The Hockey East regular season is over. Here is what happened on the final day:
-Notre Dame ended Boston College‘s 19-game unbeaten streak with a 2-1 overtime victory. Johnny Gaudreau scored BC’s lone goal to extend his point streak to 29 games. He is two games away from tying Paul Kariya‘s league-record 31-game streak, set during the 1992-93 season.
-Providence beat Maine, 3-2, to complete the weekend sweep and clinch the No. 3 seed. The Friars have now won four straight after going winless in their previous five.
-New Hampshire beat Merrimack, 5-2, to earn a weekend split. Combined with Boston University’s win over Northeastern, the victory clinched the fourth and final home ice spot for UNH.
-BU finished off a sweep of Northeastern with a 4-2 win. It was BU’s first road win of the season, and its first two-win weekend since the first weekend of the season, when it beat UMass and Holy Cross. Northeastern had already clinched a first-round bye, but now has to go on the road in the quarterfinals. It could have clinched home ice with a single point against BU.
-Vermont beat UMass-Lowell, 3-2, to earn a split. The win moved Vermont back ahead of Notre Dame for the No. 7 seed. Lowell had already clinched the No. 2 seed.
So here are the final Hockey East standings:
1. Boston College (34 points)
2. UMass-Lowell (25 points)
3. Providence (24 points)
t-4. New Hampshire (22 points)
t-4. Northeastern (22 points)
6. Maine (21 points)
t-7. Vermont (20 points)
t-7. Notre Dame (20 points)
9. Boston University (13 points)
10. UMass (11 points)
11. Merrimack (8 points)
UNH wins the tiebreaker against Northeastern, and Vermont wins the tiebreaker against Notre Dame.
Here is the full playoff schedule courtesy of Hockey East:
First Round – Single Elimination (Campus sites; March 6-7)
(10) Massachusetts at (7) Vermont – Friday, 7:05 p.m. (TV-NESN)
(9) Boston University at (8) Notre Dame – Saturday, 7 p.m.
(11) Merrimack at (6) Maine – Saturday, 7:07 p.m.
Quarterfinal Round – Best-of-Three (Campus sites; March 14-16)
Lowest Remaining Seed from 6-11 at (1) Boston College
Second-Lowest Remaining Seed from 6-11 at (2) UMass Lowell
Highest Remaining Seed from 6-11 at (3) Providence
(5) Northeastern at (4) New Hampshire
Championship Round – Single Elimination (TD Garden; March 21-22)
Semifinals on Friday, March 21 at 5 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Final on Saturday, March 22 at 7 p.m.