Each week, USCHO.com will pick the top 10 moments from the past weekend in our Monday 10 feature.
1. Down goes No. 1 … yet again
In what’s becoming a weekly tradition, the top-ranked team in the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll lost yet again. This time, the victim was Minnesota Duluth, who was swept over the weekend by Northern Michigan.
After a back-and-forth Friday night that ended with a 5-4 Northern Michigan victory, the Wildcats were in control on Saturday, jumping out to a 3-0 lead en route to a 5-2 win.
Northern Michigan has won five in a row and is 8-1-1 over its last 10 games.
2. Quinnipiac extends unbeaten streak
A road sweep at Rensselaer and Union helped extended Quinnipiac’s unbeaten streak to 11 games.
Goalie Yaniv Perets posted a shutout in both games, extending his personal shutout streak to three games. He’s tied with Northeastern’s Devon Levi for the national lead in shutouts (six) and is first in GAA (0.86) and tied for second in save percentage (.946).
While Perets has been outstanding in goal, he’s also been helped by a Bobcats defense that has allowed less than 20 shots on goal in a game 11 times this season.
3. St. Cloud State rolls over North Dakota
Senior Easton Brodzinski’s first career hat trick helped the Huskies roll to a 8-1 win over the Fighting Hawks Friday. It was the largest margin of victory for St. Cloud over North Dakota since the Huskies joined Division 1. It was also the first time North Dakota had lost by seven goals a 7-0 loss to Minnesota Duluth on Feb. 28, 1998.
St. Cloud scored 18 seconds into the game to set the town, and the Huskies’ top-ranked power play in the nation finished the game three-for-six in the blowout victory.
The Fighting Hawks rebounded on Saturday with a 5-1 win over the Huskies. Five different players scored for North Dakota.
4. Levi, Northeastern sweep Friars
Levi’s strong weekend helped Northeastern to its first weekend sweep of Providence since 2009.
The sophomore stopped 71-of-72 shots on the weekend and recorded his sixth shutout of the season in a 2-0 win Friday. Levi leads Division I with a .955 save percentage and is tied for the national lead in shutouts with Perets. Northeastern’s Jack Hughes had two goals on Saturday to help the Huskies to a 4-1 win.
The Huskies enter the holiday break in first place in Hockey East and are 10-1-1 over their last 12 games.
5. Minnesota, Michigan split
In a matchup of Big Ten powerhouses, Minnesota and Michigan each won a game in convincing fashion.
On Friday, Golden Gophers’ freshman Chaz Lucius, the 18th overall pick by Winnipeg in the 2021 NHL draft, scored a pair of goals.
The Wolverines won 6-2 on Saturday, as Michael Pastujov recorded a natural hat trick in a span of 8:39 to help Michigan flip a 1-0 deficit into a 3-1 lead.
“Michigan responded, and we didn’t have a response,” Minnesota coach Bob Motzko said. “The game got behind us, and we chased it all night long.”
6. Bentley continues hot streak
Bentley is heading into the holiday break on a good note.
The Falcons swept Mercyhurst last weekend to push their winning streak to five games and finish the first half with a 10-7 record.
Goalie Evan DeBrouwer has been in net for all five of Bentley’s wins and has only allowed more than one goal once during that stretch. He finished last weekend with 67 saves. The Falcons are off until Jan. 5, when they travel to UMass Lowell.
7. Clarkson stages improbable rally
Things weren’t not looking good for Clarkson Saturday. The Golden Knights trailed Cornell 4-0 late in the third period before scoring four goals in a span of 5:17 to send the game to overtime. Clarkson won the shootout to take the extra point.
Clarkson captain Zach Tsekos scored the tying goal in the closing seconds off a rebound to send the game to overtime.
“It was a tough ending – something that’s never really happened to our program before. I am responsible for it,” said Cornell coach Mike Schafer. “I failed our team tonight by not having them better prepared for the six-on-five.”
Despite blowing a late lead, the tie extended Cornell’s unbeaten streak to eight games.
8. Mavericks keeps rolling
Minnesota State entered its weekend series against Michigan Tech having only allowed one goal over its last four games. The Mavericks didn’t quite match that pace against the Huskies, but still ended the weekend with a sweep.
On Friday, Nathan Smith’s goal with 31 seconds left in overtime gave the Mavericks a 2-1 win.
Smith helped Minnesota State finish the sweep on Saturday, posting two assists and an empty-net goal in a 3-1 Mavericks win.
9. Friendship Four returning
Lost in the commotion of the past weekend was the announcement Friday that the Friendship Four tournament is set to return for 2022 after a three-year absence due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Massachusetts, UMass Lowell, Quinnipiac, and Dartmouth will travel to Belfast, Northern Ireland on Thanksgiving weekend to compete for the Belpot Trophy. The River Hawks won the first-ever tournament in 2015, while conference mate Northeastern won it in 2019, the last time the tournament was held.
10. Brown posts impressive home sweep
Harvard’s high-powered offense has been one the main stories in the early going in ECAC Hockey, but Brown and freshman goalie Mathieu Caron shut out the Crimson 2-0 on Friday, despite getting outshot 34-19 and giving Harvard four power plays.
Caron and the Bears were at it again Saturday, as the freshman goalie made 26 saves in a 4-0 win over Dartmouth. The two wins doubled Brown’s season total entering the weekend.
“Sweeping at home is a good thing for a young team,” Brown coach Brandan Whittet said. “We learned a lot of things this weekend and a lot of it is positive.”
