticut (15-7-3, 10-6-2 HEA)
After losing to Northeastern in Frozen Fenway and their opening game at Toscano Family Ice Forum in consecutive weeks, the Huskies bounced back for 4-3 and 3-1 wins to take five of six Hockey East points from border rival Massachusetts. Junior Hudson Schandor scored a Friday pair including the tying goal, and sophomore Chase Bradley won the game with 13 seconds remaining in overtime. Freshman Arsenii Sergeev made 14 of his 32 saves in the first period of the series opener, marking his first appearance since Fenway.
On Saturday, UConn posted a season-high 42 shots on net and won for the first time in its new home. Yale graduate transfer Justin Pearson (Nashua, N.H.) scored the go-ahead goal 2:46 into the third period before junior Ryan Tverberg added an insurance marker with his team-leading 11th of the season.
Previous ranking: 5
5. Northeastern (12-9-3, 10-4-2 HEA)
The Huskies have allowed just five goals over the last three weekends en route to sweeping ranked Hockey East foes UConn and Merrimack. Northeastern has now topped Merrimack in nine straight meetings after this past weekend’s 5-1 and 1-0 victories, the latter of which was won on senior Aidan McDonough’s (Milton, Mass.) league-best 17th goal of the season with 1:32 left. Sophomore Justin Hryckowian and junior Sam Colangelo (Stoneham, Mass.) each scored as part of two-point efforts on Friday.
Junior Devon Levi has made at least 30 saves in three straight games, including a 37-save shutout on Saturday to ensure the sweep and keep the Huskies atop the league standings.
Previous ranking: 10Â
6. Merrimack (15-9-1, 10-5-0 HEA)
The Warriors lost their hold on first place in Hockey East after being swept in a home-and-home series with Northeastern. Senior Filip Forsmark cut Merrimack’s Friday deficit to 2-1 in the second period, but it would get no closer before the end of the night, as the Warriors lost, 5-1.
A late goal by Northeastern's McDonough was the difference in Saturday’s 1-0 game, as the Warriors fell to 1-5-1 in its last seven despite junior Zachary Borgiel’s near-flawless effort in net with 23 saves.
Previous ranking: 4
7. UMass Lowell (14-9-1, 8-5-1 HEA)
Now with more games in hand in the Hockey East standings than only one other team, the River Hawks claimed five crucial points after downing New Hampshire in a weekend set. Freshman Owen Fowler (Tewksbury, Mass.) and senior Zack Kaiser each scored twice as Lowell earned a 6-2 home win and snapped the Wildcats’ three-game win streak Friday at Tsongas Center.
The next night, senior Jake Stella factored into all three goals -- assisting on two before scoring the overtime winner with just 51 seconds left -- in the 3-2 win. Junior Henry Welsch was busy in his first start of 2023, stopping 32 shots including 15 in the first period alone. Alaska senior transfer Gustavs Davis Grigals had played the previous four games.
Previous ranking: 8
8. Providence (12-7-6, 7-3-5 HEA)
The Friars, who are 1-3-1 in five games since the calendar flipped to 2023, had this past weekend off after splitting a series at Merrimack and dropping a 3-2 overtime decision Tuesday at Princeton.
Freshman Liam Valente opened the scoring just 2:26 in at Princeton, while sophomore Riley Duran (Woburn, Mass.) netted the second Providence goal in his first game back following a four-game absence.
Previous ranking: 7
9. Boston College (9-7-5, 5-4-4 HEA)
Returning home for the first time in 2023, the Eagles managed just a single Hockey East point against a Vermont team that is second-to-last in the league standings.
In Friday’s 1-1 tie, freshman Cutter Gauthier scored the lone goal — his team-leading 12th of the season — before tallying in the shootout, while senior Mitch Benson made 21 saves. Gauthier has produced points in three of his four games since returning from World Juniors. BC dropped a 3-2 Saturday decision despite goals by juniors Nikita Nesterenko and Colby Ambrosio. A week prior, the Eagles spoiled the opening of Sacred Heart’s Martire Family Arena on captain Marshall Warren’s overtime goal.
Previous ranking: 6
10. Sacred Heart (12-9-2, 11-4-2 AHA)
With UMass in the midst of a five-game losing streak since early January, Sacred Heart takes the final spot following a five-point weekend against Atlantic Hockey rival Holy Cross. The Pioneers remained undefeated in league play (5-0-1) since Nov. 25 after earning a 4-1 Saturday night win in which sophomore Daniel Ebrahim scored the deciding goal for the second straight game and senior Kevin Lombardi netted a pair.
ELSEWHERE: How goalie Mathieu Caron is putting Brown on the college hockey map
In Friday's game, Ebrahim scored the shootout winner after a 2-2 tie, with Northeastern graduate transfer defenseman Julian Kislin sending the game to overtime thanks to a third-period goal.
Senior Luke Lush was strong throughout the series, making 48 saves on 51 shots between the two games to run his save percentage to .912 for the season.
Previous ranking: NRÂ
