Each week, USCHO.com will pick the top 10 moments from the past weekend in our Monday 10 feature.
1. Eagles honor York with wild win
Perhaps it was fitting that on the night that Boston College honored coaching legend Jerry York, they beat their archrivals in one of the wildest ways possible.
BC and Boston University combined to score 15 goals in the highest-scoring Battle of Comm Ave since 1986. York, who retired from the Eagles bench at the end of last season, was honored by the school in an on-ice ceremony before the game.
During the game, he saw BC beat BU 9-6 thanks in part to two goals and two assists from Cutter Gauthier. Wilmer Skoog scored twice for the Terriers, who are 0-4-1 against the Eagles in their last four games.
Things got better for BU on Sunday, though. In a top-10 matchup, the Terries bested UConn 3-2, with Skoog netting the game-winner. The Terriers are up to third in the Hockey East standings at the break, tied with Providence, while Boston College currently sits in sixth place with 19.
2. Gophers keep on scoring
Minnesota’s high-octane offense shows no signs of letting up.
Against rivals Wisconsin this past weekend, the Gophers seemed to take pleasure in every single goal. On Friday, Minnesota scored a season-high amount of goals to beat Wisconsin 7-1. Freshman center Logan Cooley scored twice in the first period as the Gophers routed the Badgers despite Wisconsin putting a ton of shots on Justen Close, who ended up with 38 saves. In Saturday’s game, the Badgers scored the game’s first two goals before the Gophers scored six unanswered and won 6-4.
Minnesota, who is scoring a nation-high 4.30 goals per game, is 15-5 and 10-2 in the Big Ten; the Gophers will go into the holiday break atop the conference standings with 30 points.
3. Bobcats also rolling
Minnesota isn’t the only team who can’t seem to stop scoring.
Quinnipiac scored eight goals apiece in victories against RPI and Union this week; they have scored 22 goals in their past three games and have won 10 in a row to close out the first half of the season.
ECAC Hockey scoring leader Collin Graf added to his tally on the weekend, scoring twice and adding four assists for the Bobcats. Sam Lipkin also had a big weekend, scoring twice with five assists.
The Bobcats have yet to lose in ECAC Hockey play and currently lead Harvard in the standings by 11 points.
4. Rarified air for Merrimack
Merrimack’s special season keeps getting better.
The Warriors beat UMass 2-1 on Wednesday then closed out the first of their season on a high with a 3-2 comeback victory at Providence on Saturday night.
The Warriors are tied atop Hockey East with three games in hand on UConn and are up to No. 3 in the Pairwise.
Additionally, Merrimack’s 13-4-0 record is its best-ever start in the school’s Division I era.
5. Mavericks back on top
It had been a rough couple of weeks for the Minnesota State Mavericks. They’d recently split with Northern Michigan at home – a rare occurrence – and then took just one point against Michigan Tech on the road.
Then, two weekends ago, there was an even more rare occurrence. Ferris State swept the Mavericks in Mankato, the first time any team had done that since 2015. So coming into this past weekend, the Mavericks needed to get out of a funk to avoid sliding any further in the standings, and that’s exactly what they did.
Minnesota State beat Bowling Green 2-1 and 6-2 this past weekend, earning a road sweep and climbing back atop the CCHA standings.
MSU and BGSU are technically tied for first place, but the Mavericks have two games in-hand on the Falcons and can take the lead going into the holiday weekend with any number of points next week against Bemidji State.
6. Boudon reaches milestone as Lakers finally get a win
It’s been a rough season for Lake Superior State.
The Lakers have struggled this season and had won just a single game in regulation coming into the weekend series against Bemidji State. It has been especially rough since many predicted the Lakers, who made the NCAA tournament in 2021, to improve on their solid 18-18-1 season from a year ago.
