UConn drops third straight with 5-1 loss to UMass

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UConn men’s hockey dropped its third straight game with a 5-1 loss to the UMass Minutemen on Friday night at Toscano Family Ice Forum. The Huskies tied it at 1-1 midway through the first period, only to allow four unanswered goals.

UMass won the special teams 3-1 behind two power play goals and a shorthanded tally. UConn’s lone score came from Jake Richard on the man-advantage.

In goal, Tyler Muszelik stopped 30 of 35 shots.

The Huskies found themselves under siege early on. They took a penalty 33 seconds in, then piled on another just 1:09 later, giving UMass a 5-on-3 power play. Even though Tabor Heaslip’s stick broke soon after the initial face-off, UConn made the kill.

The Minutemen still got on the board first. Even without the extra skater, they continued to carry play and eventually broke through. Owen Murray picked up the pick at the top of the circles and sniped a shot off the post and in to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.

After the slow start, UConn eventually settled in and capitalized on its first power play of the night. Alexandre Blais held a fast-moving puck in along the blue line and sent it back down low. It eventually found its way Richard, who scored on a one-timer to make it 1-1.

Out of the first intermission, the Huskies jumped UMass. They had seven of the first nine shots in the period but were denied time after time by goaltender Michael Hrabal. Joey Muldowney had a dangerous opportunity in tight but couldn’t tuck it around the pad. Tristan Fraser ended up with a grade-A chance in front of net, only to get robbed by a glove save.

While UConn couldn’t get anything to go, the Minutemen went ahead on a friendly bounce. On a shot from behind the net, the puck deflected off Mike Murtagh’s stick and went in to put the visitors back on top 2-1. The Huskies remained behind through two periods.

Early in the final stanza, UConn had a golden chance to tie it on the power play. The unit started strong but then needed Muszelik to make a diving save to turn away a shorthanded breakaway. Moments later, UMass sprung on a 2v1 and this time, it capitalized with the shorty to go ahead 3-1.

From there, the Huskies didn’t help their comeback hopes. They took back-to-back penalties and on the latter, the Minutemen converted to take a 4-1 lead. The visitors added another on the man-advantage to reach the final score of 5-1.

With the loss, UConn drops 17-10-4 overall and 11-8-2 in Hockey East. Next, the Huskies will try to stop the bleeding and salvage a split on Saturday at the Mullins Center.

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