There is a shakeup among the top programs in the Power 10 after the upsets and results the last two weekends of men’s college hockey.
A reminder: these are my rankings alone, and I base them on a combination of the PairWise, strength of schedule, recent results and trends that have emerged over the course of the season. New rankings come out every other week until the men’s hockey tournament in March.
Here is this week’s Power 10 (previous rankings in parentheses):
1. Minnesota (2): The Golden Gophers (20-7-1, 14-3-1 Big Ten) were idle this weekend after skating to a dominant sweep of former-No. 15 Michigan State last time out. Their star players continue to light it up as Jimmy Snuggerud (3g, 3a), Logan Cooley (1g, 4a) and Matthew Knies (2g, 1a) had massive series, while Justen Close is locking it down in goal. They have a chance to keep it going against Wisconsin this week before a tough top-10 matchup with Penn State next weekend.
2. Quinnipiac (3): The Bobcats (22-3-3, 14-2-0 ECAC) got right back on track after a stunning winless weekend at Cornell and Colgate two weeks ago. They marched through Sacred Heart before coming back against then-No. 12 UConn to claim the Connecticut Ice tournament crown, and they made light work of No. 8 Harvard and Dartmouth last time out. Goaltender Yaniv Perets recovered well from the rough outings with two shutouts in four games. QU is undefeated against its remaining regular-season schedule.
3. Boston University (4): The Terriers (20-6-0, 14-4-0 HEA) are rolling along in the midst of a seven-game winning streak and a 12-2-0 stretch since Dec. 1. Veterans and youngsters throughout the lineup contributed in big ways in their sweep of rival Boston College as well as the back-and-forth win at Maine. Matt Brown and Lane Hutson are still pacing BU, Dom Fensore didn’t miss a beat in his return from injury, and guys like Wilmer Skoog, Jay O’Brien and Ty Gallagher are heating up after slow first halves. They’re riding momentum going into the Beanpot as defending champs, facing rival Northeastern in Monday’s semifinals.
Lane Hutson has FOUR assists tonight, and this one was the best of them all.
Watch on ESPN+: https://t.co/IyrdLrf4wy@hockey_east | @espn pic.twitter.com/UC5V1bjB6J
— BU Men’s Hockey (@TerrierHockey) February 4, 2023
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4. Denver (5): The Pioneers (21-7-0, 12-4-0 NCHC) bounced back from their sweep at St. Cloud with a pair of wins over Colorado College at Ball Arena and on the road. The two losses to the Huskies were just the second time this season that DU had lost consecutive games. Magnus Chrona responded with a shutout against the Tigers on Jan. 27 before allowing just one goal in the rematch Feb. 4. They’ve got North Dakota and Minnesota Duluth on tap for their next two series, and both teams are capable of giving top teams fits.
5. Michigan (6): The Wolverines (18-9-1, 10-9-0 Big Ten) have found a groove with a five-game winning streak, which included sweeps of Penn State and Wisconsin. Adam Fantilli continues to dominate with 18 points (6g, 12a) during an eight-game point streak, while Luke Hughes had a monster weekend against PSU with a four-goal outing after a goal and two assists in the previous game. UM has a series with rival Michigan State this week with Game 2 taking place in Detroit for Battle of the D, before a series with Ohio State, facing the Buckeyes outdoors in Game 2 as well for Faceoff on the Lake in Cleveland.
This what a go-ahead goal sounds like at Yost Ice Arena. Absolutely deafening. @ChildrenOfYost bringing the energy tonight for @umichhockey pic.twitter.com/Y7cQ884eiG
— Alejandro Zúñiga (@ByAZuniga) January 29, 2023
6. St. Cloud State (1): As quickly as the Huskies (18-8-2, 10-6-2 NCHC) ascended to the top of the rankings, they fell outside the top five, going winless in four straight games. The slide started with a sweep at the hands of sub-.500 Minnesota Duluth last weekend before back-to-back ties with Miami (Ohio), also below .500. Against the Red Hawks, SCSU, who took both shootouts, had to battle back to tie Game 1 late and in Game 2, the Huskies couldn’t build on an early lead before Miami tied it with less than a minute to go. They have a chance to get right with North Dakota and Omaha coming up.
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7. Western Michigan (9): The Broncos (19-10-1, 11-6-1 NCHC) have hit their stride, sweeping Minnesota Duluth after a split with Omaha the previous week. They’ve won nine of 10 since the holiday break, including some midseason hardware at the Great Lakes Invitational. WMU rolled past the Mavericks with a 6-1 win before getting “goalied” in the rematch, failing to capitalize on 40 shots. Against UMD, a 3-2 overtime win and dominant 4-1 victory powered the sweep. The top line, featuring the nation’s leading goal-scorer Jason Polin and the second-leading point-getter in Ryan McAllister continues to roll. They face Colorado College this week before a tough test against Denver.
8. Ohio State (8): The Buckeyes (17-10-1, 10-8-0 Big Ten) are coming off back-to-back sweeps with Wisconsin and Penn State. OSU bounced back from a 4-0 loss to the Badgers with a thorough 2-0 win in Game 2 for the split. Against PSU, they rallied to tie Game 1 before falling behind late, and they rode a big third period to take the rematch. Tate Singleton (2g), Stephen Halliday (4a) and Cole McWard (1g, 3a) had big weekends against Penn State, and Jakub Dobeš came up big with 32 saves in Game 2. They’ve got a gauntlet of a schedule remaining in the Big Ten with Notre Dame, Michigan and Minnesota remaining.
A three-goal third period – highlighted by Tate Singleton’s late score that stood as the gamewinner – led the Buckeyes to a win over the Nittany Lions in Columbus tonight in a Top 10 matchup. #GoBucks
— Ohio State Men’s Hockey (@OhioStateMHKY) February 5, 2023
9. Penn State (7): The Nittany Lions (19-10-1, 9-10-1 Big Ten) have lost three of four over the last two weekends as part of a 2-5-1 stretch since Jan. 1. They floundered in the sweep at Michigan with a 7-3 loss before blowing a 3-0 and a 4-2 lead to the Wolverines in the Game 2 defeat. Against OSU, the Bucks outscored them 3-1 in the third period on Saturday to earn the split. PSU has a chance to reset while on a bye this weekend before dealing with Minnesota and Wisconsin to close the regular season.
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10: Cornell (10): The Big Red (15-7-1, 12-4-0 ECAC) have won two in a row with a 3-1 win over RPI before a 10-1 drubbing at home against Union. They’ve also won five of six, including a 4-0 win over No. 1 Quinnipiac. Against the Dutchmen, Cornell exploded for six goals in the first period, including four within 56 seconds of each other on a major power play. Sam Malinski is on a heater with 20 points (7g, 13a) over the course of a 10-game point streak, and the power play leads the nation at 32.1 percent, although buoyed by the 6-for-7 outing against Union. Cornell has a series with pesky Colgate ahead of matchups with Clarkson and St. Lawrence.
In the hunt: Harvard (NR)
The Crimson (15-6-1, 13-4-0 ECAC) are coming off a 3-0 loss at home to No. 2 Quinnipiac after winning against Colgate, 5-4 in overtime, and Cornell, 6-2, the previous weekend. Leading-scorer Sean Farrell had a six-game point streak with five goals and seven assists going into the shutout against the Bobcats. They enter Monday’s Beanpot semifinal against Boston College in search of their first title since 2017.
