Hockey East: Team Takeaways, Part II

Another week gone by, and with it another set of games for our 10 squads in Hockey East. While a more in-depth monthly breakdown will be available shortly, before that there are still half of our teams that haven’t gotten a team takeaway done just yet — so that’s what we’re here to do today. 

I know, I know I said this would be available last week. But I’m here now, and is there a better way to celebrate the first real weekend of conference action than by looking at some more takeaways? I don’t believe so. 

Hockey East: Team Takeaways, Part I

With a month gone by in the 2025-26 season, what better time than now to look at some takeaways for the squads in Hockey East?

The Ice GardenEmma Sullivan

Merrimack: They’ve had some highs! And some lows…

At the end of the day, when you can take down a top-15 opponent, it’s always a plus. And Merrimack did just that, in fairly dominant fashion with a 5-3 win over Clarkson opening weekend of the season. 

Fairly dominant at least on the scoreboard, as their other stats weren’t as reassuring. They won just 19 of 62 faceoffs, and were out shot 46-17. But a win is a win, and all credit to freshman Lauren Lyons for being as solid as she was that day in net. 

Since then though, it’s been pretty rough for the Warriors. They lost six of their next eight, tied another one, and secured the lone win for October against Lindenwood on the 11th. 

As I said before the season, there needed to be a quick gelling of the newest names on the team in order to succeed. And certainly there have been bright spots: transfer Avery Anderson is second on the team with seven points through eight games (only a point behind Emma Pfeffer for the team lead), while fellow newcomer Hailey Eikos leads all defenders with a goal and four assists in her first appearances in the blue and gold. Additionally, overall offensive metrics seem promising, with a 2.3 average per game — half a goal better than last season. 

So yes, generally speaking Merrimack has had moments this year, but they’re not completely out of it just yet. If they can get similar performances from Lyons and their other netminder that they got opening weekend, things may look up. But if the drubbing from UNH this weekend was any clue, that might be easier said than done. 

New Hampshire: A lot of good signs so far

Overall, UNH has a pretty solid record at the end of the first month of play, sitting at 5-4-1 at the beginning of November. Sure, they might not have had the most difficult schedule through the first few weeks, but wins are wins, and any momentum to build moving forward is a plus. 

Starting off the positives for the Wildcats, we have wins against Union and Assumption which are great, especially after dropping a shootout game against the latter last season. Plus, playing competitive games against BU, Brown, and Mercyhurst — who all have seen time in the top-15 this season — is a good sign moving forward. And of course there was their offensive onslaught this weekend against Merrimack, where they outscored the Warriors 13-4 across two games. 

The best note, I’d argue, is that Sedona Blair and Noemi Martinez are making saves, and making saves when they need them. Both goaltenders are currently rocking save percentages over .930, and are second and fourth respectively in the conference in the statistic. I’m not expecting this to operate at the same clip all season, but out of the gate all signs are pointing in the right direction for the two netminders. 

Before the outstanding performances against Merrimack, offensive numbers did leave a little to be desired. However, if the Wildcats can capitalize on the success built by their productive weekend, it could be a concern for the teams next on their schedule. 

Northeastern: Offense is clicking again, defensively there are some worries 

It’s not a secret that for the last two years Northeastern’s offense has left a lot to be desired. That doesn’t seem to be the case this season however, as the team continually is finding ways to score at all times. 

Headlined by captain Lily Shannon (4-9-13), and their newest young guns — sophomores Éloïse Caron and Morgan Jackson, and rookie sensation Stryker Zablocki who are all operating at a point per game pace — the Huskies have found a groove heading into the second month of the season. 

They’ve already reached the 30 goal mark through just eight games of their campaign, something that took 12 games last year. What is even more promising is their power play production — after going ice cold to start the year in 2024-25, Northeastern is already operating at a 27.8% clip to open this season, with 10 goals on the advantage (four of those did come against BU on Saturday alone). 

