ECH Weekend Review: January 27-29
By Alex Berger - Jan 31, 2023There might be a curse on the #1 ranking this season. Since the second half of the season, the USCHO #1 seed has lost a combined five of their seven games played. This includes this weekend, when Everything College Hockey's top-ranked St. Cloud State was swept on the road by Minnesota-Duluth.
Some other major headlines this weekend included a few big sweeps in Big Ten play, Quinnipiac returning to form with a regular-season tournament win, and Boston University getting hot at just the right time.
This is, to me, one of the most underrated parts of the college hockey season, as every game played is important. Whether it has Pairwise or conference implications, it all matters as we inch closer to the NCAA tournament.
Minnesota-Duluth Sweeps St. Cloud, #1 Curse Continues
Photo by UMD Athletics
Here come the Bulldogs. After a disappointing start to the season, Minnesota-Duluth has now won three straight, including a weekend sweep over #1 St. Cloud State. Minnesota-Duluth won 5-3 on Friday night and 6-3 on Saturday.
On Friday night Carter Loney opened the scoring for the Bulldogs with his first goal of the season, but St. Cloud responded with two goals in the second period to take the lead. That lasted only a few minutes though, as the Bulldogs scored four straight power-play goals to take a 5-2 lead. St. Cloud would add one more goal but Minnesota-Duluth would hold on for the win.
The Bulldogs kept the momentum heading into Saturday night, as they scored three goals in the first period. Jami Krannila would score twice on the power play for St. Cloud to get the game back within a goal, but the two teams would trade goals back and forth until Duluth eventually pulled away with an empty netter to ice the game at 6-3.
Freshman forward Ben Steeves scored four goals on the weekend, including a natural hat trick on Friday night, and now has 16 goals on the season (twice as many goals as any other Minnesota-Duluth player).
A big key to Minnesota-Duluth's success was special teams. The Bulldogs went 6-for-11 (54%) on the power play over the weekend and scored a shorthanded goal on Saturday night.
Michigan, Minnesota Earn Huge Big-Ten Sweeps
Photo by Jonathan Knight
Michigan is finding their stride in the second half of the season. The Wolverines have won four of their last five and have inched their way up the Big Ten standings. Michigan swept Penn State at home this weekend with 7-3 and 5-4 wins. Saturday night's win was very impressive, as they came back from a 3-0 deficit. Sophomore defenseman Luke Hughes scored four goals in the comeback win and had seven points on the weekend (five goals and two assists).
Although they are tied for fifth place in the Big Ten, Michigan is just three points behind Ohio State for second. Five teams (Ohio State, Penn State, Notre Dame, Michigan, and Michigan State) all sit within that three-point gap.
At Mariucci, Minnesota swept Michigan State with 8-0 and 6-3 wins. The Gophers' top line of Logan Cooley, Matthew Knies, and Jimmy Snuggerud combined for six goals and eight assists (14 points) on the weekend. The #1 team in the Pairwise is now the #1 ranked team in the country this week.
Minnesota now has a 16-point lead over second-place Ohio State/Penn State in the Big Ten standings. The Buckeyes have two games in hand, so the Gophers' "magic number" to win a regular-season championship is just nine points.
Quinnipiac Wins Connecticut Ice Tournament
Photo by Quinnipiac Athletics
After losing twice last weekend, the Quinnipiac Bobcats needed a big weekend to get back on track. They did just that en route to winning their second-straight Connecticut Ice Tournament championship against fellow CT-based schools Connecticut, Sacred Heart, and Yale.
In the semifinals, the Bobcats rode two goals from sophomore forward Collin Graf to beat Sacred Heart 5-0. Connecticut went 3-for-4 on the power play and beat Yale 6-1.
Sacred Heart beat Yale 4-3 in the consolation game.
In the championship, Quinnipiac led after the first period 2-1 and held the lead 'til the last 90 seconds of the second, but Connecticut scored twice in that frame to take a 3-2 lead heading into the final period. However, the Bobcats would prevail after two goals in the third period, winning 4-3. Quinnipiac forward Ethan de Jong scored twice and added an assist in the championship.
