Each week, USCHO.com will pick the top 10 moments from the past weekend in our Monday 10 feature.
1) No. 1 goes down
The rivalry between Boston College and Boston University has seen its fair share of great games, and last weekend was no exception.
The Terriers got several standout performances from their freshmen class. Goalie Vinny Duplessis made 40 saves in his collegiate debut, while classmate Luke Tuch scored two goals. Freshmen Dylan Peterson and Nick Zabaneh added assists as well.
“I didn’t know when my opportunity would come, but I had to get ready,” said Duplessis, who watched while classmate and Chicago draft pick Drew Commesso got the majority of playing time in goal for the Terriers. “For me, it was just battling in practice. My practices were my games. It was just staying sharp, staying ready. Before games I didn’t play, I tried to have the same routine and I think that paid dividends today.”
The loss snapped a seven-game unbeaten streak for the Eagles, and continued what has been a good year for the Terriers. BU has played the fewest games of any Hockey East team, but its .750 winning percentage in conference play is second only to Boston College.
2) Badgers blow by Gophers
Wisconsin sophomore Cole Caufield stayed hot last weekend and that was bad news for No. 2 Minnesota.
Caufield scored twice Friday and then added a goal and two assists Saturday as No. 11 Wisconsin went on the road and swept the Gophers by a combined score of 12-2. Wisconsin’s 8-1 win on Saturday was the most lopsided road win over Minnesota in the all-time series between the two schools and also pulled the Badgers to within two points of the first-place Gophers.
Caufield has scored a goal in seven straight games and leads the nation in goals (17) and points (33).
3) Quinnipiac moves into first place
Two weeks ago, first-place Quinnipiac traveled for second-place Clarkson for a three-game series and a chance to put some space between it and the Golden Knights in the ECAC Hockey league standings.
Instead, the Golden Knights had a regulation win and a shootout win to pull into a tie with the Bobcats.
But Quinnipiac rebounded by sweeping St. Lawrence last weekend, while Clarkson lost in regulation and won in a shootout against Colgate, giving the Bobcats a four-point lead over the Golden Knights with three weekends left in the regular season.
4) Wild finish for the Wildcats
New Hampshire appeared ready to settle for a split with UMass Lowell Saturday night. The River Hawks led 6-3 early in the third period before the Wildcats exploded for four unanswered goals en route to a 7-6 overtime win.
Angus Crookshank capped off a four-goal night with the game winner 17 seconds into overtime. New Hampshire combined for only seven shots on goal in the third period and overtime, but the Wildcats scored on four of them.
5) Bowling Green loses Cullen for three games
No. 8 Bowling Green will be without defenseman Will Cullen for the next three games after the junior was suspended by the WCHA following a five-minute major penalty and game disqualification late in the Falcons’ 5-1 loss to Minnesota State Saturday.
The disqualification includes an automatic one-game suspension. Upon review, the hit was delivered in a manner that warranted the additional two-game suspension.
Cullen’s suspension capped off a rough weekend for Bowling Green, as the Falcons only scored one goal in a sweep at Minnesota State. Cullen, the Falcons’ fourth-leading scorer, will miss this weekend’s series against Lake Superior State and the game against Northern Michigan on Feb. 20.
6) Colonials cruising
American International has been the top team in Atlantic Hockey for most of the season, but second-place Robert Morris is having a good year in its own right.
A host of COVID-19 related postponements wiped out a number of Atlantic Hockey games last weekend, but the Colonials hosted non-conference opponent Long Island for a pair of games. Robert Morris swept that series to move to 9-2 in its last eleven games and 14-5 overall.
The Colonials’ .737 winning percentage is seventh in the country.
7) Minnesota Duluth sweeps Miami
Minnesota Duluth continued its hot play with a weekend sweep of Miami. The two wins extended the Bulldogs’ winning streak to six games, the best in the country. The sweep also moved Minnesota Duluth past idle North Dakota and into first place in the NCHC.
The Bulldogs came out strong in Saturday’s win, throwing 28 shots on goal in the first period, which set a program record for the most shots in any period. Miami goalie Ludvig Persson finished with 55 saves on 57 shots, an NCHC record.
8) Bemidji State keeps on rolling
It was a rough start to the season for Bemidji State, as the Beavers went into the holiday break with a 1-3-1 record. But Bemidji State has been one of the hottest teams in the country since then. The Beavers pushed their unbeaten streak to six game over the weekend against Ferris State, and have just one regulation loss since New Year’s.
The teams tied on Friday, with Ferris State taking the extra point in the shootout. On Saturday, the Bulldogs led 2-0 early, but the Beavers scored seven straight goals to win by a comfortable margin. Owen Sillinger scored four goals for Bemidji State, the first time in more than 16 years a Beavers player has reached that mark in a game.
9) Falcons get on the board
It took some extra time, but Air Force finally has a win this season. Willie Reim’s goal 3:14 into overtime gave the Falcons a 4-3 win over Bentley Saturday.
“It’s been a tough go,” Falcons coach Frank Serratore said. “Getting our first win is more relief than joy. There is just no substitute for winning. Being ahead and then giving up the lead and falling behind 3-2 in the third, many young teams would have given up. Not our guys. They stuck together, battled and found a way to get it done.”
The Falcons were the last team in Division 1 to record a win, although Ferris State’s only win came against Division III Trine.
10) Minutemen on pause
Hockey East has been scheduling its games on a week-to-week basis, and now the conference will another change, as UMass paused all athletic activities following a rise of COVID-19 cases on campus.
The operational posture of the campus has been raised to “high risk,” Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy announced in a letter to the UMass community on Sunday. The designation went into effect Sunday at 2 p.m. and will be in place for at least 14 days. It will only be lifted when public health conditions improve.
The timing isn’t great for the Minutemen, who are on a four-game unbeaten streak and are 9-2-2 since the middle of December. UMass has a six-point lead for the top spot in Hockey East, although second-place Boston College has played four fewer games than the Minutemen.
