By: James Duffy
Weekend Review
Thatcher Demko and Boston College are the main attraction once again in Hockey East, as the junior goalie shutout Maine in back-to-back games over the weekend, stopping 60 shots over the course of the weekend. The pair of shutouts earned Demko Warrior Player of the Week honors, and he hasn’t allowed a goal in six of his last seven starts. Demko is now 7-1-0 on the season, with his team just a win better at 8-1-0. He’s allowed 6 goals all season, three to Denver, and has an absurd .974 save percentage. Never bet against Boston College when Demko is in net.
While BC is currently atop Hockey East with a 3-0 record in conference, UMass Lowell and Boston University each have six points as well. Lowell swept a series with Vermont over the weekend, also carried by their goaltender. Kevin Boyle turned aside 59 of the 62 shots that came his way, earning his team two road wins, and getting a shutout for himself in the latter of the two games. Boston University took two wins in conference as well to take themselves to 3-2 in Hockey East, winning both legs of a home-and-home with Northeastern. Led by captain Matt Grzelyck, who made his season debut on Friday and would tally a goal in both games, the Terriers fought back to win 5-4 at home before easily beating the Huskies 4-1 at Matthews Arena.
Massachusetts had another strong weekend, beating Connecticut twice to get their first two conference wins and improve to 6-2-1 on the season. Forwards Austin Plevy and Dominic Trento combined for five goals in the two games to help the Minutemen get back on track after faltering last week. Outside of that, New Hampshire struggled against Michigan State, losing 5-0 and 7-4 in their matchups, and Notre Dame split a pair at home against Minnesota.
Scores
Friday, November 6
Maine 0-3 Boston College
Massachusetts 4-2 Connecticut
UMass Lowell 5-3 Vermont
Northeastern 4-5 Boston University
New Hampshire 0-5 Michigan State
Minnesota 3-4 Notre Dame
Saturday, November 7
Boston University 4-1 Northeastern
Connecticut 3-5 Massachusetts
UMass Lowell 1-0 Vermont
Merrimack 3-2 Canisius
Minnesota 4-1 Notre Dame
New Hampshire 4-7 Michigan State
Sunday, November 8
Maine 0-2 Boston College
Tuesday, November 10
Army 2-0 Connecticut
The Week Ahead
Two of the top teams in the conference will headline this weekend’s games, as Providence and Boston University face off for a home-and-home series. Providence, the #1 team in the nation, had last weekend off and should come out full of energy against a Terriers team coming off a big sweep of Northeastern, and have seemingly settled on a starting goalie in Connor LaCouvee. The Friars are still undefeated on the season, sitting at 6-0-1, but have yet to play any games in Hockey East.
Other conference games feature UMass Lowell and Maine head-to-head for two, Northeastern taking on Notre Dame in South Bend and Massachusetts at home against Merrimack before hitting the road to square off with Vermont. The only two out of conference games next weekend have Hockey East teams taking on ranked opponents, as Connecticut will face in-state rival #3 Quinnipiac, and Boston College, ranked #2, will take on #12 Michigan State.
National Rankings
Providence – #1 (2)
Boston College – #2 (3)
UMass Lowell – #5 (5)
Boston University – #11 (10)
Merrimack – #13 (NR)
Others receiving votes:
Notre Dame – 18
Massachusetts – 7