For the final home game of the regular season, the UConn men’s hockey team is set to face New Hampshire at the Toscano Family Ice Forum for a weekday Hockey East matchup on Thursday.
“Right now we’re 100% focused on UNH and I think they’ve been playing pretty well here the last month,” said Head Coach Mike Cavanaugh on Wednesday. “We know we’re going to have our hands full tomorrow with the Wildcats.”
This will be the third matchup of the season between the Huskies and the Wildcats. The season series is currently tied 1-1 with both teams having a win on the road. The winner of the season series will be decided with this matchup at the Toscano Family Ice Forum.
For the final weekend of the college hockey regular season, all eyes will be on the Huskies as multiple teams can rise or fall in the standings; No. 13 Boston College, No. 17 UMass and UConn can all finish as high as second place in Hockey East. No. 5 Providence currently sits at the top of the Hockey East standings. For national rankings, UConn currently sits at 15 in the NPI with two games remaining before the start of the Hockey East playoffs.
“It’s wide open to win the league [Hockey East],” said Cavanaugh. “No one winning this league would really shock me. Having played all the teams, I can’t say there’s one game you go into and say ‘you know we can beat this team with our “C” game tonight.’ That’s not the case.”
UConn is coming off a 0-1-1 weekend against No. 17 Massachusetts where they dropped one and tied the series finale. Over the weekend, UConn put up 91 total shots on goal. The Huskies currently hold a 17-10-5 overall record and are 11-8-3 in Hockey East action.
Currently, senior goaltender Tyler Muszelik has arguably been playing some of the best hockey on the Huskies roster. Muszelik is posting a 16-8-5 record with a .928 save % and 2.21 GAA. If the Huskies can figure out some of their defensive woes that have cost some recent matches against UMass and Boston College, the team is in a great spot with Muszelik in the net for these last two regular season games and beyond. With his performances, Muszelik has been named to the Mike Richter Award Watchlist and named a Hobey Baker Candidate.
As for New Hampshire, they are entering this matchup with a 14-17-1 overall record and 8-13-1 in conference play. Senior Morgan Winters leads the Wildcats with 11 goals and 11 assists for 22 total points. Nick Ring follows close being with 8 goals and 14 assists for 20 points. Following this matchup with the Huskies, UNH will close out their regular season slate on Saturday with a home game against No. 17 UMass.
For the final home game of the regular season for the Ice Bus, puck drop against UNH is set for 7:00 p.m. at the Toscano Family Ice Forum in Storrs, CT. The game will be available to stream on ESPN+.