Instead, they came into the weekend on an eight-game winless skid. And late into Friday night’s game against the Beavers, it looked as if that streak would continue. With the Beavers up 2-1, Logan Jenuwine took a penalty with 1:16 left. Chances of a Laker comeback looked bleak. But they pulled their goaltender, and Jacob Bengtsson scored an extra-attacker short-handed goal with 24 seconds left, sending it to overtime.
The Beavers were unable to do anything with the remaining power play in the extra period, and shortly after BSU’s man-advantage ended, LSSU’s Brandon Puricelli scored to give the Lakers their first official CCHA win and their second victory of the season.
Also important for LSSU: Senior forward Louis Boudon assisted on all three goals, helping him surpass 100 points for his career.
The Beavers won 4-1 on Saturday to earn the four-point weekend and keep themselves within striking distance of first place in the tight CCHA standings; they are in fourth place but just three points behind Minnesota State with two games in hand.
7. Splitsville in Michigan
Is it safe to say the Michigan/Michigan State rivalry is “back?” After this past weekend, it sure seemed like it.
Both schools came into their home-and-home series ranked for the first time since 2012, and both games this weekend had an edge. Ultimately, it was an even series split, with both teams winning 2-1 on home ice.
On Friday night, Cole Krygier and Tiernan Shoudy scored to lead Sparty in East Lansing. On Saturday, goals from Dylan Duke and TJ Hughes gave the Wolverines the victory in Ann Arbor. At the end of that game, the teams engaged in some extracurricular activities, with scrums breaking out and players from both sides being penalized.
8. Denver double in Duluth
Sometimes, the margin between a great team and a mediocre one is paper-thin.
This past weekend, that was on display as Denver swept Minnesota Duluth. The top-ranked Pioneers needed overtime both games but were able to edge the Bulldogs, who at 8-10-0 have struggled to get above .500 this season.
On Friday, DU rallied from a two-goal deficit to win 3-2. Tristan Broz scored the game winner 2:14 into overtime to complete the comeback. Massimo Rizzo and Carter Mazur also scored for Denver, who trailed 2-0 early.
On Saturday, the Pioneers to come back twice. UMD led 2-1 going into the third, but Mazur evened the score less than two minutes in. UMD’s Luke Mylymok briefly gave the Bulldogs the lead again, but McKade Webster tied it with less than five minutes to play. Aidan Thompson then won it in the extra frame for the Pioneers, who have won seven of their last eight.
As the NCHC breaks for the holidays, the Pioneers are atop the standings, leading St. Cloud State by three points. UMD is tied with Western Michigan in fifth place.
9. Four-point weekend for Yellowjackets
AIC is in danger of having its streak of four straight Atlantic Hockey titles snapped, but this past weekend, the Yellowjackets at least put themselves in position to make another title run in the second half of the season, taking four of six points against Niagara.
On Thursday night, AIC’s Jarrett Fiske earned his first career shutout in a scoreless tie with the Purple Eagles. He made 26 saves, but the Yellowjackets were unable to back him up with run support and they lost in the shootout.
Friday’s game helped the Yellowjackets make up for the lack of offense, as they won 4-1 behind a strong power play (AIC went 3 for 5) and a pair of goals from Nicholas Cardelli. Fiske was once again strong for AIC, making 28 saves.
AIC now moves to second place in the AHA, just three points behind first-place RIT (the Tigers do, however, have three games in-hand).
10. Miami upsets St. Cloud State
St. Clous State has been fairly consistent this season, and their sweep of North Dakota the previous weekend – the first since 2015 – was something for them to celebrate.
However, even the strongest teams find themselves tripping up sometimes, and that’s what happened against Miami.
After the Huskies won 7-3 on Friday, the Redhawks scored three times on a five-minute power play in the second period Saturday and won 5-0 to earn a split with the Huskies – their first win over a top-five team since 2018.
Axel Kumlin, Matthew Barbolini and John Waldron each had a goal and an assist for the RedHawks, while Ludvig Persson stopped 36 shots for his second shutout of the season.
