UNH 6, Providence 4

The University of New Hampshire Wildcats are the champions of Hockey East. With a 6-4 win over Providence before a Whittemore Center sellout, UNH locked up at least a share of the title, and pending the outcome of Boston University's game against Vermont (after two periods, it's 1-0 BU the Wildcats could be solo champs by the time they take the ice Saturday in Providence.

UNH (23-6-2, 18-4-2) 2-2-2 -- 6
PC (7-21-3, 6-15-3)   1-3-0 -- 4

GOALIE SAVES
Kevin Regan UNH (10-13-13) -- 36
Tyler Sims, PC (11-7-4) -- 22

Providence's Greg Collins opened the scoring by forcing UNH's Brad Flaishans into a turnover near the side of the net, then burying the puck under the crossbar from low in the faceoff circle to Regan's right.

The Friar lead didn't last long, though. With the teams skating four on four, Josh Ciocco had a bid that went wide, but Jacob Micflikier quickly got to the rebound and threw it at the net from along the left goal line. He didn't have much angle, but somehow got the puck into the skates of Sims, who inadvertently kicked it behind himself.

The Cats waited only 37 seconds to strike again. This time it was another rebound, with Shawn Vinz getting himself in the right place when Greg Collins's (the UNH version) shot was kicked out to the slot by Sims and burying it into the empty side.

Providence evened the game at 2 just 5:17 into the second, with Tony Zancanaro lifting the puck over Kevin Regan's left pad on a rebound.

UNH then took a brief 3-2 lead when Brett Hemingway forced a turnover, finding Mike Radja, who found Micflikier for his second goal of the night by firing five-hole. However, only 60 seconds later Deering's Jon Rheault knotted the game for the third time, popping Mark Fayne's cross-crease pass over Regan.

Rheault then set up another Friar tally about four minutes later, pushing a pass to Cody Wild at the far post for the Providence player to stuff in for a 4-3 lead with 6:36 remaining in the middle stanza. The power-play goal snapped the team's 0-for-63 slump with the man advantage.

Staying with the theme of the night -- and it's a theme too fast for me to keep up with -- UNH answered quickly, climbing out of a 4-3 deficit that lasted only 1:35. Again it was Micflikier, who capped his hat trick by firing from the right faceoff circle and knotting the game at 4.

Just 2:02 into the third, Bobby Butler gave UNH the lead when he carried a pass from Jerry Pollastrone over the blue line, got to the left circle, then fired over Sims's shoulder to make it 5-4.

Thomas Fortney then got in the act with 12:11 remaining, taking a pass from Collins near the left circle and simply throwing a backhander on net. It was a rather soft shot, but it beat Sims to make it 6-4. It was only UNH's 27th shot of the night.

• Kevin Regan made his eighth straight start for New Hampshire.
• UNH is 9-1-1 in its last 11 against Providence.
• Providence has outshot UNH, 25-21, through two periods.
• Vinz's goal was his fourth of the season, and fourth of a four-year career. Micflikier now has 10 on the season and 57 for his career.
• With his three goals, Micflikier now has 146 career points, moving past coach Dick Umile (144) and into 28th on the team's all-time scoring list. Umile needed just 87 games to reach the feat, while Micflikier has played 147.
• Rheault's goal was his ninth of the year, giving him four more than any other Friar.
• Providence's Bryan Horan was taken to a Dover hospital after taking a stick in the eye midway through the second period. His status for tonight's game is unknown.
• The six goals matched UNH's most prolific output of the season at home, tying Nov. 3's 6-3 win over Providence.
• Chris Murray had six penalty minutes, bringing his total to 72 for the season and 179 for his career. Still, the assistant captain is nowhere near the club records held by Scott Malone, who had 162 penalty minutes in 1992-93, and 310 minutes over the course of a three-year career. 
• UNH remained second in the PairWise Rankings, trailing only Minnesota. Boston University, meanwhile, is on the brink of a No. 1 seed with the fifth ranking, Maine (9) and Boston College (11) project as No. 3 seeds, and Massachusetts (15) and Vermont (17) remain on the postseason bubble.