Campus Ice: BU carries Hockey East into Munn

Boston University at Michigan State is the series of the weekend, and I'd argue it's the series of the first half. Two rosters built the same way, two freshman-heavy blue lines, two goalies playing over their heads, and 35 drafted players on the ice at Munn.

Hockey East needs BU to win one. The league's nonconference record is what the NPI reads in March, and the East just sent its best team into the Big Ten's best barn.

The matchup. BU is 6-2-0 and has come from behind to win or force overtime three weekends running. Tynan Lawrence has seven goals, two of them Saturday against Maine, including the tying goal with 2:12 left before Caleb Malhotra won it in overtime.

Jay Pandolfo said Lawrence "impacts the game every time he's on the ice because of his motor." Mikhail Yegorov is the reason the comebacks had time to happen.

Michigan State is 5-1-0 and just beat North Dakota 5-3 in Texas with freshman Joshua Ravensbergen stopping 32 of 35. Anthony Romani has seven goals and the Big Ten's second star of the week. Freshman defenseman Chase Reid had two assists in 23 minutes, which you don't see from a first-year college defenseman in a game that tight.

The Spartans swept BU at Agganis last year. Puck drop Friday at 7 p.m. ET, Saturday at 4:30, both on B1G+. I'll take the split, with BU stealing Saturday, because this Terriers team doesn't fold when it's down two.

The Ferda number. BU's 2024 Hobey Baker winner and Michigan State's 2025 winner are both in the NHL now, and the gap between them is the ELC-timing argument. Macklin Celebrini has 17 points in 15 games for San Jose on 22.7 minutes a night, per NHL data. Isaac Howard has three points in 13 games for Edmonton on 8.9 minutes.

One left after a year and got the keys. One left after three and is waiting for a fourth-line door to open. The contract matters less than the depth chart you land on.

The draft count: 11 of this weekend's 35 drafted players are first-rounders, and nine of them wear green. That's the Spartans' recruiting pitch in one line.

The Hockey East weekend

Vermont at Boston College, Thursday and Friday. The Catamounts were picked last in the league. They're 3-1-0 in Hockey East, second in the standings, and Jacob Oster has a .941 save percentage and a 1.64 goals-against average in six starts. The East Side had Mathias Loiselle winning both games against UNH.

BC is 2-4-1, was picked fourth, and just split two overtime games with Northeastern. Dean Letourneau is on a seven-game point streak and BC leads the series 56-19-8, but the Eagles have been chasing games since Denver. Oster is the difference. Vermont takes one.

Providence and UConn, home-and-home, Thursday at Schneider, Saturday at Toscano. No. 9 against No. 20. The Friars took their first loss, 5-1 to Quinnipiac, but they're 2-0-0 in the league and 14th in the NPI. UConn came out of Lawler with a 5-5 tie and the shootout point. A top-four team takes three points here.

UMass at Maine, Friday and Saturday. Maine is 0-2-0 in Hockey East after blowing a 2-0 lead at BU. Ben Barr: "If you play a team like that, and you are not blocking shots, you are going to have a long night." Alfond in November is still the hardest visit in the league. Black Bears sweep.

UNH and UMass Lowell, home-and-home. Both are winless in league play, so somebody gets a conference win. Merrimack hosts Holy Cross Friday, and Northeastern goes to Worcester Saturday.

Weekend slate

1. Western Michigan at North Dakota, Friday and Saturday. The Broncos are averaging 5.7 goals a game and sit 12th in the NPI. North Dakota is on a three-game skid after Minnesota swept them and Michigan State beat them in Texas. The Ralph is where that ends or where the young defense gets exposed again.

2. Augustana at Michigan Tech. The two best teams in the CCHA, combined 13-2-1. Mathis Langevin is at .940 in eight starts, Owen Bartoszkiewicz at .942. That's a 2-1 game twice. Augustana is sixth in the NPI. It is not a fluke.

3. Wisconsin at Minnesota, Thursday and Saturday. The new No. 1 goes to Mariucci. I wrote why Wisconsin earned it yesterday, and nobody in the Big Ten has a better shot at the streak than the team that just swept North Dakota.

4. Army at Air Force. The Cadets are 5-1, 4-0 in Atlantic Hockey for the first time in program history, and J.J. Cataldo stopped all 50 shots against RIT. Seventh in the NPI. Nobody is talking about them. I am.

NPI watch

Michigan leads at 62.24, then Union, Quinnipiac and Wisconsin. Michigan State is eighth, Providence 14th, BU 15th, Vermont 17th, with Maine, Merrimack, Northeastern and UNH between 19 and 25. Denver is No. 4 in the poll and 20th in the NPI, the gap between what voters remember and what the computer counts.

A BU split moves the whole Hockey East group. A Spartans sweep pushes the league's best toward the bubble before Thanksgiving. Numbers are through Nov. 1.

Coaching note

Adam Nightingale got his 100th win in Texas in 156 games, the fastest in Michigan State history. Ron Mason needed 182, and Mason's name is on the rink BU skates into Friday.

Kessler's call: BU and Michigan State split, and Vermont beats BC at least once at Kelley Rink.