Boston University Sweeps Rival Boston College
Now up to #3 in the Pairwise and #2 this week in ECH rankings, the Boston University Terriers have won 11 of their last 13 games and have averaged over five goals/game in their last six. This weekend BU swept rival BC in a home-and-home series.
On Friday night, the Terriers hosted the Eagles and won 6-3. Boston College opened the scoring just over halfway through the first period, but BU responded with six straight goals, including two from sophomore defenseman Ty Gallagher.
Boston College hosted on Saturday night but couldn't get anything going until it was too late. Boston University took a 2-0 lead with a pair of goals in the second period. BC made it a one-goal game heading into the third period after scoring on a 5-on-3 PP towards the end of the second. However, BU once again made it a two-goal game with a Jeremy Wilmer goal halfway through the final frame.
Minnesota-State Continues Winning Streak With Road Sweep
Minnesota-State Mankato entered the second half of the season just a game over .500. Since being swept by Bemidji State at home last December, the Mavericks have won eight straight games and have outscored opponents 33-11 during that stretch.
This weekend, Minnesota-State swept Ferris State on the road with 4-1 and 5-1 wins. In both games, the Mavericks opened the scoring, gave up a goal just a few minutes later, and then scored three/four unanswered goals throughout the rest of the game. They were a perfect 7-for-7 on the penalty kill.
David Silye scored twice on Friday and once on Saturday to raise his season goal total to 20 (2nd in the NCAA). Jake Livingstone scored the game-winning goal and added an assist in Saturday night's 5-1 win.
The Mavericks are first in the CCHA with 41 points. They host second-place Michigan Tech (38 points) to end the regular season.
NCHC Standings
1. Denver: Beat Colorado College 2-0 at Ball Arena (32 Points)
2. Omaha: Split with Western Michigan on the road with 6-1 loss, 2-0 win. (30 Points)
3. St. Cloud State: Swept by Minnesota-Duluth on the road with 5-3, 6-3 losses. (29 Points)
4. Western Michigan: Split with Omaha at home with 6-1 win, 2-0 loss. (28 Points)
5. Minnesota-Duluth: Swept St. Cloud at home with 5-3, 6-3 wins. (22 Points)
6. North Dakota: Swept Miami on the road with 4-1, 8-0 wins. (21 Points)
7. Colorado College: Lost to Denver 2-0 at Ball Arena (20 Points)
8. Miami: Swept by North Dakota at home with 4-1, 8-0 losses. (7 Points)
Big Ten Standings
1. Minnesota: Swept Michigan State at home with 8-0, 6-3 wins. (43 Points)
T-2. Ohio State: No games scheduled. (27 Points)
T-2. Penn State: Swept by Michigan on the road with 7-3, 5-4 losses. (27 Points)
4. Notre Dame: Swept Wisconsin at home with 5-3, 3-1 wins. (26 Points)
T-5. Michigan: Swept Penn State at home with 7-3, 5-4 wins. (24 Points)
T-5. Michigan State: Swept by Minnesota on the road with 8-0, 6-3 losses. (24 Points)
7. Wisconsin: Swept by Notre Dame on the road with 5-3, 3-1 losses. (9 Points)
CCHA Standings
1. Minnesota State: Swept Ferris State on the road with 4-1, 5-1 wins. (41 Points)
2. Michigan Tech: Swept Northern Michigan with 3-0 home win, 4-1 road win. (38 Points)
3. Bowling Green: Lost exhibition to U.S. Under-18 Team 6-3 (37 Points)
4. Bemidji State: Split with Lake Superior on the road with 3-2 win, 3-2 loss. (31 Points)
