Hard to believe Quinnipiac has suffered their first 0-2 start since joining the ECAC in 2005 as they suffered losses to Cornell and Colgate.

To go 12 years to with at least earning a victory in your first two conference games is quite an accomplishment.

The Big Red and the Raiders have had success going into Hamden in recent years. Back in February of 2014 the two teams came away with wins. That was the last time the Bobcats were swept at home in conference play.

Obviously it’s not the way Quinnipiac wanted to start conference play, but it’s not the end of the world. They have shown with their play outside of the conference that they should be just fine as they get deeper into ECAC play.

This upcoming week they travel to Rensselaer and Union

Dominating goaltending in the conference continues

One of the reasons why Quinnipiac went winless this past weekend is they faced the hottest goaltender in the country in Colton Point on Saturday. Point only allowed one goal in a 4-1 victory over the Bobcats where had 33 saves.

Point had a shutout Friday as Colgate skated to a scoreless tie with Princeton on Friday night where he made 43 saves. On the year he’s 4-0-4 with a 1.08 goals against average and a .965 save percentage.

As a ’98 birth year he’s eligible for the World Junior Championships. It will be interesting to see if the North Bay, Ontario native will be invited to either Canada’s or the USA’s camp as it appears he has duel citizenship. He has appeared for Canada East at the 2015 World Junior “A” Challenge. The WJAC is a Hockey Canada event and not an IIHF event so he’s still eligible to suit up for either country.

This summer he took part in USA Hockey’s Warren Strelow’s goaltender camp where USA Hockey brings in some of the best Under-20 goaltenders in the country. With his start to the, he’s probably on both countries radar.

Clarkson’s Jake Kielly continues his dominance as he helped Clarkson to two wins with a 6-0 victory over RPI and a 3-2 win over Union. He’s 6-3-1 with a 1.50 goals against average and a .947 save percentage. He leads the nation in shutouts with three

Union’s Darion Hansen suffered his first collegiate loss against the Golden Knights but he seems to have gained control of the Dutchmen’s net. He’s 5-1 with a 1.84 goals against average and .920 save percentage. He earned a 3-1 victory on Friday against St. Lawrence.

Merrick Madsen (Harvard) and Matthew Galajda (Cornell) are off to strong starts to their seasons. Madsen along with Point each have two shutouts on the year.

Harvard fall to rival

The Crimson had a very slow start to the weekend as they dropped a 5-2 decision to the Yale Bulldogs on Friday

Upsets seemed to be the theme on Friday as No. 1 Denver fell also along with Quinnipiac and Penn State also losing teams lower in the USCHO Poll or unranked. The loss was also their first loss at the Bright Landry Hockey Center since a 2-1 loss to RPI on Feb. 12 2016. The Crimson were 18-0-3 before losing to Yale.

They came back Saturday night to earn a 3-0 against Brown.

Things don’t get any easier for the Crimson as they travel to face Colgate and Cornell this weekend with the game against the Big Red another rivalry game. The following weekend they travel to Minnesota for a pair and travel to Boston College for a Black Friday contest.

Colgate is playing really well and (Colton Point) has been outstanding so far,” Harvard coach6 Ted Donato told the media after the Brown win. They went to Quinnipiac I believe and won tonight. It’s a good test for us, they are tough at home. While the emotions of playing at Cornell is something to be excited about, our focus has to be on Colgate and let Saturday happen once we get through Friday night.”

Broncos sweep No. 1 Denver
I’m personally hesitant to talk about upsets in the first month or so of the season, but what Western Michigan did this weekend will certainly turn heads.

Denver will be knocked off its perch at the top of the national rankings early next week thanks to a pair of road losses to the Broncos. A Henrik Borgstrom hat trick Friday for DU ended up not being the main headline after Colt Conrad and Dawson DiPietro scored in the final two minutes to give WMU a 6-5 win. Western switched goaltenders in the second period but got 15 saves in relief from Austin Cain.

More third-period magic came from the Broncos in Saturday’s 7-4 victory. Three goals in 43 seconds from Conrad, Hugh McGing and Paul Washe erased an earlier 3-2 deficit before Wade Allison and Jade McMullen put the game away in the final seven minutes. Cain and Ben Blacker again split time in the Western nets, with Blacker putting together eight saves in part of the second period and all of the third.

Both teams face tough tests again next week. Western visits No. 8 Minnesota Duluth, while Denver hosts a St. Cloud State team that entered this weekend ranked second. Speaking of which…

Huskies sweep top-10 series
SCSU came away tops at home in the most anticipated NCHC series this weekend. Five different Huskies scored Friday in a 5-3 win over UMD. Two St. Cloud goals came on power plays, including Easton Brodzinski’s game-winner eight minutes into the third period.

The Huskies found smoother sailing Saturday, again getting goals from five different players in a 5-0 victory. Mikey Eyssimont had a goal and an assist, both in the first period, and David Hrenak made 29 saves in his first collegiate shutout.

SCSU is now 7-0 on the season, signifying the first time it’s done so since 2001-02. The Huskies started that season 9-0, a mark SCSU will try to match next weekend at Magness Arena.

UND gets win, tie at Wisconsin
No. 4 North Dakota received bad news from Friday’s morning skate ahead of a series opener at seventh-ranked Wisconsin, as starting goaltender Cam Johnson had picked up an undisclosed injury.

Freshman backup Peter Thome took the news in stride. He ended up making 36 saves that night, including 34 in a row, to help carry the Fighting Hawks to a 3-2 win over the Badgers. At the other end of the ice, a second-period goal from Austin Poganski tied the game before former Ohio State Buckeye Nick Jones scored the winner 11 minutes into the third.

Thome started again Saturday, making 22 saves in a 2-2 tie. He conceded Wisconsin’s first goal on a penalty shot late in the first period, but UND goals in the third from Collin Adams and Shane Gersich helped the Hawks end well a weekend that started shakily with Johnson’s injury.

UND plays at home next weekend against a Miami team that split a pair of one-goal games this weekend at home against Colorado College.