Last season, only three teams from Hockey East reached the NCAA Tournament, with Providence and UConn getting at large bids, and Merrimack landing an automatic bid by winning the conference tournament. UConn squeaked in as a No. 4 seed.
The league’s record outside the conference certainly played a role. After posting winning percentages of .692 and .673 the previous two seasons, Hockey East finished at .584 in 2025-26. Things were trending in the wrong direction this season as well, with the league starting off with a .547 mark, but there were some encouraging signs over the weekend after teams went 7-3-1.
⋅ New Hampshire handed second-ranked Michigan State its first loss of the season with a 1-0 shutout in Friday’s series opener in Durham, then battled the Spartans in Saturday’s rematch before falling, 2-1, despite landing 39 shots on net. For the weekend, the Wildcats held a 73-37 edge in shots. It was an impressive performance against a Big Ten team that features nine first-round picks and had been averaging 5.3 goals per game while outscoring opponents, 16-4.
Michael Simpson stopped 35 of 37 shots across the two games, including a spectacular save while on his back late in the third period of Friday’s upset. Freshman Emile Guite scored both of UNH’s goals.
⋅ Merrimack returned from Big Ten country with a pair of wins at Notre Dame, following up Friday’s 2-1 overtime win by rallying from a 2-0 deficit to take a 6-3 decision on Saturday. Junior Nick Pierre had the game winner on Friday, while senior Seamus Powell scored his first two goals of the season in Saturday’s win.
⋅ It will not go down as a victory, but Boston College finished the weekend strong in Denver, rallying from a 2-0 deficit to earn a tie with the defending national champions. Teddy Stiga’s goal with 46 seconds remaining allowed the Eagles to avoid a sweep. That followed Friday night’s 5-2 loss that was even at 2-2 entering the third period before the Pioneers pulled away.
⋅ UMass got a pair of goals from Jack Galanek and Vaclav Nestrasil to defeat Stonehill, 5-3. It was just the second loss for a Skyhawks squad that swept Colgate and split at Northern Michigan the previous two weekends.
⋅ The league also fared well in a couple of series against the ECAC, with Maine posting a pair of 3-0 victories over Colgate. Petter Wickström Stumer stopped 24 shots in Friday’s contest to get his first win with the Black Bears, and Albin Boija followed with 17 saves on Saturday. Loic Usereau and Lee Parks had a goal in each contest.
⋅ Vermont split its series with Clarkson, taking the series opener at home, 2-1 on Friday, but dropped Sunday’s game on the road, 2-1 in overtime. Sophomore Jacob Oster stopped 55 shots in the two games.
⋅ There were two conference series as well. Boston University and UConn split a home-and-home matchup. The Terriers managed to earn a point in Thursday’s 5-4 overtime loss at Storrs, rallying from a 4-2 deficit with a pair of goals in the final 3:26, with Ryder Ritchie’s power-play goal with 47.5 seconds remaining proving to be the equalizer.
BU took its home opener on Saturday, jumping out to a 4-0 lead en route to a 6-3 win, with five Terriers recording their first goal of the season. Kaden Shahan scored twice for UConn to finish the series with three goals.
⋅ Providence, considered the favorite to finish atop the conference standings, has lived up to expectations, improving to 5-0-0 with a sweep of UMass Lowell. Sophomore goalie Jack Parsons has picked up from where he left off last season, posting a .966 save percentage through four games.
Up next for the Friars will be a Halloween matinee against a Quinnipiac squad considered to be a Frozen Four candidate but was on the wrong end of a 4-3 overtime upset at home by Army Friday night. Coach Rand Pecknold did not take questions at the postgame press conference, offering a brief statement in which he began by crediting Army, but not so subtly expressed frustration with the officiating before walking away from the podium.
“Per ECAC rules, I’m not allowed to comment on the officiating, so I’m not going to comment,” he said. “You can direct all of those questions to [ECAC commissioner] Doug Christiansen. That’s the press conference.”
⋅ Bentley opened up AHA action a battle-tested bunch after getting swept at North Dakota the previous weekend. The Falcons responded by sweeping Robert Morris by a combined score of 10-1. Sophomore Jan Gaspar had three goals on the weekend, and classmate Lukas Swedin recorded 30 saves to post his second shutout in Friday’s 5-0 win. Abington native Nicholas Bevilacqua stopped 27 of 28 shots to get the win on Saturday.
⋅ After opening their series with Sacred Heart with a 3-1 win on Friday, Holy Cross was 20 minutes away from a potential sweep, but the Pioneers rallied for three goals in the third period to hand the Crusaders a 4-3 loss.
Follow Andrew Mahoney @GlobeMahoney.