Ranking UConn's top wins in Hockey East

Looking back at some of the Huskies' most memorable victories since 2014.

It feels nearly impossible that UConn men’s hockey is entering its eighth season in Hockey East and even more unbelievable that Mike Cavanaugh is about to start his ninth campaign in Storrs. Though the Huskies are still in search of postseason success, they’ve had plenty of exciting and memorable victories since joining Hockey East in 2014.

Here are the top ten.

10. Creel helps UConn beat Providence for the first time in Hockey East to spark winning streak (Jan. 20, 2018)

It took UConn almost four seasons but in 2018, the Huskies finally beat Providence as a member of Hockey East. With Adam Huska sidelined due to injury, Tanner Creel stepped in and made 26 saves while also helping UConn kill off all seven penalties on the night. Most importantly, this victory sparked the program-record seven-game win streak that propelled the Huskies to their highest-ever finish in Hockey East.

9. Payusov scores overtime to complete late comeback win over Northeastern (Feb. 7, 2019)

For the most part, the 2018-19 season was forgettable. UConn had just lost a large senior class and replaced it with an even larger group of freshmen, which meant a lot of growing pains. At one point, the Huskies lost seven straight games and failed to record a Hockey East victory between Nov. 3 and Feb. 7.

Eventually, UConn started to figure things out. The freshmen forwards — notably Jonny Evans, Ruslan Iskhakov, and Jachym Kondelik — began to contribute while Tomas Vomacka took over for Adam Huska in net.

The turnaround began in early February against Northeastern. The Huskies trailed 2-1 going into the final minutes and Vomacka came to the bench. With the extra skater, Iskhakov found Brian Rigali, who beat Cayden Primeau five-hole to tie the game.

In overtime, Jachym Kondelik found Alexander Payusov just a minute in and he scored to give UConn its first Hockey East victory since October. After that, the Huskies won five of their final eight games, capped by another game further down this list.

8. UConn knocks off No. 2 BC in front of Geno Auriemma (Dec. 12, 2020)

The fact that UConn beating the second-ranked team in the nation only comes in at No. 8 on our list shows just how far the program has come in the last few years.

The Huskies started the year 0-2-1 and were coming off a tough loss in overtime to BC the night before. With UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma in the stands (and briefly on the broadcast), Mike Cavanaugh’s crew scored three goals in just over four minutes to take full control of the game.

Right after the third goal, Jonny Evans shattered the glass behind the net with a one-timer, resulting in a 10-minute delay. Ultimately, the wait didn’t swing the momentum at all and although BC got one back in the third period, UConn walked away with a comfortable win over the No. 2 team in the nation.

7. UConn storms back against UNH to secure home ice for the first time (Feb. 27, 2016)

Entering the final weekend of the regular season, UConn needed a sweep to clinch home ice in the opening round of the Hockey East Playoffs. The Huskies took care of business on Friday night with a 4-1 win at the XL Center but found themselves trailing 4-1 entering the final period at the Whit on Saturday.

Then UConn came alive.

Less than three minutes in, Joey Ferriss gave the team life with a backhander to make it 4-2. Just past the midway point, Spencer Naas sent home a rebound to bring the Huskies within one. With just 1:03 left, Ferriss scored again to tie the game at 4.

UConn wasn’t finished. Just over three minutes into overtime, Corey Ronan scored the game-winner to secure eighth place for the Huskies — and with it, home ice in the first round of the playoffs.

6. Freeman powers UConn to comeback win over BU (Feb. 21, 2020)

Payusov sure had a nose for scoring quick goals in the overtime. Along with his game-winner against Northeastern in 2019, he also scored 51 seconds into OT against BU just a few games later. He then repeated the feat the very next year.

Against BU, UConn took a 2-0 lead into the second period only for the Terriers to respond with three unanswered goals. The Huskies didn’t look like a team prepared to come back, only managing four shots on goal in the first 11 minutes of the third period.

Cavanaugh implored his team to get pucks on net and after pulling Vomacka with 1:20 to play, Ben Freeman found a loose puck on the back post and buried it to tie the game with 56 seconds to play.

In overtime, Freeman won the opening face-off but UConn quickly lost possession behind the net. As BU attempted to clear the zone, Freeman intercepted it at the top of the face-off circle, turned, and sent a perfect cross-ice pass to Payusov, who one-touched it home to give the Huskies the win just 19 seconds in.

