Trevor Smith of North Vancouver, Matt Fornataro of Calgary and Jacob Micflikier of Winnipeg have had a lot to do with New Hampshire's rise to No. 1 ranking in U.S. college hockey.
Smith leads Hockey East with 32 points, Fornataro has 29 and Micflikier has 27 including a conference-leading 21 assists.
The Wildcats take on No. 9 Maine this weekend.
The Black Bears' Ted Purcell of St. John's, who scored the winning goal in a 2-1 overtime victory over Northeastern last weekend, is second in the conference with 31 points. Josh Soares of Hamilton is tied with Fornataro for third place.
In their only previous meeting this season, New Hampshire won 8-2 in Maine.
Hockey East player of the week is Merrimack goaltender Jim Healey of Holyrood, N.L., who stopped 77 of 79 shots in two ties with Vermont. Defensive player of the week is Northeastern goaltender Bran Thiessen of Aldergrove, B.C., who made 60 saves in a split at Maine.
Kevin Jarman of Aurora, Ont., a senior forward with Massachusetts, scored twice in a 6-3 win over Massachusetts-Lowell.