Each week, USCHO.com will pick the top 10 moments from the past weekend in our Monday 10 feature.
1. BC, BU to meet in Beanpot final
We most often focus in this space on what happened last weekend. But this time, it’s hard to avoid what happened earlier last week, as well as what’s going on tonight.
Top-ranked Boston College and No. 8 Boston University will meet at 7:30 p.m. Eastern in the championship game of the 72nd Men’s Beanpot title game. BC got there by hammering defending champion Northeastern 8-2 in last Monday’s semifinals, on the same night that BU handed Harvard a 7-1 drubbing. More recently, BU dropped a 2-1 overtime decision Friday at Merrimack, while BC won 4-2 on the road against New Hampshire.
Tonight will mark the first time that BC and BU have met in the Beanpot final since 2016.
2. Maine, Providence clash in top-10 series
Fifth-ranked Maine visited No. 7 Providence last weekend for a series that ended up looking better from the visitors’ perspective.
Maine picked up a shootout win Friday after the teams skated to a 3-3 tie through 65 minutes. Two game-tying Taylor Makar goals in the third period, including one with the Black Bears skating shorthanded, helped force extras. So, too, did Albin Boija’s 29 saves.
Makar then scored the only goal, 2:15 into overtime, in Maine’s 1-0 win Saturday. Makar now has five game-winning goals this season and is on a five-game goal streak.
3. Denver, Arizona State split in desert
Sixth-ranked Denver and No. 12 Arizona State split their weekend series in Tempe, Ariz., with both games going to overtime.
Aidan Thompson’s second goal of Friday’s game came in the last minute of overtime, helping Denver outlast ASU 5-4. It was the 11th consecutive game where the Pioneers had gone without a loss when they went past regulation (8-0-3). Denver’s senior class also won its 113th career game Friday, setting a new school record in their program’s 75th season.
Arizona State’s Bennett Schimek then scored twice himself Saturday, including the winner as the Sun Devils won 6-5. Lukas Sillinger added another two goals on a night when ASU won its four-game season series with the defending national champions.
4. Michigan, Michigan State share spoils
Second-ranked Michigan State and No. 13 Michigan split a two-game series last weekend, with Michigan nabbing a 2-1 road win Friday before the Spartans responded with a 6-1 trouncing Saturday at Detroit’s Little Caesars Arena.
Garrett Schifsky scored in the last minute of Michigan’s victory in East Lansing, and it was actually the second time this season that Schifsky had scored a game-winner this season against MSU. It was also the first time that Michigan had pulled ahead in the final minute of regulation in a game since October 2017.
But the Spartans got their revenge, retaining the Duel in the D trophy with a blowout win Saturday at the home of the Detroit Red Wings. Joey Larson’s goal and two assists saw him lead five MSU players with multi-point nights, as the Spartans ensured that they and U-M would split their four-game regular season series.
5. Minnesota State takes pair over Augustana
In a high-profile CCHA series last weekend, No. 15 Minnesota State took a pair of home games over No. 17 Augustana.
Adam Eisele’s game-winner Friday helped MSU reclaim first place in the CCHA standings. Mavericks goaltender Alex Tracy made 25 saves in the winning effort, on a night when MSU went 4 on 4 on penalty kills. Mason Wheeler, Campbell Cichosz and Will Hillman blocked three shots apiece.
Notre Dame transfer Fin Williams scored his first MSU goal Saturday, and Tracy made 28 saves in a 2-1 victory. Rhett Pitlick, an MSU senior and former Minnesota player, also scored to help the Mavericks solidify their spot atop the conference standings with four games left.
6. Ohio State takes two on road
Ninth-ranked Ohio State rolled in Big Ten action last weekend, handing Notre Dame a pair of 5-1 defeats.
Two Ryan Gordon goals helped the Buckeyes to their victory Friday night, when Ohio State equipment manager Tim Adams worked his 1,000th career game. Adams is in his 28th season with the men’s hockey program at his alma mater.
Back on the ice, Davis Burnside’s goal and two assists Saturday again helped OSU win a game in which the Buckeyes gave up the first goal. Burnside finished the weekend with two goals and five points, while Logan Terness made 68 saves on the weekend for the visitors. Forty-one of them came in the series finale.
7. Quinnipiac splits two weekend games
No. 14 Quinnipiac, currently ECAC Hockey’s only top-20 team, split a pair of home games last weekend, beating St. Lawrence 5-1 on Friday before dropping a 3-2 overtime decision Saturday against Clarkson.
Mason Marcellus’s career-best four-point night with two goals helped Quinnipiac to its third win in a row, and he was one of five QU players to put the puck into St. Lawrence’s net. Eleven different Bobcats found their way onto the scoresheet, on a night when QU moved to 10-0 this season when scoring first.
They did not score first against Clarkson, but first-period goals from Chris Pelosi and Victor Czerneckianair had QU ahead before Clarkson’s Ellis Rickwood tied the game midway through the second. Tristan Sarsland bagged the Golden Knights’ winner 2:20 into overtime.
8. Omaha takes two more at home
Unranked Omaha refuses to be counted out of the NCAA tournament hunt. The Mavericks’ home sweep last weekend over Minnesota Duluth gave UNO its fifth and sixth wins in the Mavs’ last eight games.
Fresh off an 11-2 humbling Feb. 1 at Denver, UNO won 4-1 Friday over UMD on the back of 39 saves from reigning NCHC goaltender of the month Simon Latkoczy. Zach Urdahl scored twice in the game, giving him his team-best fourth multi-goal outing of the season.
Brady Risk also scored in that game, then bagged another two in the Mavericks’ 5-2 victory. UNO was outshot 52-29, but that didn’t stop the Mavs from picking up their seventh consecutive home win. Three of their goals Saturday came on power plays.
9. Western Michigan keeps on rolling
Fresh off a road split with No. 20 Colorado College, fourth-ranked Western Michigan cruised to a pair of home wins last weekend, beating St. Cloud State 4-0 on Friday and 6-1 the following night.
Trisan Lemyre’s hat trick on four shots Friday propelled the Broncos, as did Cameron Rowe’s 24 saves in the graduate student’s eighth career shutout.
Six different Broncos scored in their blowout win Saturday. Hampton Slukynsky, who has helped make for a formidable goaltending duo with Rowe, made 25 saves in the freshman’s sixth win of the season.
10. Sacred Heart, Holy Cross tied on points atop AHA
Sacred Heart and Holy Cross finished the weekend tied at the top of Atlantic Hockey, with 47 points apiece.
Holy Cross, which has two games in hand on the Pioneers, did itself a big favor last weekend by taking two games at RIT. Twelve different Crusaders recorded points Friday in Holy Cross’s 9-2 win, before Thomas Gale made 26 saves in a 3-0 shutout Saturday.
Meanwhile, Sacred Heart skated to a 2-2 tie Friday at Army, with the Black Knights taking an overtime shootout. Army then won 5-3 on Saturday, scoring three power-play goals. Two of them came on the same five-minute major, after Sacred Heart’s Gabe Blanchard received a game misconduct for direct contact to the head.
