The men’s college hockey regular season is hitting the home stretch. Two more weeks of upsets and sweeps led to some shuffling in the top-five of the latest Power 10 rankings.
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 (1): The Golden Gophers (23-8-1, 17-4-1 Big Ten) are coming off a big-time sweep of Penn State, rolling to a 7-2 win before coming back to take Game 2 in overtime, 3-2. The previous weekend, they knocked off Wisconsin 4-1 before coming up short in the rematch, losing 3-1. It’s easy to forget losses will happen, and Minnesota bounced back just fine this weekend. Logan Cooley, Jimmy Snuggerud and Matthew Knies are a three-headed monster that few, if any, teams in college hockey can match right now. Cooley (44) and Snuggerud (43) are both in the nation’s top-five in points, and Knies is tied for second in goals (20). They wrap up the regular season against Ohio State this weekend.
MINNESOTA.
MAGIC.BREAK OUT THOSE BROOMS! pic.twitter.com/gStBroLf4h
— Minnesota Men’s Hockey (@GopherHockey) February 19, 2023
LATEST RANKINGS: Click or tap here for the latest USCHO poll
2. Quinnipiac (2): The Bobcats (26-3-3, 18-2-0 ECAC) are rolling on an eight-game winning streak, taking care of Clarkson, Brown, Yale and St. Lawrence in the last two weeks. In those four games, they’ve put up five goals in three straight and two shutouts as part of an 18-3 scoring differential. Colin Graf has surged to second in scoring nationally with 47 points after racking up 11 during his six-game points streak, and Yaniv Perets leads the nation in shutouts (eight) and goals-against average (1.59). They look to keep it going against Union and RPI to finish the regular season.
3. Denver (4): The Pioneers’ (24-8-0, 15-5-0 NCHC) five-game winning streak came to an end with a back-and-forth 6-5 loss at pesky Minnesota Duluth last time out to split the series after sweeping North Dakota. DU has put up at least four goals in five in a row, including four straight with at least five goals. Massimo Rizzo (40p) and Carter Mazur (20g) continue to pace the Pios. They’ve got a big-time battle with Western Michigan this weekend before closing the regular season with a series against Colorado College.
4. Michigan (5): The Wolverines (20-10-2, 12-9-1 Big Ten) swept Michigan State two weekends ago, including a dramatic 4-3 overtime win at Little Caesars Arena where Luke Hughes won it with less than a second left at the Duel in the D. But they followed it up with an 0-1-1 weekend against Ohio State, tying Game 1 (and losing the shootout) before falling 4-2 outdoors in Cleveland. Adam Fantilli continues his insane scoring pace with his NCAA-leading 49 points, while Hughes continues to come alive in the second half. They’ve got another test with Notre Dame on tap to finish the regular season.
LUKE HUGHES! pic.twitter.com/7uHGU0hX8T
— Michigan Hockey (@umichhockey) February 12, 2023
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5. Western Michigan (7): The Broncos (21-10-1, 13-6-1 NCHC) are winners of four in a row, taking care of Minnesota Duluth on the road before returning home to sweep Colorado College. They’re 11-1-0 since the holiday break, and Jason Polin’s NCAA-leading 26 goals look untouchable if he keeps up the pace he’s been on. Ryan McAllister (41 points) is still having a great freshman season as well. WMU has a massive NCHC series with Denver this weekend before finishing the regular season at Miami (Ohio).
6. Boston University (3): The Terriers (20-10-0, 14-6-0 HEA) have lost four in a row. They dropped the Beanpot semifinals to eventual champion Northeastern and lost the consolation to Boston College before a sweep at the hands of Merrimack this weekend. Matt Brown (40 points) and Lane Hutson (38 points) continue to cook, but Drew Commesso has hit a bit of a slump in net, as has most of the depth scoring that was firing on all cylinders going into the Beanpot. BU has a potentially galvanizing road trip to Vermont this weekend to get back on track before a home-and-home with Providence to finish the regular season.
7. St. Cloud State (6): The Huskies (18-9-3, 10-7-3 NCHC) are also winless in six straight after a sweep at the hands of UMD, two ties against Miami as well as a loss and a tie against North Dakota. Special teams have been a massive area of concern as they’ve allowed 10 power-play goals over the six games. When Jaxson Castor and Dominic Basse have struggled in goal, the offense has failed to keep up, and the offense has seemingly dried up when those two have been on. They’ve got two series Omaha and Duluth coming up.
SCOREBOARD: Click or tap here for the latest scores around Division I men’s hockey
8. Ohio State (8): The Buckeyes (18-11-3, 11-9-2 Big Ten) are 1-1-2 over the last two weekends with a loss and a tie at Notre Dame before a tie and a win against Michigan. Against UM, OSU rallied from a two-goal deficit for the draw and eventual shootout win in Game 1. On a big stage outdoors at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland, the Buckeyes’ top producers in Jake Wise and Stephen Halliday came through, leaving little doubt in the 4-2 win, while Jakub Dobes was huge with 35 saves. It doesn’t get any easier as they face Minnesota this weekend to close the regular season.
Halliday ➡️ Treloar ➡️ Wise 🚨 PPG#GoBucks pic.twitter.com/1CjHg5xvKd
— Ohio State Men’s Hockey (@OhioStateMHKY) February 18, 2023
9. Harvard (NR): The Crimson (19-6-2, 16-4-0 ECAC) are technically unbeaten (4-0-1) in five straight, although the 2-2 tie and shootout loss to Northeastern in the Beanpot championship certainly stings. They took care of BC in the semis with a 4-3 overtime win with 1.5 seconds left, where they dominated for most of regulation before a late push from the Eagles. Outside of the Beanpot, they’ve rolled through Dartmouth, Union and RPI. Matthew Coronato, Sean Farrell and Alex Laferriere continue to show out as well. They finish the regular season at St. Lawrence and Clarkson this weekend.
10. Penn State (9): The Nittany Lions (19-12-1, 9-12-1 Big Ten) are coming off a sweep at the hands of the Gophers at home. They had a 2-1 lead with 41.2 seconds left in regulation in Game 2 before Knies tied it and won it in OT. They have lost three in a row as part of a brutal 2-8-1 stretch since the calendar flipped to 2023. They have a chance to get back on track against sub-.500 Wisconsin in the regular season finale this weekend.
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Dropped out: Cornell (10)
The Big Red have lost two in a row as part of a three-game winless streak. They tied Colgate before dropping the extra point in the shootout, struggled on the penalty kill in a loss to Clarkson at home, and gave up a late goal in a 1-0 home loss to SLU. Ian Shane has an .825 save percentage over the course of the three games. They’ll deal with Brown and Yale this weekend.
