Eight teams qualify for the Hockey East Tournament, and on Friday, the 2008-09 playoffs began for the most competitive conference in college hockey.
Here are how the eight playoff teams fared in Game 1 of their best-of-three series.
Boston University 2, Maine 1
The nation's No. 1 school made it clear that it is still the best in the country. Boston University defeated the University of Maine 2-1 after falling behind early. The Terriers trailed 1-0 to the Black Bears before tying it up in the second, and going ahead in the third on the game-winner from Colby Cohen at 17:04. The Terriers are headed to the NCAA Tournament no matter what, but they also moved a game closer to winning the Hockey East Tournament first.
UMass Amherst 2, Northeastern 1
Northeastern lost the No. 1 seed in the Hockey East on the last day of the season, and then the Huskies lost their first game of the Hockey East tournament. Northeastern fell to UMass Amherst 2-1 in the first game of the tourney, after being outscored in the third period. Neither team was able to score until the final period as Chris Davis gave UMass Amherst the lead for good with 12:30 remaining in the game.
Boston College 4, New Hampshire 3
Boston College showed its playoff intensity, beating the University of New Hampshire in the first game of the Hockey East quarterfinals. BC jumped out to a 4-0 lead, thanks to two goals from Brock Bradford, and almost gave the lead back before holding on for the 4-3 win. James van Riemsdyk scored two goals for UNH.
UMass Lowell 4, Vermont 3, OT
Vermont blew a 3-1 lead against UMass Lowell and wound up losing at home 4-3 in overtime. UMass Lowell's Nick Shaus tied the score at three with 30 seconds remaining in regulation, and Maury Edwards netted the game-winner in OT with two seconds to go in the overtime period.
