Each week, USCHO.com will pick the top 10 moments from the past weekend in our Monday 10 feature.
1. Irish sweep Michigan
Notre Dame wrapped up the regular season with a bang over the weekend, taking a pair from second-ranked Michigan by scores of 4-1 and 2-1 at home. The Irish clinched the No. 3 seed in the Big Ten tournament, which it will kick off next weekend at home against Wisconsin.
Trevor Janicke’s late third-period tally clinched Saturday night’s win before a sellout crowd of 4,903. Notre Dame swept the four-game season series against s the Wolverines. Hunter Strand also scored for Notre Dame, while Matthew Galajda made 31 saves to earn the victory.
With the win, the Irish improved to 25-9-0 on the year and will be the third seed in the upcoming Big Ten Tournament.
2. Mavericks continue to roll
There should be no change at the top of this week’s DCU/USCHO.com men’s D-I poll, as top-seeded Minnesota State earned a sweep at No. 14 Michigan Tech over the weekend.
The Mavericks extended their winning streak to 11 games with a pair of 2-1 wins, including Friday night’s overtime affair.
Nathan Smith scored his 17th goal of the season on Saturday to spark a third=period comeback. Lucas Sowder then scored on the power play for the game winner
3. Denver splits with Omaha
No. 3 Denver bounced back from a loss at NCHC rival Omaha on Friday night with a come-from-behind 5-2 win when the two teams met the next night. The Pioneers scored five unanswered goals to erase a two-goal deficit.
Denver thrice scored on the power play in the third period to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 4-2 lead, as Carter Savoie, Mike Benning and Cameron Wright all found the back of the net. Benning scored the go-ahead goal with 4:49 remaining and one second after a 5-on-3 expired.
4. Cornell has Quinnipiac’s number
Quinnipiac has spent most of the season near the top of the DCU/USCHO.com poll, but Cornell apparently hasn’t gotten the message. The Big Red completed the season sweep of the Bobcats with a 1-0 win Friday night in Hamden, Conn.
Junior forward Jack Malone scored on the power play 5:58 into the game, and freshman goaltender Ian Shane took care of the rest with a career-high 42 saves to earn his second collegiate shutout.
With a 4-0 win the next night at Princeton, Cornell clinched a first-round bye in the upcoming ECAC tournament.
5. NoDak sweeps Western Michigan
The Fighting Hawks moved to within a win of clinching their third straight NCHC regular-season title with a 5-2 win over Western Michigan to complete a weekend sweep of the team that swept them earlier this season.
Special teams were key for North Dakota in the win, with two goals coming on the power play and one coming shorthanded. Judd Caulfield scored one of each for his eighth and ninth goals of the season.
6. Minutemen hammer Vermont, all but clinch Hockey East regular-season title
Eight different Minutemen scored goals on Saturday night in an 8-2 win at Vermont to complete a series sweep. With the win, UMass improved to 19-10-2 on the season, 14-6-2 in Hockey East. UMass now has 46 points in the league standings, putting them a full five points ahead of Northeastern and UMass Lowell, who are tied for second (though Northeastern has a game in hand).
The Minutemen will close out the regular season next weekend with a home-and-home against Boston College.
7. BC, BU split Battle of Comm Ave
It’s been a season of struggles for Boston College, but the Eagles will be able to hang their hat on winning the season finale against rival Boston University 3-1 on Sunday, salvaging a split of the weekend series.
Drew Helleson blasted a left wing one-timer from Marc McLaughlin with 5:20 left in regulation for the game winner on Saturday. It was the 287th edition of the classic rivalry. Eric Dop posted a season-high 42 saves for the Eagles. BC extended its home unbeaten streak against the Terriers to four games (3-0-1).
8. Gophers clinch Big Ten regular-season crown
Minnesota goalie Justen Close earned his first two collegiate shutouts over the weekend as the Gophers swept Wisconsin by scores of 5-0 and 8-0. The wins clinched the Big Ten regular-season title for Minnesota.
It was the fifth regular-season championship for the Gophers in the nine-year history of the Big Ten as a hockey league. Minnesota was a perfect 8-0-0 in the month of February for the team’s longest winning and unbeaten streak of the season.
9. Northeastern sweeps battle of Huskies
While UMass has a sizable lead for the No. 1 seed in Hockey East going into the final weekend of the regular season, who will be the No. 2 through 7 seeds is anyone’s guess — five teams are within three points of each other as of Monday morning.
Northeastern got a slight edge in the multi-team battle for the upper hand with a sweep of Connecticut over the weekend, winning by scores of 3-1 and 5-2. Northeastern is currently tied with Merrimack for second place in the conference, while UConn is in a three-way tie for fifth with BU and Providence.
10. UNH salutes Scarano
Just before dropping the puck against Merrimack on Saturday night at the Whittemore Center, New Hampshire saluted outgoing athletic director Marty Scarano, who announced his retirement last fall, effective at the end of the school year.
Scarano came to New Hampshire in 2000 from Colorado College and was chair of the NCAA men’s ice hockey committee from 2005-07.
“Being together for so long, he’s a great friend and mentor professionally,” said Hockey East commissioner Steve Metcalf, who worked with Scarano at UNH for the better part of two decades. “I learned so much from him — all things hockey.”
