The Forecheck: UConn's offensive issues are obvious

Welcome to the UConn Hockey Hub newsletter, which catches you up on all the stories, trends, and anything else you might have missed, along with some quick takes and leftover notes from the weekend.

UConn’s offensive problems are obvious

After a weekend in which it only scored a single goal against an Atlantic Hockey opponent, UConn men’s hockey needs to get its offense back on track. Through four games, the Huskies have scored eight goals — an average of 2.0 per game, the eighth-worst mark nationally among teams that have played at least three games.

The issues aren’t complicated. In fact, they can be seen from the goals UConn has scored.

There have been two one-timers by Matthew Wood, a pair of skilled Samu Salminen scores, a snipe from Jake Richard, and an empty-netter by Jake Percival. Only two have come off second efforts — John Spetz’s blast and Richard’s power-play score.

Above all else, the Huskies haven’t done enough to create the greasy goals: Rebounds, re-directs, or misplays by the goalie due to traffic. Nearly all of UConn’s scores have been the result of individual skill.

The power play is also a problem — but certainly not the sole reason for the Huskies’ offensive struggles. UConn has scored just once on 15 attempts — a 6.7 conversion rate. If they were close to the 19.7 percent clip from last year, the Huskies would have two or three more goals. That could turn the tie at Colgate into a win or one of the losses vs. Holy Cross into a positive result.

The unit has been really bad, but UConn is also struggling to score during 5-on-5 play.

Looking at the lineup, Ryan Mahshie has been disappointing through his first four games after transferring in from RPI. He’s failed to record a point and has only taken six shots while rarely looking dangerous. Some other notable players without a point: Andrew Lucas, Nick Capone, and Tristan Fraser.

The Husky offense has largely been carried by the likes of Wood, Salminen, Richard, and Hudson Schandor. Those four have been relatively steady while everyone else has been up and down.

It’s not hard to figure out what’s wrong with UConn’s offense. The difficult part will be implementing the necessary adjustments in a timely fashion. The Huskies have an important series with Union coming up and then begin Hockey East play with UMass Lowell, a program notoriously tough to score on.

UConn has enough talent to be one of the best offensive teams in the nation. It’s time for the Huskies to start playing like it.

Week in review

• UConn women's hockey is ranked, poised to make noise in Hockey East

• Notebook: Tabor Heaslip's impact goes beyond the numbers

• UConn falls to Holy Cross, 2-1

• 'Our special teams play cost us the game': UConn's power play faceplants in loss at Holy Cross

• UConn men's hockey blanked by Holy Cross, 2-0

• UConn's offense comes up empty as Holy Cross completes sweep

• Photo gallery: Holy Cross Crusaders at UConn

• Photo gallery: Boston College Eagles at UConn

Last week’s Forecheck:

• The Forecheck: Matthew Wood begins sophomore season at center

Three stars

Both teams got swept this weekend. No stars.

Play of the Week

Ice-cold capture

Best of social media

The week ahead

UConn men’s hockey will head to the Capital Region for a two-game series at Union while UConn women’s hockey will play two against UNH at Toscano Family Ice Forum.