UConn followed up with a 6-1 rout at Agganis Arena the next night and helped thrust the Huskies into the race for home ice down the final stretch.

5. UConn blows out Providence in regular-season finale to secure fourth-place finish (Mar. 5, 2021)

Going into the 2020 season finale at UMass Lowell, UConn faced a simple scenario: Win and clinch home ice in the Hockey East Playoffs. Lose and drop to fifth, resulting in a trip to Maine in the first round. The Huskies lost.

One year later, they found themselves in the exact same situation, this time at home against Providence. UConn came flying out of the gates with four power-play goals in the first period, three from Jachym Kondelik that were his first goals of the season.

The Huskies struck again in the second period when Jonny Evans knocked home a rebound to go up 5-0. Though Providence scored three quick goals in the third period, UConn held on to clinch fourth place — the highest finish in program history.

Strictly in terms of impact on the standings, this is the Huskies’ biggest victory since joining Hockey East. But the fact that it came without fans — not to mention Providence blew them out a week later in the playoffs — puts it at number five.

4. UConn knocks off No. 2 UMass on senior night (Mar. 8, 2019)

There’s just something about playing UMass on senior night that sparks magic for the Huskies. Going into the regular-season finale, UConn had already been eliminated from the postseason, making it the last game of their season no matter what.

The Huskies stunned UMass by jumping out to a 3-0 lead only for the visitors to score three times in two minutes at the end of the second period. Unfazed, Freeman buried the eventual game-winner 36 seconds after the Minutemen’s final goal and UConn held on for its highest-ranked upset ever.

For senior Karl El-Mir, it was a nice way to end a disappointing season.

“It’s hard crying when you just beat the second-best team in the nation,” he said.

3. UConn scores twice in final 90 seconds to upset UMass (Feb. 28, 2020)

As the 2019-20 season wore down, UConn was in a battle for home ice. The Huskies were coming off a convincing sweep of BU and entered their final two-game series of the year against No. 8 UMass.

UConn struck first off the stick of Carter Berger, only for UMass to respond back with two goals to go up 2-1.

In the final moments, the Huskies found life when Marc Gatcomb walked in and flipped a backhand past Filip Lindberg to knot things up at 2 with 1:31 left.

With 7.8 seconds remaining, Kale Howarth battled in a loose puck and sent the 6,666 fans at the XL Center into a frenzy. When the horn sounded, the Huskies owned one of the most thrilling wins in program history.

This is also the last time UConn played in front of fans.

2. UConn erases two-goal deficit twice to extend win streak against BU (Feb. 16, 2018)

On Senior Night for the first class to play four years in Hockey East, the Huskies battled back from a pair of two-goal deficits and earned an overtime win in front of 7,372 fans at the XL Center. It extended UConn’s magical win streak to seven games as well.

The details aren’t as important compared to the intangible aspects of that game. The energy was just different and the way the crowd exploded when Max Letunov scored the game-winner still makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck. It’s difficult to understand unless you were there that night.

1. UConn defeats BC in Hockey East opener (Nov. 5, 2014)

From the second the puck dropped at the sold-out XL Center, there was an obvious buzz throughout the entire arena. Yes, Boston College was by far the better team on paper, but from the start, UConn fed off the crowd’s energy to stick with the No. 3 ranked Eagles.

The Huskies jumped out to a hot start in the first period, outshooting BC 13-9 early on before Evan Richardson — who transferred from BC to play at UConn that season — scored a power-play goal less than 10 minutes for the lone score of the game.

With a roster very much comprised of Atlantic Hockey players with some younger, higher potential skaters mixed in, the Huskies did everything they could to stick with BC after taking the lead, blocking 15 shots on the night and dumping and chasing pucks into the Eagles’ offensive zone. Goaltender Rob Nichols put in what would arguably be the defining game of his UConn career, making 35 saves for the shutout victory.

It was a classic #icebus performance. The Huskies got outshot 35-22, but scored early, blocked shots, and held on for dear life to grind out a win, a common approach back in the early Hockey East days. But between the team’s gutsy performance and the incredible crowd of 8,089 that night in Hartford, it made it clear that not only was the move to Hockey Wast the right decision, but that Cavanaugh and the Huskies had the makings of something special, especially after proving they could skate with the best in the sport any given night. — Dan Madigan