Now Boston College fans, don’t try to crucify me here. But with a 7-0-1 record in its last eight games, Boston College has the nation’s longest unbeaten streak. How many people who are part of the BC faithful knew that? That leads the three things I learned this week.
1. Boston College: We’re going streaking
I’ll be honest. It doesn’t feel that long ago that Boston College lost its opener to Air Force in the Ice Breaker and then, a week later, fell at Wisconsin, last year’s cellar dweller in the Big Ten. But a night after the Wisconsin loss, the Eagles earned a split and since then have rattled off an eight-game unbeaten streak, currently the longest in the nation. And in doing so, BC’s schedule has hardly been conventional. A Tuesday night game at Merrimack will be matched this Tuesday night when BC plays New Hampshire. In a world dictated by weekend hockey, midweek games can often throw teams. For Boston College, though, it appears to have galvanized the club.
2. UMass Lowell stops that “other” red hot team
Vermont, as discussed at length last week, was playing some really good hockey heading into this weekend. But a team that has been looking to establish a bit of its own identity significantly slowed the Catamounts. UMass Lowell, coming off a split with Omaha and, at times this season, struggling to hold onto leads, successfully closed out wins against Vermont. On Friday, a 2-0 lead was cut in half in the third and Lowell responded 32 seconds later. On Saturday, the scenario was similar, though this time Vermont cut the lead earlier, prior to the end of the second. Lowell bounced with the first two goals of the third to put things away. That could be a good sign for that this Lowell team, which under coach Norm Bazin has had great success when leading after two, is returning to its identity as closers.
3. Northeastern’s injuries starting to show
No team loves injuries but for Northeastern, early-season struggles seem to be a direct result of being without some of the team’s top forwards. Brothers John and Nolan Stevens were both notably missing from this weekend’s lineup against Boston University. While the Huskies continually rallied at home to force a 4-4 tie with BU on Friday, there wasn’t much Northeastern could muster a night later, losing 3-0 on the road. While the Huskies certainly have some depth on the roster, missing two of your better finishers and playmakers can take its toll, particularly when facing the stiff league competition Northeastern has faced (Vermont, two against BU) in the last two weekends.