It’s not all sunshine and rainbows, however. Sophomore goaltender Lisa Jönsson’s numbers don’t look stellar so far with an .902 SV%. Though in her early appearances she didn’t face too many shots, which is skewing her numbers slightly. Then there’s the departure of Tuva Kandell a mere six games into the season, leaving a substantial hole on the blue line as the former HEA All-Rookie team honoree returned home to play in the SDHL. 

What it boils down to is yes, Northeastern looks solid to start the year. A 0-2 weekend against Quinnipiac doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence, but a sweep of BU and a shutout over Providence is a great way to start Hockey East action, and of course every point will count throughout the course of the season. If they continue to keep scoring this way, good things will continue to happen. As long as they can keep the puck out of the net. 

Providence: A young team making young mistakes 

On a roster of 27 in Providence this season, nine of those are freshmen. Which isn’t the craziest amount, until you look at their defensive core — which now consists of one senior, one junior, and seven underclassmen. 

So yeah. It’s not a complete shock that the Friars’ defensive metrics have taken a step back to open the season. And by step back I mean almost doubled their goals against per game in their first few weeks. 

Will that average back out? Almost definitely (re: hopefully). 

I will say that the majority of their opponents to commence the season were nationally ranked at the time they played them, which both hurts and helps their numbers. Wins against then-#9 Clarkson and then-#13 St. Thomas are both positive signs, even if the win against the Tommies was almost lost with four-straight goals against in the third period. But if there’s any way to get your newest skaters acclimatized to the competition in the NCAA, it’s to play them against the toughest competition you can. And Providence has come as close to that as they could. 

Other positive notes are Reichen Kirchmair is still pretty damn good (I mean, four goals in a single game is absurd every day of the week), and Audrey Knapp remains a force as well. Plus the power play overall is middle of the pack in conference action, a consistent place dating back to last year. 

Where they’ve taken a step back is in the goaltending department — which is honestly a shock considering how reliable Hope Walinski has been over her seasons in Providence. The fifth-year goaltender is operating at a career-worst .901 SV% to start the season, and has given up half of the amount of goals she gave up last year in a third of the games. Does it go back to the youth in front of her on the blueline? Undoubtedly. But there’s only so much time in the season to get back on track, and if things continue this way for her it could spiral out of control for the Friars quickly. 

Vermont: Respectfully… what is happening here 

Okay so I’ll say it — this team confuses the hell out of me. They had a ranked win against St. Lawrence early in October, though yes SLU is not performing well out of the gate, then lost two weeks later to Franklin Pierce, and followed it up with a win and then a tie against Boston College. 

On paper, defensively this team is solid. They’re allowing just 2.5 goals per game, have limited their opponents to 25.7 shots per game on average, and are getting pretty good goaltending from Ellie Simmons and Zoe Cliche, the latter of whom sits at a .953 SV% in 140 minutes. 

But then you look at the offense, and you really look at the special teams, and things start to fall apart. 

Yes, a 1.9 G/GM is better than the 1.4 from last season, and Stella Retrum, as predicted, is a welcome addition as the team leader in points with seven, while fellow transfer Lauren O’Hara is right behind her at six points. 

But a 9.4 PP% leaves a lot to be desired, as does the 16-for-22 (72.7%) penalty kill, the worst mark in Hockey East. What the biggest difference from last year is though, is in the faceoff dot. After winning over 52% of draws last year, that is now down to a 49.5% mark. If you’re unable to control the dot at the jump as effectively, it’s going to have repercussions on the rest of your game. And we’re seeing that obviously with the Catamounts. 

Coming up next their schedule doesn’t get easier either, with Northeastern looming, followed by series against UNH, UConn, and top-five nationally ranked Cornell to close out the month. 

I’m not sure where they end November, but what I do know is that if they’re still giving up a goal on the power play nearly 30% of the time when we enter December, it’s not going to look too pretty for the Catamounts. 

Hockey East play continues as the calendar flips to November, with all teams in action on Friday. All games are available to stream on ESPN+.