UMass Lowell has mastered the art of finishing strong over the last several Hockey East seasons, thanks in large part of outstanding goaltending from the likes of Connor Hellebuyck and Kevin Boyle who are currently showing off their talents in the National Hockey League.
But the current duo of senior Christoffer Hernberg and junior Tyler Wall has made life awfully difficult ― or so one would think ― for head coach Norm Bazin with their outstanding play in recent weeks.
The two split this past weekend’s starts as the River Hawks earned four Hockey East points and improved to 9-0-1 over their first 10 games of the 2019 calendar year. Hernberg made 31 saves in Saturday’s 2-0 shutout against UMass, taking the net a night after Wall who stopped 28 en route to handing Boston College a 3-0 defeat.
“People sometimes question coaches for who they play, but both kids are competing awfully hard in practice,” Bazin said following Saturday’s win. “It's like (the Boston Bruins) playing (Jaroslav) Halak or Tuukka Rask. I don't think you can go wrong because both are great goalies.”
This past weekend’s performance marked Lowell’s first back-to-back shutouts since the now-Winnipeg Jets stalwart Hellebuyck beat Notre Dame and New Hampshire at TD Garden to send the River Hawks to their second consecutive Hockey East title back in 2014.
The recent success has allowed the River Hawks to pass BC and become the No. 2 team in Hockey East. Bazin’s club now trails first-place UMass by only two points as it hasn’t lost since capping back-to-back setbacks and a span of three losses in five games on Dec. 29 against Denver.
Since then, it has nearly been an even split of the goaltending duties. Hernberg has a 5-0-1 mark in that span, while Wall, a New York Rangers prospect, has wins in all four of his starts and a .981 save percentage.
“Christoffer beat (UMass) at their place so I came back with him, and I didn't have any reservation in doing so,” Bazin said of his outlook on the position prior to last weekend. “And Tyler is a heck of a goalie. I thought he was on point (against BC) and played a good game at Northeastern. Both are very capable young men.”
Weekend of goalies
It was a strong weekend for goaltenders around New England as five puck stoppers from the region’s 20 Division 1 programs allowed only two goals over two starts in Providence’s Hayden Hawkey, Connecticut’s Tomas Vomacka, Maine’s Jeremy Swayman, Vermont’s Stefanos Lekkas, and American International’s Zackarias Skog.
Vomacka posted the first Hockey East victories of his career against Northeastern and Merrimack, including a 29-save shutout in the latter game. He and Lekkas, who stopped 57 of 59 shots against New Hampshire, were named Hockey East Co-Defensive Players of the Week.
In addition, Brown swept its league games at Princeton and Quinnipiac behind Luke Kania’s strong play. The sophomore stopped 79 of the 82 shots he faced in those games, including a career-high 47 in Saturday’s 4-1 win at Quinnipiac.
Stinging and flying past the competition
American International nabbed another Atlantic Hockey weekend sweep with 3-0 and 5-2 wins over Army West Point, extending their first-place lead to seven points over a second-place Bentley team that is currently riding a nation-long, 11-game unbeaten streak. The Yellow Jackets only have one league series remaining following this weekend’s visit to Arizona State for a non-conference pair.
Junior Blake Christensen ranks second in the AHC and tied for third in the nation with 37 points in 30 games, which breaks the previous single-season program record that Jon Puskar initially set in 2013-14. He has a 5-5-10 line over the last five consecutive Yellow Jacket victories dating back to Jan. 26 at Mercyhurst.
Bentley amassed its most recent sweep with 3-2 (OT) and 6-4 wins over Canisius last weekend. Junior Jonathan Desbiens has scored goals in eight consecutive games for the Falcons, including the game-winner in both games against the Golden Griffins. Will Garin scored a goal and added two assists to earn AHC Rookie of the Week honors.
‘Saders, Sacred Heart in the mix
The local Atlantic Hockey programs are in the midst of a great run. It’s not only the aforementioned AIC and Bentley clubs getting it done as Sacred Heart swept Niagara last weekend to tie for fifth in the standings, while Holy Cross split a pair of 4-3 games with RIT to improve its recent run to 3-1-1 and move within one point of eighth-place Army West Point.
Junior Austin McIlmurray earned AHC Player of the Week honors after posting three goals and five points to help SHU extend its winning streak to five games, which is that team’s longest run since a four-gamer to conclude the regular season and begin the playoffs in 2014-15.
For Holy Cross, senior Michael Laffin scored his team-leading eighth goal of the season in Saturday’s 4-3 win over RIT. East Longmeadow, Mass., native Peter Crinella has six points in his last four games, including a goal and an assist in the latest victory.
Loose pucks
― Providence freshmen Jack Dugan, Jay O’Brien (Hingham, Mass.), and defenseman Michael Callahan (Franklin, Mass.) each sat out a game during this past weekend’s Hockey East series at Maine for violations of team rules, according to Mark Divver of the Providence Journal. Friar head coach Nate Leaman had no comment on the matter earlier this week.
― Harvard senior Michael Lackey has allowed two or fewer goals in 14 of his 22 starts this season following Monday’s 5-2 win over Boston University in the Beanpot.
― Lackey’s Crimson are the first of four consecutive New England teams bunched up in the middle of the ECAC standings entering this weekend’s action. Harvard and Clarkson are currently tied one point behind second-place Quinnipiac, but seventh-place Dartmouth stands only four points back after earning only point out of games against RPI and Union at home.
― Freshman Jonny Evans was another key to UConn’s success this past week as he logged two goals and two assists in Saturday’s 5-0 win over Merrimack. The North Delta, B.C., native has six points in his last three games after missing 12 in a row due to injury through the beginning of February. His classmate and Hockey East Rookie of the Week Ruslan Iskhakov has three goals and seven points over the Huskies’ last three games.
― Defensemen Tanner Jago of Bentley and Chase Priskie of Quinnipiac are two of the 10 men’s ice hockey finalists for the Senior CLASS Award, which recognizes NCAA senior student-athletes with notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition. The winner will be announced at the Frozen Four in April.
