Best of the UConn Hockey Hub: Harrison Rees plays hero as UConn defeats Maine in overtime

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Two years ago on UConn's last trip up to Maine, the Huskies earned a win on Friday night and put 41 shots on Jeremy Swayman but failed to score, went to overtime, and lost with a minute left after then-freshman Harrison Rees turned the puck over.

This time, UConn again won on Friday night then peppered Maine goaltender Victor Ostman with 41 shots in regulation, and went to overtime on Saturday. This time, Rees became the hero as he scored a rebound goal with 21.2 seconds left to give the Huskies the win.

"I thought it was fitting," head coach Mike Cavanaugh said of the finish.

For UConn to even pull off the victory in overtime, it needed one of its best sequences of the season. The 5-foot-8 Hudson Schandor lined up for a face-off against the 6-foot-8 Keenan Suthers with just over 30 seconds left in the Huskies' zone.

Schandor won the draw to Rees, who took the puck behind the net. A Maine player pressured Rees and immediately, he saw an opening for UConn the other way.

"Huddy (Schandor) snapped the draw back, the guy chased me behind the net so I knew we had a 3-on-2 going up-ice," Rees explained.

The defenseman gave it to Schandor for the zone entry. He eventually dished to Marc Gatcomb near the blue line, who rifled a shot on net. Ostman tried to make a glove save but dropped the puck right in front of goal. Rees skated in, collected the loose puck, skated around Ostman, and buried the sudden-death winner with 21.2 remaining.

"I don't think I've ever scored an OT winner in my life so it's a pretty cool feeling," Rees said postgame.

Just over ten seconds passed between the face-off and the goal. Rees made the breakout pass to put UConn on offense and then finished the sequence with a score to secure the win.

Rees records second multi-goal game

Along with the OT goal, Rees also lit the lamp in the second period on a shot that deflected off a Maine player and into the net. The junior now has four career goals – the other two of which also came in the same game, a 6-1 win at Merrimack last season. Though Rees isn't known as an offensive defenseman, he came up with two huge goals from the blue line on Saturday night.

"He's getting pucks down to the net," Cavanaugh said. "I think that's the biggest thing. He filled that lane nice on the second one...Then he just went to the net in the 3-on-3 and played on his toes."

While Rees has shown the ability to create offense in flashes, he hopes to become a threat in the attack on a more regular basis.

"There's really no explanation," Rees said on only having multi-goal games. "I think I need to start being more consistent. Maybe find a couple here or there and not just here."

No bad wins at Alfond

The victory gave UConn a sweep, though the Huskies only collected five out of six possible points towards the Hockey East standings because of the overtime win. Although it hurts to lose a point against a Maine team still looking for its first win through eight games, Cavanaugh doesn't want to take any positive results at Alfond Arena for granted.

"There's a reason why it's really hard to win up here. I think if you go through the years, how many teams come up here and sweep? It's a great accomplishment for us," he said. "I don't care where their program is. This is by far the hardest barn to play in all of Hockey East. Hands down."

UConn makes history

At 6-3-1 (4-1-0 Hockey East), UConn is off to its best start ever under Cavanaugh both overall and in the conference. While the Huskies deserve credit for beating weaker opponents, pulling out wins even when they're not playing their best, and going 5-2-0 on a seven-game road swing, they haven't played a particularly challenging schedule.

UConn has faced just one team over .500 – Ohio State – and was swept. Other than that, Sacred Heart is 3-4-3, BU is 3-7, Dartmouth is 1-3 and Maine drops to 0-7-1. The Huskies will be tested plenty over with games against No. 14 Boston College, No. 7 Providence, and No. 19 UMass Lowell on tap over the next two weeks.

That stretch will go a long way towards determining just how good UConn is this season.