No. 12 UConn comes up short against No. 16 Ohio State, 4-2

No. 12 UConn men’s hockey had its chances but ultimately came up short in a 4-2 loss to the No. 16 Ohio State Buckeyes. The Huskies out-shot the visitors 36-30 and generated plenty of grade-A chances but struggled to finish throughout the contest.

The Buckeyes took a 2-1 lead into the third period but UConn tied it with 5:42 left. Ohio State then responded seconds later to re-take the lead then tacked on an empty-netter.

The power play went just 1-6 while the penalty kill pitched a shutout with a 3-3 day. Joey Muldowney and Ryan Tattle each scored for the Huskies. Freshman Kam Hendrickson had a tough showing in his first career start between the pipes, stopping just 26 of 29 shots while allowing a soft goal late.

Much like the previous night, UConn had plenty of chances but couldn’t capitalize on them. Jake Richard beat the goaltender on a tip-in on the doorstep but his shot hit the post and stayed out. A few minutes later, the Huskies put the puck in the back of the net but a premature whistle from the officials waved it off. They had two full power plays in the opening period but didn’t convert on either.

The teams remained deadlocked at 0-0 at the first intermission, though that changed 35 seconds into the second period. On a power play that carried over from the opening stanza, Ethan Whitcomb shoveled a cross-ice pass to Muldowney, who tapped it in to put UConn up 1-0.

Moments later, the Huskies went on the power play again thanks to Ohio State’s fourth tripping penalty of the day. Ryan Tattle had a look at an open net on the back door but couldn’t get a good shot off. UConn’s man-advantage ended five seconds early after a penalty on Alexandre Blais, which gave the Buckeyes their first power play of the day.

The visitors didn’t convert with the extra skater but ended up finding their opening goal just as the game returned to even strength. Max Montes fired a shot from the blue line that snuck through traffic and into the back of the net to make it 1-1. Hendrickson never saw it.

At the end of the second period, Jake Dunlap skated in on an odd-man rush and fired a shot past the UConn net-minder to give Ohio State its first lead of the weekend. The 2-1 scoreline held into the second intermission.

The Huskies spent much of the third period in their offensive zone but struggled to find an equalizer. Finally, Tattle buried a rebound with 5:42 left to even the score at 2-2.

The good vibes didn’t last long, though. Just 17 seconds later, the Buckeyes answered back and re-took the lead, 3-2. UConn challenged that the goal was kicked in but the officials upheld the call.

That proved to be the difference. The Huskies couldn’t convert on a power play with just over three minutes left then allowed a shorthanded goal with 1:14 left that sealed the defeat.

With the loss, UConn falls to 2-2-0 on the season. Next, the Huskies will begin Hockey East play with a home-and-home series against Boston University next weekend. They’ll travel to Agganis Arena on Friday night for a 7 p.m. ET puck drop.