Power rankings: Who are the best Division 1 men’s hockey teams in New England?

After the disappointment of New England being shut out of last April's Frozen Four in Boston, the 2022-23 season has started on a high note for a number of the region's Division 1 men's programs.

The area boasts one team off to a program-record start, the nation's lone unbeaten, and another team with just one loss on its resume.

As for this past weekend's busy slate, a couple of nationally ranked teams managed series sweeps and a full six points in Hockey East play, providing even further proof that the region is in the midst of an ultra-competitive college hockey year.

New England Hockey Journal will size up the landscape every other week with top 10 rankings of the region's programs. Here's the first edition:

1. Connecticut (9-1-3, 6-1-2 HEA)

The Huskies continued their best start in program history after skating to 1-1 and 6-6 ties against Providence this weekend, but back-to-back shootout wins allowed them to bank four points and take sole possession of the Hockey East lead. UConn showed a flair for the dramatic twice, first as Yale graduate transfer Justin Pearson (Nashua, N.H.) scored in the 17th minute of Friday’s third period. On Saturday, UConn overcame multiple two-goal deficits before Ryan Tverberg’s goal with 4.8 seconds left forced overtime. Freshmen Samu Salminen and Jake Percival scored shootout winners, while sophomore Logan Terness and freshman Arsenii Sergeev each got a game in net. Incredible depth all over the ice has helped Mike Cavanaugh’s club climb to new heights.

2. Harvard (6-0-0, 6-0-0 ECAC)

The lone unblemished team in Division 1 men’s hockey, Harvard took care of business during its first road trip of the season to RPI and Union. The Crimson have now started two of the last three seasons with six consecutive wins. Sophomore Alex Gaffney’s overtime winner capped a two-goal effort and helped Harvard complete a three-goal comeback in a 3-2 win at RPI, while junior Sean Farrell (Hopkinton, Mass.) scored twice and sophomore Matthew Coronato had three points — upping his total to 10 on the season — en route to the Crimson beating Union, 5-1. While three goaltenders have seen action, it has been an impressive offense leading the way as Harvard has scored 26 goals and averaged 36 shots on goal through six games.

3. Quinnipiac (7-1-2, 4-0-0 ECAC)

Back-to-back series sweeps have the Bobcats out to a perfect start in ECAC play. Their five-game win streak continued with a pair of road triumphs over New England rivals Brown, 4-3, and Yale, 4-0. Local natives were right in the middle of the Quinnipiac offense as Union transfer Collin Graf (Lincoln, Mass.) netted his first collegiate hat trick at Yale, increasing his team-leading totals in goals (6) and points (11). Graduate Michael Lombardi (Barrington, R.I.) returned to his home state and scored the Bobcats’ final two goals to down the Bears on Friday. On the back end? Sophomore Yaniv Perets was steady per usual, as Saturday’s 15-save shutout was his 14th in 43 games.

4. Boston University (6-3-0, 4-2-0 HEA)

Even while playing the most challenging schedule in the country, the Terriers have climbed to the No. 1 spot in the PairWise Rankings after pulling off a Hockey East sweep of skidding UMass on Saturday. Senior Jay O’Brien (Hingham, Mass.) and junior Nick Zabaneh both scored their first goals of the season in the 5-1 win, but freshman Ryan Greene was the star of the weekend with six points between the two games. Greene had two goals and three assists in Friday’s 7-2 dubbing in Amherst, doubling his scoring output in one night. Junior Drew Commesso (Norwell, Mass.) allowed just one even-strength goal in the series.

5. Providence (6-2-3, 4-0-3 HEA)

Though the Friars kept their unbeaten Hockey East record intact, it was a down weekend in the standings after two shootout losses to UConn. During Friday’s 1-1 tie, junior Chase Yoder tallied the lone goal shorthanded and freshman Bruins prospect Philip Svedebäck made 26 saves. Senior Max Crozier had a career-high four of his now team-leading nine assists in Saturday’s 6-6 draw. Seven players scored in the series for Providence, which is still averaging 3.5 goals per game.

6. Merrimack (8-3-0, 6-1-0 HEA)

There’s a lot to like about the recent play of the Warriors, who have won five consecutive games and gone 22-9-1 over their last 32 games dating back to last season. Though Maine didn’t make things easy, Merrimack found ways to win 1-0 and 5-3 games. Former Dexter Southfield standout Matt Copponi (Mansfield, Mass.) has been a rising star, matching his nine-point freshman output through just this season’s 11 games. Copponi scored three goals in the series, with the last two coming on power plays on Saturday. Saturday was the Warriors’ second five-goal effort in as many weekends. Sophomore Hugo Ollas, who has a .950 save percentage in five conference outings, made 33 saves in Friday’s shutout.

7. Northeastern (6-3-3, 5-3-2 HEA)

After entering the series on a 3-0-1 run, the Huskies took just two Hockey East points from rival Boston College. Northeastern trailed 4-1 in the third period Friday before taking the comeback trail and forcing overtime when freshman Cam Lund (Bridgewater, Mass.) capped his first career hat trick with 0.6 seconds left. Lund, who hadn’t scored since Oct. 1, also tallied in the shootout. They fell short on Saturday after erasing a 2-0 deficit thanks to a goal and an assist by freshman Jack Williams (Biddeford, Maine). Star netminder Devon Levi kept the Huskies in both games, totaling at least 30 saves for the sixth and seventh times this season.

8. UMass Lowell (7-3-0, 4-1-0 HEA)

The River Hawks were idle this weekend, but they entered their bye week on the high of shutting out Vermont with junior Henry Welsch and his .952 save percentage on back-to-back nights. Seniors Carl Berglund and Brian Chambers (Weymouth, Mass.) have led an extremely balanced offense with nine and eight points, respectively. Fifteen different Lowell players have scored goals, including senior Zach Kaiser and freshman Scout Truman, who have a pair of game-winning talkies.

9. Massachusetts (5-5-1, 1-5-0 HEA)

A skid of any length hasn’t been commonplace in recent years for the two-time defending Hockey East champs, but two setbacks to BU this weekend kept the Minutemen winless since Oct. 28. Two of the first three losses in that stretch were in overtime before BU dominated the most recent series to the tune of a 12-3 combined score. Sophomore defenseman Ryan Ufko had a goal and an assist on Friday. UMass has a Friday night game at New Hampshire left before departing for the Friendship Four in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

10. Boston College (3-4-2, 3-3-1 HEA)

First-year coach Greg Brown’s Eagles showed resolve in earning Saturday’s 3-2 win after letting a 4-1 lead slip away a night earlier. They still managed to net four points in the Hockey East standings. Senior captain Marshall Warren’s third-period goal lifted BC to the Saturday win after freshman Cutter Gauthier — Philadelphia’s No. 5 overall draft pick over the summer — tallied twice and had three points in the series opener, continuing his pace at better than a point per game. BC had the better of the play for the majority of the weekend with 76 shots and has now scored a power-play goal in seven straight.