UMaine hockey captain Lynden Breen, center, fights for the puck while practicing at the Alfond Arena earlier this season. Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer

Maine Trust for Local News sports columnist Travis Lazarczyk is a voter in the U.S. College Hockey Online men’s poll. Each week he will share his top 20, as well as hit on a few items of interest in the sport.

A few tweaks, but not much change from last week’s ballot:

1. Boston College
2. Minnesota
3. Western Michigan
4. Maine
5. Michigan State
6. Denver
7. Ohio State
8. Providence
9. Arizona State
10. UConn
11. Michigan
12. Boston University
13. Minnesota State
14. UMass Lowell
15. Quinnipiac
16. UMass
17. North Dakota
18. Colorado College
19. Augustana
20. Omaha

Black Bears impress on the road: Most rational fans knew if Maine could get a split at Providence last weekend, it would be a successful weekend. Like Maine, Providence has spent much of the season ranked in the top 10 of the poll and the PairWise, so a split wouldn’t have been a worst-case scenario at all. Instead, Maine earned a tie and shootout win Friday, and a 1-0 overtime victory Saturday. Now that we’re in the second half of the regular season, Maine’s identity is well-established. This is a team that looks to grind opponents down defensively while capitalizing on scoring opportunities. Maine ranks fourth in the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 1.74 goals per game, with goalie Albin Boija second in the country in goals against average (1.61) and ninth in save percentage (.931). Offensively, Taylor Makar is on a heater, with seven goals in his last five games. All three of Makar’s goals at Providence either tied the game or put the Black Bears ahead. His short-handed breakaway goal in the third period Friday knotted the game at 2-2, and his goal late in the game tied it at 3-3 and sent it to OT. He scored the OT game-winner on Saturday. Makar now has 13 goals and 10 assists for 23 points, second on the team behind Harrison Scott (15-14–29). The Black Bears host rival UNH for a pair of games this week. The Wildcats come to Orono in need of victories. UNH (11-12-3), 1-8 in its last nine games, sits in last place in Hockey East.

How strong is Hockey East? In a word, strong, and a glance at the PairWise rankings proves it. The PairWise rankings are used by the NCAA to select and seed the tournament. It ranks all the teams in Division I, from one to 64. As of Monday morning, each of the 11 teams in Hockey East is ranked inside the top 25. The only conference that comes close to matching this is the Big Ten, which has six of its seven members in the top 25 (Notre Dame is No. 44). Five of the top 10 in the PairWise hail from Hockey East: No. 1 Boston College, No. 4 Maine, No. 6 Providence, as well as UConn and Boston University, which are a three-way tie with Denver at No. 8.

Non-conference games this weekend of interest to Maine fans: Maine’s best non-conference wins are a pair over Quinnipiac and one over Denver. With the PairWise ranking tight, those victories help Maine stay near the top. The more Quinnipiac and Denver win, the stronger the Black Bears’ schedule becomes. Denver hosts North Dakota for two games this weekend. Fans can find Friday’s game on the CBS Sports Network at 9 p.m. Quinnipiac is on the road for two games this weekend, at Union on Friday and at RPI Saturday. Both games are available on ESPN+.