Last weekend some of the top twelve teams went out and dispatched their opponents, but others had some difficulties in closing the season out.  This couldn’t be more true than in the case of Minnesota-Duluth and their two game weekend with the Huskies from St. Cloud State.  Friday night was really St. Cloud’s as they scored once in the first and once in the second, and held UMD scoreless in the two frames.  St. Cloud was pretty efficient, getting two goals on fourteen shots, as opposed to UMD going 0-22 in the first two periods.  St. Cloud picked up its second goal on a power play opportunity.  In the third, UMD scored at the midpoint, again outshooting St. Cloud 14-10, but that was it for the night, as the Huskies prevailed by the final 2-1 score.  St. Cloud scored a power play goal on only three opportunities; the normally efficient UMD special team could not convert given five tries.  Saturday night’s game was a humdinger, doncha know, as the Huskies blasted two goals in the first nine minutes of the first period.  UMD came back midway through the first and scored, to send it to the second, 2-1.  The second was a mirror image of the first, with UMD scoring two goals in the first four minutes, but St. Cloud came back with a couple of minutes remaining in the period and tied it at 3-3.  In the third, and in OT, the Huskies held on to the 3-3 tie; and the Huskies again prevailed in the power play efficiency department, scoring two on five chances, as opposed to UMD scoring one on five tries.  UMD also outshot St. Cloud in the third and in OT, but could not get over the hump.  UMD dropped one peg to the #3 ranking on the weekend.  Boston College did what the #1 team should do against a team such as Vermont, easily sweeping them, and hanging on at #1; Ferris State was idle, and moved up a notch to the #2 ranking; and Michigan, also idle, moved up two notches to the #4 ranking.

Michigan moved up because both Minnesota and Boston University had trouble over the weekend — UMD was not alone.  Minnesota faced Wisconsin, and went down hard Friday night as Wisconsin scored one in the first and three in the second to blank the Gophers 4-0 going into the third.  Minnesota scored one with a minute left in the game to avoid the shutout, as Wisconsin prevailed, 4-1.  Saturday night the first period was scoreless, and in the second, Wisconsin scored to send it into the third, 1-0.  But in the third, Minnesota scored two goals in the first eight minutes to go up 2-1, and held Wisconsin off to win it, 2-1.  Minnesota dropped a rung to the #5 ranking on the weekend.  Friday night Boston University fell behind Northeastern 1-0 in the first, but scored four unanswered goals in the second to send it to the third, 4-1.  Northeastern scored seven minutes into the period to make it 4-2, and with four minutes to go, BU found an empty net to make it 5-2 for the night.  Saturday night these two teams traded goals for a 1-1 first period, and in the second, BU scored immediately to go up 2-1, only to see Northeastern come back with two goals in three minutes, to take the lead, 3-2.  BU came back and tied it two minutes later, but Northeastern scored with two minutes remaining in the second, to send it to the third, 4-3.  In the third, BU scored three minutes in to tie it 4-4, and the game ended in regulation a 4-4 tie.  Midway through OT, former BU player Vinny Saporani (dismissed last year for disciplinary reasons), scored to give Northeastern the 5-4 win.  BU dropped two slots to the #6 ranking on the split.

UMass-Lowell drilled Providence Friday night 5-1, only to see them come back for an impressive win of thier own.  UMass-Lowell held at #7 on the split.  Union College was idle and held at #8, while Denver grabbed two wins from Nebraska-Omaha to hold at #10 — Friday night’s game was all Denver, 3-0.  I watched most of this game, and Denver was really in control throughout, scoring two goals in the first thirteen minutes of the first, and just not allowing UNO to get any traction at any point.  But Saturday night’s game was a spirited 3-2 fight by UNO, as the teams traded goals in the second to end it at 1-1.  In the third, UNO scored at the midpoint, and held Denver in check, until Denver added an extra attacker, and with only thirty-eight seconds remaining, tied it up at 2-2.  In overtime, Denver scored at the midpoint of the period to win it, 3-2; Denver held on to the #9 ranking.  Maine scored the lone goal in the second period in its only game of the weekend, against New Hampshire, to win 1-0, and to hold on to the #10 ranking.  Miami of Ohio was idle, and held on to the #11 ranking, and North Dakota swept Mankato to move up two slots to the #12 ranking to close out the regular season.

This weekend is a full slate of conference tournament games, with all matchups a best two-out-of-three series.  In the CCHA, #2 Ferris State faces Bowling Green; #4 Michigan faces #17 Notre Dame (who just swept Ohio State to knock the Buckeyes out of the CCHA tournament — hard to believe these two teams were #2 and #3 only six weeks ago); #11 Miami of Ohio takes on #15 Michigan State; and #16 Western Michigan faces #20 Lake Superior State.  In the ECAC, #8 Union plays Rensselaer; #13 Cornell plays Dartmouth; #22 Harvard faces Yale; and #24 Colgate takes on #23 Quinnipiac.

In Hockey East, #1 Boston College plays UMass-Amherst; #6 Boston University faces New Hampshire; #7 UMass-Lowell faces Providence, for the second weekend in a row; and #10 Maine plays #14 Merrimack.  In the WCHA, #3 Minnesota-Duluth plays Mankato; #5 Minnesota plays Alaska-Anchorage; #9 Denver faces Wisconsin; #12 North Dakota faces Bemidji State; #19 Colorado College takes on Michigan Tech; and #26 St. Cloud State faces #27 Nebraska-Omaha.

This provides the top twelve teams, records, rankings, and this weekend’s opponent:

[table id=42 / ]

That’s all for now.  Stay tuned, and go Terriers!