The Forecheck: Spotlighting three standouts from UConn's win

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Spotlighting three standouts from UConn's weekend at Union

Following UConn men’s hockey’s 5-0 win over Union on Saturday, head coach Mike Cavanaugh highlighted three standouts from the victory.

Tristan Fraser

The sophomore scored a pair of goals — one to extend the lead to three which all but put the game away, then a second to make it a 5-0 advantage. He also moved up from the fourth line (also known as the energy line) to the third line from Friday to Saturday and played alongside the likes of Ryan Mahshie and Tabor Heaslip.

“I thought he was excellent all weekend. I thought he had a very, very good weekend,” Cavanaugh said. “He gave us a lot of solid, hard minutes. That line was very, very good.”

“He’s just playing the game the right way. He plays hard, he plays physical, he can win a draw if we need him to win a draw, and he plays 200 feet,” the coach added later. “He doesn't cheat the game so he's really coming on as player for us.”

Ryan Mahshie

Through the first couple of weekends, Mahshie had been one of UConn’s biggest disappointments so far. After a 15-goal campaign at RPI last year, he hadn’t scored in five games with the Huskies — until Saturday, when he poked a loose puck in during the third period. Mahshie also recorded a season-high five shots in the victory after failing to put a single puck on net in three previous contests.

Despite that, had Mahshie been playing better than the numbers suggested?

“No question,” Cavanaugh said. “I felt the same thing about Justin Pearson last year. It took him about eight games to get a goal and then once he did, it kind of broke open for him. So I'm hoping that the same thing happens for [Mahshie].”

Owen Simpson

During UConn’s first two series, Jack Pascucci played in the first game while Owen Simpson got the nod for game two in the defensive pairings. But at Union, Simpson played both contests and while he didn’t record a point, the freshman impressed with his performances.

“I just think he's making solid plays,” Cavanaugh said. “He's keeping the game simple. He's very good at getting pucks down to the net from the blue line and he's been a good addition so far.”

Week in review

• UConn men's hockey not panicking despite rough start

• UConn Hockey Hub Podcast: How do you get swept by Holy Cross?

• UConn men's hockey beaten by Union, 4-1

• UConn has no one to blame but itself in third consecutive defeat

• UConn men's hockey blows out Union, 5-0

• 'Let's play a no-doubter': UConn dominates Union

Last week’s Forecheck:

• The Forecheck: UConn's offensive issues are obvious

Elsewhere:

A must-watch feature on Tage Thompson from ESPN:

Three stars

First star: Ethan Haider

The goaltender pitched the first shutout of both the season and his UConn career on Saturday. While he only needed to stop 22 shots, they weren’t all easy saves. Haider came up big when called upon to not only keep the game level, but also maintain the Huskies’ lead before they pulled away.

Second star: Tristan Fraser

The sophomore is tied for second on the team in goals after netting a pair in the win on Saturday. He tipped one in from the net-front then finished a shot clean to cap off the victory.

Third star: Matthew Wood

Wood finally got UConn on the board despite its onslaught of shots on Saturday. He skated in off a face-off and sniped a shot into the top-right corner of the net for the much-needed breakthrough.

Play of the Week

Ice-cold capture

The week ahead

UConn men’s hockey will begin Hockey East play with a home-and-home against UMass Lowell while UConn women’s hockey will take on Providence in a one-off contest at home on Friday.