Gillies, Friars shutout UNH 1-0

Two of the best goaltenders in Hockey East stole the show Wednesday night in front of a sparse crowd at Providence's Schneider Arena. The game was postponed from the originally scheduled Friday contest because of the blizzard that affected the region. UNH sophomore Casey DeSmith and Friars freshman Jon Gillies both made point blank saves to keep the game scoreless for the first 57 minutes of the game.

The difference was a nice individual effort by Providence senior alternate captain Tim Schaller with just under three minutes to play in the game. Schaller made a terrific move to break into the zone where he fed Jankowski who slid it over to a charging Stefan Demopoulos just coming off the bench from a line change. The fourth line sophomore buried the puck into the back of the net before DeSmith could slide over to cover that side of the net. It was Demopoulos' first game back following a second finger injury of the season. The La Mesa, California native said when he saw the wide open net that he had thought, "It was just so wide open, just don't miss the net."

Following that late strike, the Friars hung on in the final minutes as UNH pulled its goaltender to gain the extra attacker. Gillies made one nice kick save, but other than that UNH couldn't really muster much in the way of sustained pressure or quality chances.

The game was called very tightly with eleven penalties called in the game, including a penalty shot in the final minute of the second period. The game had very little flow to it with the amount of time spent on the penalty kill for both teams. After the game, Leaman spoke of how well his team performed while down a man. "Our penalty kill came up big. We took three penalties there in the third period. It showed some immaturity, but the penalty killers went out and got the job done, and Jon Gillies was outstanding. He needed to be."

Although the big story was the Demopoulos game winner with under three minutes to play, the consistent theme throughout the game was outstanding goaltending. Gillies made 37 saves for the shutout while DeSmith saved 33 of 34 shots faced in the loss. Leaman described DeSmith as an elite goaltender and was happy his freshman "stood the test." It was the fourth shutout of his rookie season for Gillies, the Calgary Flames prospect.

The referees awarded PC sophomore Ross Mauermann a penalty shot after he was hauled down on a breakaway by Justin Agosta. The Janesville, Wisconsin native elected to go backhand on DeSmith who made a nice glove save.

The win moved Providence into sole possession of third place. Nate Leaman's team took five of six points on the season from the Wildcats. The Friars (11-10-6, 9-6-5 HE) will face Merrimack Sunday while UNH (16-8-3, 11-7-2 HE) will travel to Chestnut Hill Sunday to battle BC. Dick Umile's club remains tied for second place with Merrimack, but has played one more game.

Jeff Cox covers college hockey for SBNation. Follow him on twitter @JeffCoxSBNation.

Hockey East: UNH at Providence Line up notes

Welcome inside Schneider Arena where tonight Providence College hosts New Hampshire for the only Hockey East game of the night. The game was originally scheduled for Friday night, but was postponed because of the blizzard. The Friars are 1-0-1 against UNH this season winning earlier in the year before skating to a tie on Sunday both in Durham.

There are no real surprises in the line-up. Freshman Jon Gillies will be in goal for the Friars and sophomore Casey DeSmith gets the start in net for the Wildcats.

UNH enters the game tied for second place with Merrimack while Providence is three points back, in a tie for fourth place with Boston University.

UNH LINES

Correale-Downing-Block

Sorkin-Goumas-Henrion

Speelman-Camper-Willows

Thrush-Pavelski-Gaudreault

Kostolansky-Hardowa

Knodel-Pesce

van Riemsdyk-Agosta

DeSmith

PROVIDENCE LINES

Luke-Schaller-Jankowski

Tanev-Murphy-Army

Saracino-Mauermann-de Jersey

Demopoulos-Acciari-Brown

Gilmour-Shamanski

Harvey-Hart

Parisi-Velischek

Gillies

Jeff Cox will have live updates throughout the game on twitter @JeffCoxSBNation.

Hockey East Sunday Night Recap: Merrimack continues home win streak over UMass, ties UNH for 2nd place

Merrimack and New Hampshire finished the shortened weekend slate in a tie for second place in the Hockey East standings. The Warriors were 4-2 winners at home over UMass.

UVM shuts out Maine 3-0

Saturday night at Gutterson Field House, Maine dominated the first ten minutes of the game, but then the momentum swung and the Black Bears could never regain control. The result was a 3-0 win for the Vermont Catamounts on home ice which vaulted Kevin Sneddon's team back into eighth place in the standings.

Kyle Reynolds struck twice for the home team while Chris McCarthy picked up a goal and two assists. Brody Hoffman had to stop ten Maine shots in the first period, but only faced nine the rest of the way to pick up his second shutout of his rookie campaign.

Vermont will travel to last place Northeastern for a pair next weekend while Maine will look to rebound with a two-game home series against Boston University.

Maine at Vermont - Lineup updates

Tonight's game is almost underway in Burlington. The Maine Black Bears will square off against the Vermont Catamounts in the only Hockey East game of the night. The two teams are separated by just one point in the standings. Thanks to going 3-0-1 over the last four, Maine has moved into that coveted 8th and final playoff spot.

Junior Martin Ouellette will be in net for Maine while freshman Brody Hoffman will be the starting goaltender for Vermont. Freshman defenseman Ben Hutton is returning to the Maine lineup after missing the past several games with an upper body injury.

Hockey East Week 17 Preview: Points still crucial, despite Nemo lightening load

Several games on this weekend's Hockey East schedule have been postponed, including Friday's contest for each of the Beanpot schools, but crucial points will be at stake for the three contests still on the docket for Saturday and Sunday.