Northeastern visits BU with the top of Hockey East on the line
The No. 4 Huskies swept RIT by a combined 13-1, and the Terriers are better than their 2-5-1 record says.
Northeastern goes to Boston University this weekend as the fourth-ranked team in the country, and both teams walk in unbeaten in Hockey East. I like the Huskies to take three points out of the weekend, but BU is better than its 2-5-1 says, and the last time these two met it took two overtimes.
The Huskies are 5-1-1 and fourth in this week's USCHO poll. They just swept RIT on the road, 5-0 and 8-1, and outshot the Tigers 87-37 across the two games, by our count from the box scores. Lisa Jönsson made 18 saves for the Friday shutout, and Renna Trembecky stopped 18 of 19 on Saturday.
The depth is the story. Morgan Jackson had five assists on the weekend. Allie Lalonde had a goal and four helpers. Grace Sadura scored three times, two of them on Saturday. When ten different players score in a weekend, the other team can't take away one line and call it a plan.
BU's record is lying a little
BU hosted the Ice Breaker last weekend and came out of it with a split that felt worse than it was. Yale won the semifinal 3-2 on a Cami Bell goal with 50.1 seconds left.
The Terriers came back the next day and beat Robert Morris 2-1 for third, on goals from Kaileigh Quigg and Keira Healey, and killed seven penalties.
"We have higher standards for ourselves," coach Tara Watchorn said.
They should. BU has five points from its two Hockey East games, and the league table has Boston College on 7, Northeastern on 6 and BU on 5 at the top.
Quigg missed the first few weeks of the season and is just getting going. Freshman goalie Emeline Grennan is the name to watch, because a young goalie facing a team that just put 87 shots on goal in two nights is how a weekend gets away from you.
Rivalry file
These two ended BU's season in February: a Hockey East quarterfinal, decided 1:14 into the second overtime, 2-1 Northeastern. The Huskies finished last year 27-7-1. BU finished 11-21-3. That gap has closed fast in October, at least in the standings.
It's also the 25th season of women's Hockey East, and the league's best weekend is a cross-town one. Boston College, new to the poll at No. 15, hosts Vermont on the same two days.
The weekend
Friday, 6 p.m. ET, and Saturday, 4 p.m. ET, both at BU.
The W read: Northeastern's depth wins Friday, and BU's penalty kill steals a point on Saturday. If the Terriers get more than that, the Hockey East race is a three-team fight by Halloween.
