Each week, USCHO.com will pick the top 10 moments from the past weekend in our Monday 10 feature.
1. Wolverines come from behind for first Big Ten title on Yost ice
Michigan trailed upstart Ohio State 3-2 late in the second period, but scored the game’s final five goals en route to its first-ever Big Ten championship win played on home ice. T.J. Hughes put an exclamation point on his four years at Michigan with a goal and three assists and was named tournament most outstanding player. The Wolverines are the only top-four team in the NCAA bracket to have won their conference postseason title.
2. Denver needs a second overtime to get past Minnesota Duluth
The Pioneers scored three times in the NCHC championship game’s first 13:02, but Minnesota Duluth responded with a tally to end the first period at 3-1. Two more Bulldogs goals in the second would be the last scoring of regulation. Denver freshman Kristian Epperson’s 11th goal of the season was the gamewinner at 1:54 of the second overtime period as he knocked in a pass from Clarke Caswell. DU goalie Johnny Hicks made 41 saves, including 14 in the first overtime, and was named tournament MOP.
3. Bentley comes from behind to win second straight Atlantic Hockey championship
Visiting Sacred Heart took a 2-1 lead into the third period at Bentley Arena, but two goals by Kellan Hjartarson were the difference as the Falcons won back-to-back Jack Riley Trophies as AHA champs. Bentley withstood more than two minutes of an extra-attacker assault by the Pioneers to hold on for the victory. The championship contest was the first for Sacred Heart since the 2009-2010 season. Bentley was one of only two regular-season champions in men’s D-I hockey to also win its tournament championship this year.
4. Minnesota State gets the autobid in its CCHA championship victory over St. Thomas
Minnesota State claimed its fourth Mason Cup championship in five years on Friday night with a 4-1 win over St. Thomas in what was a rematch of last season’s title game. Mavericks senior Alex Tracy stopped 29 of 30 shots in the win. Despite having 17 new players on the roster this season for head coach Luke Strand, Minnesota State was the only other team to win both its conference regular season and tournament. The loss was the final game as a member of the CCHA for St. Thomas, which joins the NCHC on July 1.
5. Merrimack ousts Massachusetts and Connecticut to win Hockey East title
The Warriors never trailed in Saturday’s Hockey East championship game, downing UConn, 2-1. Merrimack was backstopped by tournament MVP Max Lundgren, who made 49 saves in the win, including 22 in the third period. On Friday, eighth-seeded Merrimack downed UMass, 2-0, for Lundgren’s second career shutout. UConn had made it to the title game with a 4-3 overtime defeat of Boston College in the other Friday semifinal. Merrimack’s win bumped last-team-out Augustana from the NCAA tournament.
6. Dartmouth wins its first ECAC Hockey title in overtime
Already a lock for the NCAA tournament, Dartmouth won its first Whitelaw Cup as ECAC tournament champions in a 2-1 overtime win against Princeton. The Big Green took a 1-0 lead during a first-period power play on Hayden Stavroff’s nation-leading 29th goal of the season. Princeton knotted the game near the midpoint of the third period. In overtime, Tim Busconi ripped in a wrist shot to give Dartmouth the win. Dartmouth had advanced to the title tilt with a 4-0 defeat of Clarkson on Friday, while Princeton upset Cornell 3-2 thanks to a goal by Joshua Karnis, who scored with just under eight minutes to go.
7. Top overall seed Michigan is the regional No. 1 in Albany
The Wolverines will host AHA champion Bentley at 5:30 p.m. ET in the Albany Regional on Friday, March 27 at MVP Arena. That game can be seen on ESPNU. The other half of that bracket finds Minnesota Duluth taking on Penn State later that evening, with the 9 p.m. ET contest shown on ESPN2. Both are at-large entries into the tournament.
8. No. 4 overall Western Michigan is the top seed at the Loveland Regional
The defending national champion Broncos will face CCHA champion Minnesota State in the regional semifinal at Budweiser Events Center in Loveland, Colo. Gametime for that matchup is 2:30 p.m. ET on Friday, March 27. The region’s other game finds host institution and NCHA champion Denver facing Cornell at 6 p.m. ET on ESPN+.
The winners of the Albany and Loveland regionals with compete in the national semifinal at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on April 9, at a time to be announced later.
9. No. 2 North Dakota will head up the seeds in Sioux Falls
NCHC regular-season champion North Dakota will slot into the regional in Sioux Falls, S.D., where Fighting Hawks fans will no doubt make the 4.5 hour drive from Grand Forks to pack the Denny Sanford Premier Center for the regional semifinal against Hockey East champion Merrimack. That game is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2 on Thursday, March 26. Meanwhile, two eastern teams will meet in the early semifinal, Providence and Quinnipiac. Both won their conference regular seasons, only to be ousted in the quarterfinal rounds of Hockey East and ECAC Hockey, respectively. That contest is slated for 5 p.m. ET on ESPN+.
10. Third overall Michigan State is the No. 1 seed in Worcester
The Spartans, regular-season Big Ten champions, will face UConn at DCU Center in Worcester in a 1:30 p.m. contest on March 26 on ESPN2. The other half of the Worcester bracket finds ECAC champion Dartmouth taking on Big Ten at-large participant Wisconsin. That game is at 5 p.m. ET on ESPNU. This will be the first-ever meeting between the two programs. The Badgers are in their 28th NCAA tournament. The Big Green will be in their fifth and first in 46 years, with the other appearances coming in 1948, 1949, 1979, and 1980.
The Sioux Falls and Worcester regional champions play in Las Vegas on April 9 at a time to be determined.