The stretch run in Hockey East has evolved into an unforeseen competitive derby and an unranked team in the middle of the pack is most responsible.

That team in the resurgent Northeastern Huskies.

Boston University and Boston College were the top two teams nationally in the USCHO rankings at the end of January and they appeared to be a runaway train with Maine in the chase.

BU and BC reversed positions after the Eagles swept a home-and homeweekend series Jan. 26- 27, but the Terriers won the third meeting in the opening round of the 71st Beanpot Tournament on Feb. 5 at the TD Garden. All the while, Maine was holding steady nationally in the No. 6 spot.

The once-struggling Huskies experienced a systemic turnaround over the same period with some impressive victories that changed the dynamic in Hockey East. The injury-riddled Huskies fell to 7-12-2 and 2-11-0 with a 2-1 home loss to UMass on Jan. 20, but they have since won six straight, with two wins over BU and one against Maine.

The Huskies (13-12-2, 6-11-0) really upset the applecart with a 4-3 overtime victory against BU in the Beanpot title game last Monday night at the Garden. The Huskies captured their second straight Beanpot and a dynastic fifth in the last six on senior left wing Gunnarwolfe Fontaine’s overtime winner.

Fontaine scored the overtime game-winner in NU’s 3-2 win against Harvard in the Beanpot opener and was named the tournament MVP.  Freshman Cameron Whitehead captured the Eberly Award as the tournament’s top goaltender.

“I feel like he (Fontaine) seems to get going the last couple of years heading into the second half of the year,” said NU third-year head coach Jerry Keefe. “He has been heating up lately and not just in the Beanpot.

“He’s been playing his best hockey and as a coach you see it every day down at the rink. This time of year is when you want to be playing your best hockey and, in these games, he has shown up.”

Northeastern’s Beanpot win over BU does not count in the Hockey East standings, but the Huskies sent a clear message across the conference with six games remaining in the regular season. NU begins a home and home against last place UMass Lowell on Friday night at the Tsongas Center.

Because of its slow start, NU’s only chance to qualify for the NCAA tournament’s field of 16 is to run the table in the Hockey East playoffs. Considering the Huskies’ recent victories against BU and Maine and an earlier win over BC, that is no longer beyond the realm of possibility.

“It is definitely something we can build into and I feel like we have been playing pretty good hockey for a little over a month and we like where our game is at,” said Keefe.

“We started to get healthy and this was a huge win. Anytime you can win on the big stage in close games that is huge for us moving forward.”

BC (21-5-1, 13-3-1) dominated Harvard 5-0 in the Beanpot consolation game, but its hold on the No. 1 spot has gotten slimmer.  Only one point (949-948) separates BC from second-place North Dakota while BU will likely fall a few places from the No. 3 spot.

Northeastern is not the only team playing a sound game of catch up in the Hockey East standings. No. 11 UMass (16-7-3, 9-5-2) is 4-1 since beating NU on Jan. 20, including a sweep of UConn last weekend. UMass will play BC in a home-and-home starting on Friday night at the Mullins Center in Amherst.

“I caught few games of theirs on TV and they look strong,” said BC second-year head coach Greg Brown. “They play well, they play fast and their power play is very dangerous. We know it is going to be a heck of a weekend and we have to be very sharp.”

BU (19-8-1, 13-4-1) is the reigning Hockey East champion and holds a one-point lead (41-40) over BC for first place in the league standings.

But the Terriers are 3-4 in their last seven and face a formidable Providence College squad in a home-and-home beginning Friday night at Schneider Arena in Providence. The No. 10 Friars (16-9-2, 9-6-2) are tied with UMass for fourth place in Hockey East.

“I like our team,” said BU second-year coach Jay Pandolfo. “We have had a little bit of a rough patch here playing three games in (eight) days but we’ve bounced back pretty well.

“I like the way we played well (against NU) but we ended up on the wrong side of it. I think we are in a good spot and I think we just have to come together as a group and get past it. We have to move forward and continue to grow and get better as a team.”