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Surprise! Merrimack Wins Hockey East, Forces Way Into NCAA Tournament: Puck Drop

Your daily briefing on what's going on in college hockey, everything from the assists on the ice to the Zamboni.
Christopher Walsh|
Sophomore forward Ryan O'Connell got the opening goal as Merrimack won its first Hockey East title with a 2-1 victory over Connecticut.
Sophomore forward Ryan O'Connell got the opening goal as Merrimack won its first Hockey East title with a 2-1 victory over Connecticut. | John Sexton/Boston College On SI
  1. AHA Tournament
  2. Big Ten Tournament
  3. ECAC Tournament
  4. NCHC Tournament
  5. Women's Frozen Four
  6. Puck Drop: Sunday, March 22, 2026
  7. Hockey Quote of the Day
  8. We'll Leave You With This ...

Merrimack and Dartmouth both pulled off historic wins for their progarms as the final college hockey counference tournament championships were held Saturday evening.

Junior goaltender Max Lundgren continued to hot streak by making a career-high 49 saves to led the Warriors to their first Hockey East title by knocking off Connecticut 2-1 in front of 15,759 fans at TD Garden. Merrimack became the first eighth-seed in the tournament to win the championship, and the frist to defeat the top three teams along the way (Providence and Massachusetts in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively).

After a scoreless first period, with Lundgren making his first 12 stops, Merrimack opened the scoring at 2:29 of the second on a goal by sophomore Ryan O’Connell, who took advantage of a blast by teammate that went wide of the net and came off the end boards to him in the low slot.

Ethan Whitcomb scored UConn's lone goal by slamming home a rebound off Lundgren at 17:22 of the second period. But Merrimack scored 26 seconds into the third period when Caelan Fitzpatrick did likewise to puck that bounced off Tyler Muszelik.

Lundgren was named tournament MVP. His 49 saves were the most in a Hockey East title game that ended in regulation eclipsing the 43 by Boston University’s Matt Delguidice in 1989.

He was a unanimous selection to the Steve Nazro All-Tournament Team and was joined by teammates Nathan King, Trevor Hoskin and O’Connell. Also named were UConn defenseman Tom Messineo and Boston College forward Dean Letourneau.

It was the first-ever postseason meeting between Merrimack and Connecticut, as UConn joined Hockey East in 2015 and Merrimack in 1989-90. With the win, Merrimack secured the league's automatic bid for the NCAA Tournament, while the Huskies appeared to make the 16-team field as well as the last non-league champion to get an at-large spot.

AHA Tournament

Championship
Saturday, March 21
Bentley 3, Sacred Heart 2

Kellan Hjartarson scored two goals in the third period as Bentley came from behind to win its second straight Atlantic Hockey championship. Freshman goaltender Lukas Swedin made 24 saves to get the win.

All-Tournament team: Bentley sophomore Michael Mesic, Sacred Heart senior Marcus Joughin, Hjartarson, Bentley sophomore David Helledy, Robert Morris freshman John Babcock, and Swedin.

Big Ten Tournament

Championship
Saturday, March 21
Michigan 7, Ohio State 3

Michigan set a Big Ten Tournament record for most goals in a championship game while winning their third Big Ten Tournament title in five years and a conference-high fourth overall. T.J. Hughes, who was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, scored the game-winner with 11:41 left in regulation before a sold-out crowd of 5,800 at Yost Ice Arena.

All-Tournament team: Hughes, Michigan forward Jayden Perron, Ohio State forward Jake Karabela, Michigan defenseman Luca Fantilli, Ohio State defneseman William Smith, Michigan goaltender Jack Ivankovic.

ECAC Tournament

Championship
Saturday, March 21
At Lake Placid, N.Y.
Dartmouth 2, Princeton 1 (OT)

Tim Busconi's wrist shot through a screen in overtime gave Dartmouth its first ECAC Hockey Championship (it hadn't reached the championship game since 1980). Junior goaltender Emmett Croteau made 25 saves to pick up his 15th win of the season.

Croteau finished with a 0.46 goals against average and a .982 save percentage to be named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament.

NCHC Tournament

Championship
Saturday, March 21
Denver 4, Minnesota Duluth 3 (2OT)

Freshman forward Kristian Epperson netted the game-winner 1:54 into the second overtime as Denver captured its fourth National Cup and 19th-overall tournament title. Senior forward Rieger Lorenz and freshman forward Clarke Caswell both had a goal and an assist, and junior defenseman Garrett Brown had a career-high two assists. Pioneers goaltender Johnny Hicks was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player honors after making a career-high 41 saves including 14 saves in the first overtime. Max Plante, Grayden Siepmann and Hunter Andersonscord for Minnesota Duluth.

Women's Frozen Four

Championship Game
Sunday, March 22
At Pegula Ice Aren, Penn State
1 Ohio State vs. No. 2 Wisconsin, ESPNU, 4 p.m. ET

Puck Drop: Sunday, March 22, 2026

• Wisconsin senior Caroline Harvey was named the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award winner as the most outstanding played in women's college hockey during the 2025-26 season. She's just the third defender to win the sport's version of the Heisman Trophy. Minnesota's Abbey Murphy and Penn State's Tessa Janecke were the other finalists. Harvey was also named the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics Most Valuable Player after Team USA won the gold medal.

• Remember the $100,000 prize Jack Hughes landed from the Pat McAfee Show? He donated it to the Gaudreau Family Foundation, drawing heartfelt gratitude from the family honoring Johnny and Matthew. For more check out Breakaway On SI.

• Former Wisconsin forward Cole Caufield had hat trick and had two assists for a career-high five points as the Montreal Canadiens won 7-3 against the visiting New York Islanders.

• American goaltender Anthony Stolarz took a puck to the throat during warmups and was taken to a hospital for precautionary imaging. Former Boston College goaltender Joseph Woll made 38 saves in the emergency start, but the Toronto Maple Leafs lost 5-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators.

Hockey Quote of the Day

“Hockey is a metaphor for life. You have to be willing to get knocked down and get back up.”
Mike Eruzione

We'll Leave You With This ...

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Published
Christopher Walsh
CHRISTOPHER WALSH

Christopher Walsh is the founder and publisher of Alabama Crimson Tide On SI, which first published as BamaCentral in 2018, and is also the publisher of the Boston College, Missouri and Vanderbilt sites . He's covered the Crimson Tide since 2004 and is the author of 27 books including “100 Things Crimson Tide Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die” and “Nick Saban vs. College Football.” He's an eight-time honoree of Football Writers Association of America awards and three-time winner of the Herby Kirby Memorial Award, the Alabama Sports Writers Association’s highest writing honor for story of the year. In 2022, he was named one of the 50 Legends of the ASWA. Previous beats include the Green Bay Packers, Arizona Cardinals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, along with Major League Baseball’s Arizona Diamondbacks. Originally from Minnesota and a graduate of the University of New Hampshire, he currently resides in Tuscaloosa.

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