On Friday Oct. 18, the UConn men’s ice hockey team will travel to Agganis Arena in Boston, M.A., looking to topple No. 3 Boston University in the team’s first Hockey East contest of the year.
UConn and BU have met 27 times since their inaugural matchup in 2013. In that time, BU holds a superior 16-9-2 record when facing the Huskies. The Huskies have lost their last four meetings with the Terriers, not having won since Oct. 10, 2022. This is the longest losing streak held by either team when facing one another.
The last time these two teams met, BU made short work of the Huskies. In a two-game weekend series the Terriers swept UConn, where they outscored the Huskies by a margin of 12-1 over the two games.
UConn is coming off a split weekend series with Holy Cross. The Huskies fell in game one 4-3 before earning a decisive 3-1 victory in game two. UConn edged out with a 6-5 scoring advantage over the Crusaders.
The Huskies will have to watch out for the Terriers third-year forward Quinn Hutson. Huston has made four assists this season, tying him for the team lead in points. Last year, he scored two goals and tallied an assist in his two games against UConn. Third-year forward Ryan Greene will be another focus in this game. He has netted two goals and tacked on an assist through two games this season and is tied as the team’s leading goal scorer.
The Terriers have been undisciplined to start the year, committing on average 8.5 penalties, while spending 28.5 minutes in the box per game. BU has already committed two major penalties through their first two games. Adversely, the Huskies have been much more composed, only committing 4.8 penalties for 9.5 minutes per game. UConn has also yet to commit a major penalty in their four games played.
With this in mind, power play is sure to be a prevalent story in the game. In their series with Holy Cross, UConn struggled to convert with a man advantage. The Huskies failed to score on the power play through two games, despite having 10 chances. On the season, UConn has only capitalized on one of their 16 opportunities. To add on to their struggles, BU’s penalty kill team has been air-tight to this point in the season, only allowing one goal through ten opportunities.
If UConn is to be successful in this game, they will need to take advantage of any opportunity they get with BU short-handed.
The puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. as UConn hopes to stun one of the nation’s best.