Ryan Tattle scores buzzer-beater to beat Quinnipiac, 2-1

Ryan Tattle scored a buzzer-beating goal with 0.5 seconds left to lift No. 13 UConn men’s hockey past the No. 15 Quinnipiac Bobcats, 2-1. The Huskies advance to the CT Ice championship game against the winner of Sacred Heart and Yale on Saturday at Martire Family Arena.

UConn went on the power play with 17.7 remaining after Quinnipiac got whistled for hitting from behind. While the Huskies’ man-advantage unit had struggled most of the game — they were 0-4 and only put four shots on net — they stepped up when it mattered.

In the dying seconds, Joey Muldowney knocked the puck down low to Hudson Schandor, who found a wide-open Tattle in front of net. The junior didn’t hesitate and put it past the goalie with 0.5 seconds to notch the winner.

Tyler Muszelik started between the pipes for UConn and stood on his head, stopping 35 of the 36 shots he faced. The Huskies’ power play finished 1-5 on the day while the penalty kill went a perfect 6-6.

The first period didn’t feature much offense even though both teams had a power play — including a full minute of a 5-on-3 power play for UConn. Tattle changed that early in the middle stanza. He took the puck into the offensive zone, toe-dragged past a defender and ripped a shot top-shelf to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead.

Quinnipiac had plenty of opportunities to tie it shortly after. The Bobcats whiffed on a wide-open net during a delayed penalty then failed to convert on a long 5-on-3 power play of their own. They eventually pulled even — though not without controversy.

On a 2v1 rush, UConn’s Kaden Shahan took the puck towards net and got tripped in front of the official but no penalty was called. In the ensuing two minutes that the Huskies would’ve been on the power play, Quinnipiac’s Travis Treloar re-directed a shot in front of net to beat Muszelik and even the score at 1-1.

It remained tied entering the third period. UConn started out with another power play opportunity but didn’t do much with it. From there, the Bobcats took over and piled up a 12-7 advantage in shots on goal but couldn’t break through. Muszelik made big save after big save to keep it tied and set up Tattle’s game-winner.

The victory snaps the Huskies’ eight game losing streak to Quinnipiac and sends them to CT Ice championship game for the fourth straight year. UConn improves to 13-8-2 overall and moves up to No. 7 in the Pairwise.

Puck drop for the final is set for approximately 7:30 p.m. ET on SNY and FLO Hockey.