No. 7 UConn battles to 3-3 tie with No. 9 Providence

The No. 7 UConn Huskies battled the No. 9 Providence Friars to a 3-3 tie at Schneider Arena on Friday night. UConn claimed the extra points towards the Hockey East standings in the shootout thanks to Ethan Whitcomb, who won it in the ninth round.

The Huskies set a Division I program record by extending their unbeaten streak to eight.

Ryan Tattle scored a pair — including a shorthanded goal — while Jake Richard added one on the power play. Tyler Muszelik started in net, stopping 25 of 28 shots. He also went 8-9 in the shootout, denying the Friars’ last eight attempts.

Providence struck first. The Friars kept trying to spring a forward on a breakaway early in the period and finally connected when Taige Harding chipped the puck off the glass in behind to Logan Sawyer. He skated in free on net and beat Muszelik far-post to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.

UConn had plenty of chances to tie it. Kaden Shahan drew a penalty shot after being hauled down on a breakaway — the Huskies’ first since Feb. 26, 2021 — but couldn’t convert. They also got the puck into dangerous spots but didn’t do anything once they got it there.

Despite a solid period of play, UConn went into the first intermission down 1-0.

That theme carried into the second period. The Huskies had three breakaways in the middle stanza — two from Richard, one from Shahan — but came up empty each time.

They wouldn’t be totally blanked, though. On UConn’s first power play of the night, Trey Scott found Richard on the back post, who ripped a one-timer into the top corner to even the score at 1-1.

Providence eventually went back ahead late in the period. Graham Gamache fired a shot through traffic from the top of the circles and found the back of the net to make it a 2-1 game — which held into the third period.

Then the action cranked up.

Nick Carabin fired a shot from the blue line — mostly to keep the puck in the zone — that Tattle re-directed in to tie it at 2-2. The junior wasn’t done, either. A few minutes later on the penalty kill, he deked his way into the o-zone and had his shot deflect off a Providence stick and go top-shelf for the shorthanded goal — UConn’s eighth of the season.

That gave the Huskies their first lead of the day at 3-2.

It wouldn’t last long, though. Just 1:05 later, Gamache skated over the blue line and uncorked a wrister that beat Muszelik to pull the Friars even, 3-3. It remained that way through the end of regulation, sending the teams to 3×3 overtime.

In the extra period, Jake Percival missed the net on a 2v1 rush but got tripped in the process, putting UConn on a 4-on-3 power. While the Huskies possessed the puck for nearly the entire two-minute man-advantage, they couldn’t find a winner.

In the final minute, Providence sprung a 2v1 rush but were denied by Muszelik. Ultimately, neither side found the back of the net in overtime and the game ended in a tie.

Both teams converted on their first attempts of the shootout then came up empty over the next seven rounds. On the ninth tries, Muszelik made the save on one end then Whitcomb won it down the other by scoring five-hole.

With the tie, UConn moves to 15-8-2 overall and 8-6-2 in Hockey East play. The Huskies will wrap up the weekend series against the Friars on Saturday at the XL Center.

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