DU Tops North Dakota, Stays Atop NCHC

Defending NCAA champion Denver has solidified its hold on first place in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference.

The fourth-ranked Pioneers upended visiting North Dakota, 5-3, on Friday evening at Magness Arena to improve to 22-7-0 overall this season, and 13-4-0 in the NCHC. UND dropped to 12-12-4 overall (6-9-2 NCHC). 

Carter Mazur scored twice for DU, to break a personal five-game pointless string, while Mike Benning had two assists for the Pioneers and Magnus Chrona made 34 saves in net. Jackson Blake set up two goals for the Fighting Hawks, who finished 2-for-8 on the power play. Jakob Hellsten stopped 11 of 12 shots for UND after relieving starter Drew DeRidder, who took the loss after surrendering four goals on 11 shots against.

DU is now five points ahead of second-place Western Michigan in the NCHC standings, while UND remains tied for sixth place with Colorado College. DU and UND  meet again tonight in Denver to close out their regular-season series, with the Pioneers having won all three meetings so far this season. 

MSU Surprises Notre Dame in OT, 1-0

Mitchell Lewandowski connected just 33 seconds into overtime to break a scoreless tie and send Michigan State to a 1-0 win at Notre Dame in Big Ten play on Saturday night. 

Lewandowski snapped a shot home from the high slot off a rush for his seventh goal of the season and second game-winner, after the two teams had played 60 scoreless minutes at Compton Family Ice Arena in South Bend, Ind. Drew DeRidder made 30 saves for the Spartans to earn his fourth career NCAA shutout, while Ryan Bischel stopped 23 of 24 shots for the Fighting Irish in defeat. The win also salvaged a series split for MSU, which fell to UND by a 3-2 count on Friday, despite taking an early two-goal lead.

MSU (10-7-1 overall, 5-5-0 Big Ten) has now won six of its last eight outings overall, and will return to action on Dec. 29 against visiting Western Michigan in the first round of this season's Great Lakes Invitational. UND (12-5-0, 6-4-0) is now off until Jan. 1-2 when it will host Niagara.

MSU Sweeps Miami at Munn Arena

For the first time in three seasons, Michigan State hockey is 3-1-0 overall.

Following a season-opening split with visiting Air Force two weeks ago, the Spartans played rude host to former CCHA rival Miami (Ohio) this past weekend. MSU swept the Red Hawks by 2-1 and 3-1 scores at Munn Ice Arena on Oct. 15-16, respectively, in a matchup of teams from the Big Ten (MSU) and NCHC (Miami). It was the first meetings of the two schools since the final/original CCHA tournament in March 2013, and the first MSU win(s) over the Red Hawks since March 2012.

Erik Middendorf tallied the game-winning goal for MSU with less than two minutes remaining in regulation in the opener on Friday, while Drew DeRidder preserved the victory by making 35 saves. In the nightcap on Saturday, Jeremy Davidson scored twice for the Spartans, including the game-winner late in the third period, while Pierce Charleson finished with 28 stops in net.

MSU now takes to the road for its next action, a pair of contests at Hockey East opponent UMass Lowell on Oct. 22-23.

BC, MSU Post Wins Against Rivals

Both Boston College and Michigan State men's hockey got back on track Friday night—and both did so against their respective arch-rivals.

BC rebounded from a one-goal deficit to post a 4-1 win at Boston University's Agganis Arena  as Joseph Woll made 38 saves for the Eagles, and Logan Hutsko scored two goals, including the second-period game-winner. BC (4-6-1 overall) will now host BU (4-7-1) at Kelley Rink on Saturday.

At Munn Arena, MSU's Mitchell Lewandowski notched the game-winner halfway through the third period as the Spartans (6-7-0) came back from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits to top Michigan. Drew DeRidder made 43 saves for MSU, which also got three assists from Taro Hirose. U-M (6-6-2) will host the back end of the home-and home series Saturday night at Yost Arena in Ann Arbor.