No. 11 UConn moonwalks to 8-4 win over No. 4 BU

UConn men’s hockey shook off a dreadful start to claim a dominant 8-4 victory against the No. 4 Boston University Terriers on Friday night at Agganis Arena. The Huskies looked completely overmatched in the early going and fell behind 2-0 before scoring eight of the next 10 goals. They tied a single-game program record for goals scored in the Hockey East Era, a mark they’ve hit twice previously.

Carlin Dezainde and Ethan Gardula each found the back of the net twice while Jake Richard, Joey Muldowney, Tom Messineo and Tabor Heaslip also scored. Kaden Shahan and Ethan Whitcomb both had three assists as well.

Tyler Muszelik started in goal and while his overall numbers weren’t great (30 of 34, .882 save percentage), he was dynamite in the third period, turning away all 16 shots from the Terriers while making a handful of key saves as well.

UConn’s special teams dominated. The Huskies went 2-5 on the power play, 4-4 on the penalty and scored an empty-netter.

Early on, UConn got off to a nightmare start and looked like it might get run off the ice in the first period. BU skated circles around the Huskies, who struggled to get the puck out of their defensive zone, let alone sustain any possession.

The Terriers scored their first goal 6:03 in when UConn left Owen McLaughlin open on the back post, then they doubled the advantage 1:46 later after Cole Eiserman buried a shot off a turnover. Alexandre Blais made matters worse by taking a minor unsportsmanlike penalty and 10-minute misconduct moments later for shooting after the whistle, which put the Huskies on the penalty kill.

Oddly enough, that’s when UConn started to turn the game around. The Huskies made the kill and finally started to sustain pressure in the offensive zone. They finally got on the board when Shahan sliced through a few defenders and found a wide-open Dezainde on the back side, who scored his first collegiate goal.

After that, BU gifted UConn with back-to-back power plays. While the first man-advantage expired, the Huskies converted on the second to tie the game at 2-2. That score held into the first intermission.

Then came the chaos. 2:05 into the middle stanza, the Terriers re-took the lead. Another 2:27 after that, UConn pulled back even. 23 ticks later, BU answered to make it 4-3.

The hosts had a golden chance to double the advantage on a breakaway, only to have it turned away by Muszelik. The Huskies immediately took the puck the other way and lit the lamp to knot the score at four goals apiece. A few minutes later, they took their first lead of the day when Gardula re-directed a shot into the back of the net with four seconds left on a power play. UConn carried that 5-4 advantage into the third period.

The Huskies kept their foot on the gas through the intermission. Ryan Tattle nearly scored in the opening seconds of the period but his shot hit the post and remained out. It didn’t matter — 1:05 in, Messineo fired a shot from the blue line that found its way through traffic and into the back of the net on a delayed penalty. UConn pulled ahead 6-4 and prompted BU to bench goaltender Mikhail Yegorov for Max Lacroix.

The goalie change didn’t help the Terriers. Heaslip sniped a shot near-side into the top shelf to push the gap to 7-4 then Gardula tacked on an empty netter to reach the final.

With the win, UConn improves to 3-2-0 on the season and 1-0-0 in Hockey East play. The Huskies will have a chance to sweep when they host BU on Saturday at Toscano Family Ice Forum. Puck drop is set for 5:00 p.m. ET.

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