Boston College 1, UMass-Lowell 0
Senior Steven Whitney scored the lone goal of the game at 3:17 of the third period and classmate Parker Milner posted 38 saves as the Eagles blanked the host River Hawks at the Tsongas Center for their second consecutive shutout. John Muse was the latest BC goaltender to backstop his team to a 1-0 win, doing so in the clinching game of the quarterfinals at New Hampshire on March 14, 2009. Additionally, the Eagles had not pitched back-to-back blankings since sweeping through the NCAA Northeast Regional in Worcester, Mass. this past March. BC was outshot 38-20 in the contest, including a 12-4 edge in the first period and an 11-5 advantage in the final frame, but it was enough for the victory. UML's Doug Carr made 19 saves but suffered the home loss. The teams face-off in a Sunday afternoon rematch at Kelley Rink.
New Hampshire 4, Northeastern 3
Senior John Henrion scored with 53 seconds remaining in regulation as the Wildcats edged fellow ranked foe Northeastern in the weekend opener at Whittemore Center, helping his squad remain perfect at 4-0-0 so far this season. Second-year puckstopper Casey DeSmith, the reigning Hockey East co-Defensive Player of the Week, made 18 saves, including eight in the third period and two in the final 38 seconds while NU was playing with an empty net. Huskies junior Braden Pimm notched his first goal just 33 seconds into the game, while sophomore defenseman Ben Oskroba's first-collegiate point was a tally at 11:45 of the first, giving the Huskies a two-goal edge at the time. Senior Bryan Mountain made his first appearance in net since Feb. 25, making 18 saves in relief of senior Chris Rawlings (11 saves in 26:40). Northeastern is winless in its last seven trips to Durham, N.H. (0-6-1) and has not won on "Lake Whit" since 2007, but will look to post a victory at home on Saturday.
Merrimack 6, Vermont 3
A pair of three-goal periods sparked the Warriors as they came from two goals down to defeat the visiting Catamounts in Lawler Arena's home opener in North Andover. Junior blue liner Jordan Heywood scored his first game-winning goal of the young season with close to four minutes remaining in the final stanza, helping the Warriors to just their second win in five games. Vinny Scotti buried his first-collegiate goal with just over 22 seconds remaining in the second period, giving Merrimack a lead at the time. UVM's first goal of the game was also of the first-career variety as Jonathan Turk beat MC sophomore Sam Marotta (29 saves) at 15:03. Sophomore Josh Myers continued his solid start for the Warriors with his third goal of the season at 19:12 of the third, beating UVM rookie Brody Hoffman (26 saves) for one of three power-play goals scored in the contest for the home team. With the win, Merrimack improves to 8-0-2 against the Catamounts in their last 10 meetings and will look to sweep the weekend on Saturday.
Providence 3, Maine 2
The Friars scored twice in the opening stages of the third period to overtake the visiting Black Bears en route to victory at Schneider Arena. Goals from sophomore Drew Brown and freshman Steven McParland just over two minutes apart in the third period helped the Friars to their second home victory of the season and their first in Hockey East. Rookie Jon Gillies started his fifth straight game in goal, earning the victory with 27 saves. Senior defenseman Myles Harvey dished off assists on two of the three Friar goals to help the offense. Maine fell to 1-5-0 on the season with the loss, despite 24 saves from junior Martin Ouellette and goals from sophomore Connor Leen and senior Mike Cornell.
Boston University 5, Massachusetts 2
Joshua Kummins is the Hockey East beat writer and a weekend editor for SB Nation Boston. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaKummins.