The Huskies opened their weekend series against the Providence Friars on Friday, Nov. 7. The series consisted of a home game on Friday for the Huskies, followed by a match in Providence the following day.
To start the first period for the Huskies, they found themselves with a powerplay opportunity in the opening two minutes. The Huskies, however, were only able to get one shot off until the Friars got back to full strength. Soon after, Connecticut found themselves defending a powerplay, but they were able to defend well, allowing four shots on goal but keeping the score at a deadlock. Later in the period, Providence’s Logan Sawyer opened up the scoring with a power play goal in the 16th minute. This would put the Friars up 1-0 to close out the opening period.
The Huskies came out fired up in the second period; however, they gave up a goal early in the second minute of play. The Huskies then faced another power play on defense a minute later as they defended well, allowing just one shot on goal to keep Providence’s lead to only two. The Huskies battled hard for the rest of the period before getting a power play opportunity as Sawyer was forced to the penalty box for hooking. This power play opportunity gave the Huskies four shots with Ethan Whitcomb giving the Huskies their opening goal and cutting the lead to one. The second period would end in a 2-1 lead for the Friars, however, following that Huskies’ goal, Toscano Family Ice Forum got their spark back as fans saw hope for the Connecticut side.
The third period would lean more towards the Friars, as they netted two goals to extend the lead and finished 4-1 at Toscano. Providence outshot the Huskies 40-38, and the Huskies found themselves in the penalty box five times compared to Providence’s three.
Game two of the series took place in Providence, R.I. at 7 p.m. with a crowd of 2,796.
The opening period kicked off with a UConn power play opportunity in the ninth minute, with the Huskies taking three shots on goal but unable to find the back of the net. Six minutes later, the Friars got a power play opportunity from a boarding penalty called against UConn’s Viking Gustafsson Nyberg. Providence took two shots during the power play with Kale McCallum netting the opening goal of the game and giving the Friars a 1-0 lead to end the first.
The second period started similarly with a UConn power play opportunity in the first three minutes; however, the Huskies were only able to put one shot on goal. Two minutes later, Providence notched their second goal of the game, extending the lead to 2-0. The second period saw four power plays total with each team given two opportunities. Despite this, the only goal scored was by the Friars in the fourth minute.
Due to an opening minute power play to start the third period, the Huskies saw a glimpse of hope despite not scoring. The energy carried on and four minutes later, UConn freshman Carlin Dezainde netted the first goal for the Huskies to cut the lead to one. Soon after, the Huskies defended a power play due to a cross checking call on Mike Murtagh. With two minutes left in the game, senior forward, Ryan Tattle netted the game tying goal for the Huskies to force the game into overtime.
The Huskies carried the momentum into overtime as they controlled the puck early and found themselves with many opportunities to net the winner. Providence defended well and took several shots on offense, forcing UConn’s senior goalkeeper, Tyler Muszelik to keep the Huskies alive. The game ended with Providence taking 41 shots compared to UConn’s 30. With the game ending in the tie, a shootout was needed to determine the extra point for the Hockey East Standings. Muszelik was perfect in front of the net, saving every shot before Trey Scott netted the winner to give the Huskies the extra point.
Next up, UConn will host Northeastern in the Howlin Huskies contest in Storrs, Conn. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 14 at the Toscano Family Ice Forum. The following day, the Huskies will travel to Boston for a second Northeastern matchup.