D1 insider: Puffer, Lekkas helped turn Vermont’s fortunes in December

Vermont senior forward Craig Puffer has keyed the team's improvement. (Credit: Brian Jenkins)

Three non-conference wins in December are no help to Vermont’s struggles in Hockey East play thus far. The Catamounts enter 2019 at the bottom of the standings with a 1-6-1 league record, but their current run ― though part of a stretch of six consecutive non-conference games ― is one that can generate momentum for the second half of the season.

Vermont broke for exams and the holidays after taking a 2-1 win at Colorado College back on Dec. 8 and then carried those good fortunes into this semester, defeating Alabama Huntsville and Rensselaer to claim the team’s first Catamount Cup championship since 2015-16.

Northeastern completed a sweep of the same opponents to run the nation’s longest winning streak to eight games, but the hosts’ plus-5 goal differential over the 4-1 and 4-2 wins gave them their own tournament title for the seventh time under 16th-year head coach Kevin Sneddon.

Junior Stefanos Lekkas continued his stellar season in net with a nod to the Catamount Cup All-Tournament Team after making 46 saves over the weekend. He surpassed the 30-save mark for the eighth time this season with 32 against RPI. The Illinois native is tied for third in the country with his .936 save percentage and now ranks fifth in UVM history with 2,413 stops.