from David Albright of ESPN,

Maybe it was a case of anything you can do, we can do better. Or maybe on this one night, it was simply that two hosts weren't going to be denied a couple of servings of home cooking.

Either way, college hockey's ultimate hardware will be staying in the east for another year.

Thursday's Frozen Four national semifinals at the TD Garden were a pair of east-vs.-west matchups between event-host Hockey East and the NCHC. In the matinee, Providence College matter-of-factly skated to a 4-1 victory over Nebraska-Omaha. Then, in the prime-time match, Boston University added drama to the script, as the 5-3 final over North Dakota wasn't decided until the closing seconds.

In the end, it sets up the first all-Hockey East final since 1999, when Maine beat New Hampshire 3-2 in overtime.

And the semifinal wins ensure Hockey East of its fifth national title in the past eight years.

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