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BOSTON -- There's a hockey renaissance taking place in the Hub.

Sure, the Bruins have captured a lot of attention with their race to the top of the NHL standings. And it's hard not to notice a Boston University team with its pedigreed roster and No. 2 national ranking.

But the real resurgence isn't taking place on Causeway Street or Commonwealth Avenue. No, it's taking place in a hockey cathedral that's tucked away on normally quiet Saint Botolph Street in the Back Bay.

Steve BabineauIn his fourth season at Northeastern, coach Greg Cronin has the Huskies back on a winning path.

There, the denizens of the Dog House have the rafters rocking at the 99-year-old Matthews Arena this season. And at 15-5-2, Northeastern University, long an afterthought on the college hockey landscape, is playing like it doesn't plan to surrender its Hockey East-leading status or its standing-room only crowds any time soon.

Last weekend, Greg Cronin's then-No. 3 squad split a pair of home games against No. 7 Vermont -- with Northeastern winning 3-1 Friday night before dropping a 4-2 decision Saturday.

The scene outside the Huskies' dressing room after the loss was part frustration and part quiet resolve.

"It's definitely a learning experience," captain Joe Vitale said. "You definitely have to learn from the negatives. We need to figure out what we did wrong and move on."

On the other underside of the arena, the Catamounts were just happy to have two points for the long bus ride back to Burlington.

"To come into Matthews Arena and salvage a split after [Friday] night is big for us," Vermont coach Kevin Sneddon said following the Saturday win. "They're a tremendous team, Greg's done a great job with the program and it's great to see Matthews alive and rocking like it was -- it's good for the league. We feel fortunate to come away with two hard-earned points."

That wasn't the expectation in recent years.

Just three years ago, Northeastern sputtered to a 3-24-7 finish in Cronin's first year behind the bench. And the Huskies haven't enjoyed a winning season since 2001-02. Historically it hasn't been much better. Northeastern has only one Hockey East title (1988) to its credit, and the Huskies' last NCAA tournament trip was way back in 1994.

Not exactly hockey royalty in an area that has seen three national championships by BU (1995) and Boston College (2001, '08) in that same time frame.

Vermont was the first visiting team to register a win this season at what used to be called the Boston Arena -- the original home of the Bruins from 1924 to 1928. Now 6-1-1 on home ice, the Huskies are determined not to have a repeat of last season.

In 2007-08, Northeastern showed signs of a turnaround with an 11-5-2 start but faded down the stretch to finish 16-18-3.

"The first lesson we learned is that the consistency that you need to play with has to be measured every day," Cronin said about last year's 5-13-1 fall to the finish. "[Goalie Brad Thiessen] was the first one that came forward and said that his play suffered during that stretch and it had a ripple effect on the team. I think the one thing that comes out of it when you go through that experience, you have to learn and grow from it and use it as an empowering opportunity."

Consider the Huskies empowered. At least for now.

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Jim PierceBrad Thiessen's spectacular play might be the key to Northeastern's success.

As impressive as a current No. 5 national ranking looks, it's the 11-3-1 mark in Hockey East that really matters right now. Just past the halfway point in conference play, Northeastern holds a four-point lead over BU for the top spot in the league.

"The key to our success has been well-documented -- that's our goaltender," Cronin said. "He's been terrific, and when your goalie's good, your penalty kill is good. If there is one common, reliable asset for us it's been our goaltending and penalty killing."

How good has Thiessen been?

His .940 save percentage is fourth-best in the nation and his 15 wins have him tied for second in Division I. In six of his past eight starts, he has allowed two or fewer goals. In conference play, the junior from Aldergrove, British Columbia, has a stellar 1.85 goals against average to go along with a .945 save percentage.

If Thiessen can continue to post those kinds of results and if the Huskies have truly turned the corner in terms of understanding what it takes to become a consistent winner, Northeastern could realistically make its first March trip to the new Boston Garden for the Hockey East tournament.

"We're a year older and we've kind of grown together," Thiessen said. "We've gone through the growing pains, and learning how to win was a big part of it. Last year, we really didn't expect to win and kind of surprised some teams. Now there's a feeling in the room where we go out every night and expect to win and we play that way.

"We know that we're going to have to win two games on a weekend to go anywhere in this league -- especially down the road against a good team in the playoffs."

And that's exactly what every other team in Hockey East is thinking about Northeastern this season.

David Albright covers college sports for ESPN.com and can be reached at espncaa@gmail.com.