UConn dropped by Providence, 3-1

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UConn men’s hockey’s regular season ended with a 3-1 loss to the No. 5 Providence Friars on Saturday at Schneider Arena. The Huskies finished with a 38-30 edge in shots but were held to just a single goal for the third time in their last five games.

Ryan Tattle scored the lone tally for UConn. Tyler Muszelik started in net and stopped 27 of 29 shots. The Huskies won the special teams battle, going 1-2 on the power play and 3-3 on the penalty kill.

UConn will await the results of Boston College-Northeastern and UMass-UNH to find out where it ends up in the Hockey East standings. The Huskies can still finish in second, third or fourth place.

Providence got the first power play of the day and while it didn’t convert, it still scored soon after. The Friars’ initial shot hit a body in front and dropped just outside the crease. Aleksi Kivioja picked it up and beat Muszelik five-hole to put the hosts ahead 1-0.

A few minutes later, the Huskies had to kill another penalty but the PK unit again came up strong to keep the deficit at one. Down the other end, Ethan Whitcomb had a golden chance to tie it when he ended up free in close, but got robbed by a glove save from PC goalie Jack Parsons.

UConn went into the first intermission down a goal.

Early in the middle stanza, the Huskies got their first power play opportunity of the day and took advantage. Tattle hit the post on a one-timer from the slot but made up for it a few moments later when he wired a shot into the top right corner to tie it at 1-1.

UConn had a chance to extend its lead with another man-advantage shortly afterwards but couldn’t capitalize. Seconds after that expired, Providence went back on the power play but also came up empty.

While the Huskies dominated the second period with a 22-12 advantage in shots, they went into the second intermission even at one goal apiece.

1:20 into the final frame, the Friars re-took the lead. Viking Gustafsson Nyberg tried to pinch a puck along the boards in the neutral zone, but it hit a stanchion and sprung Logan Sawyer on a breakaway. He deked around Muszelik and scored to make it 2-1.

From there, Providence packed it in on defense. The Huskies struggled to find much space in the offensive zone despite plenty of face-offs down that end. UConn pulled the goalie but never seriously threatened with the extra attacker. The Friars tagged on an empty-netter in the dying seconds to reach the final.

With the loss, the Huskies finish the regular season 18-11-5 overall and 12-9-3 in Hockey East. Next, they’ll take on a still-to-be-determined opponent in the quarterfinals on Friday or Saturday. UConn now sits at No. 16 in the NPI, so it’ll need to win to keep its season alive.

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