5. Ferris State: Swept by Minnesota State at home with 4-1, 5-1 losses. (25 Points)
T-6. Northern Michigan: Swept by Michigan Tech with 3-0 road loss, 4-1 home loss. (21 Points)
T-6. St. Thomas: Swept by Arizona State on the road with 4-0, 4-3 OT losses. (21 Points)
8. Lake Superior: Split with Bemidji State at home with 3-2 loss, 3-2 win. (14 Points)
Hockey East Standings
1. Boston University: Swept Boston College with 6-3 home win, 3-1 road win. (38 Points)
T-2. Merrimack: Split with Vermont on the road with 4-2 win, 2-1 OT loss. (34 Points)
T-2. Northeastern: No games scheduled. (34 Points)
4. Connecticut: Beat Yale 6-1, lost to Quinnipiac 4-3 at Connecticut Ice Tournament. (32 Points)
5. UMass-Lowell: Beat Massachusetts 1-0 at home. (28 Points)
6. Providence: Swept by Maine on the road with 3-2, 3-0 losses. (26 Points)
7. Boston College: Swept by Boston University with 6-3 road loss, 3-1 home loss. (20 Points)
8. Maine: Swept Providence at home with 3-2, 3-0 wins. (18 Points)
9. Vermont: Split with Merrimack at home with 4-2 loss, 2-1 OT win. (13 Points)
10. Massachusetts: Lost to UMass-Lowell 1-0 on the road. (12 Points)
11. New Hampshire: No games scheduled. (9 Points)
ECAC Standings
1. Quinnipiac: Beat Sacred Heart 5-0, beat Connecticut 4-3 at Connecticut Ice Tournament. (36 Points)
2. Harvard: Beat Colgate at home 5-4 OT, beat Cornell at home 6-2. (34 Points)
3. Cornell: Beat Dartmouth on the road 3-2, lost to Harvard on the road 6-2. (31 Points)
4. Colgate: Lost to Harvard on the road 5-4 OT, beat Dartmouth on the road 4-3 OT. (28 Points)
5. St. Lawrence: "Split" with Clarkson with 4-2 home win, 0-0 road tie. (24 Points)
6. Princeton: Lost to Long Island on the road with 6-4 loss. (20 Points)
7. Clarkson: "Split" with St. Lawrence with 4-2 road loss, 0-0 home tie. (18 Points)
8. Brown: No games scheduled. (16 Points)
T-9. Rensselaer: Lost to Union 6-0 at the Mayor's Cup in Albany, N.Y. (14 Points)
T-9. Union: Beat Rensselaer 6-0 at the Mayor's Cup in Albany, N.Y. (14 Points)
11. Dartmouth: Lost to Cornell at home 3-2, lost to Colgate at home 4-3 OT. (13 Points)
12. Yale: Lost to Connecticut 6-1, lost to Sacred Heart 4-3 at Connecticut Ice Tournament. (10 Points)
Atlantic Hockey Standings
1. RIT: Split with Holy Cross on the road with 4-3 win, 4-3 OT loss. (44 Points)
2. Sacred Heart: Lost 5-0 to Quinnipiac, beat Yale 4-3 at Connecticut Ice Tournament (36 Points)
3. American International: No games scheduled. (31 Points)
4. Mercyhurst: Split with Bentley at home with 4-3 win, 5-3 loss. (28 Points)
5. Niagara: Split with Canisius on the road with 5-2 loss, 5-2 win. (25 Points)
6. Holy Cross: Split with RIT at home with 4-3 loss, 4-3 OT win. (24 Points)
6. Army: Split with Air Force at home with 3-1 win, 6-4 loss. (23 Points)
8. Canisius: Split with Niagara at home with 5-2 win, 5-2 loss. (20 Points)
9. Bentley: Split with Mercyhurst on the road with 4-3 loss, 5-3 win. (17 Points)
10. Air Force: Split with Army on the road with 3-1 loss, 6-4 win. (13 Points)
Independent Roundup
Alaska: Swept Alaska-Anchorage with 4-3 OT road win, 4-3 OT home win.
Alaska-Anchorage: Swept by Alaska with 4-3 OT home loss, 4-3 OT road loss.
Arizona State: Swept St. Thomas at home with 4-0, 4-3 OT wins.
Lindenwood: No games scheduled.
Long Island: Beat Princeton on the road 6-4.
Stonehill: No games scheduled.
