UConn finishes off sweep over Merrimack with 5-2 win

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UConn men’s hockey went into the winter break on a high note with a 5-2 win over the Merrimack Warriors at Toscano Family Ice Forum on Saturday. With the victory, the Huskies finish off the weekend sweep and take all nine points from the season series against Merrimack.

The Warriors scored first before UConn responded with three unanswered goals. Ryan Tattle, Jake Richard, Ethan Whitcomb, Mike Murtagh and Tristan Fraser all found the back of the net while Joey Muldowney and Ethan Gardula each recorded a pair of assists.

In goal, Tyler Muszelik stopped 36 of 38 shots. The Huskies won the special teams battle, going 1-4 on the power play and 3-3 on the penalty kill.

UConn carried its strong performance over from the previous night. The Huskies’ forecheck continued to excel, sparking plenty of multi-shot shifts. But much like Friday’s opening period, they struggled to turn that time on attack into goals in the first.

Merrimack ultimately struck first when a shot from the point made its way through traffic and beat a well-screened Muszelik. The lead didn’t last long, though. Less than five minutes later, UConn pulled even thanks to the aforementioned forecheck. Richard forced a turnover in the corner and Muldowney ended up with the loose puck. He fed it to Tattle, who blasted a one-timer to tie it at 1-1.

In the second period, the Huskies took the lead for good courtesy of the power play. After UConn won the initial draw, Muldowney found Richard down low, who calmly put it past the goaltender. Only three seconds elapsed on the man-advantage before the Huskies converted to make it 2-1.

90 seconds later, UConn struck again when Whitcomb fired a near-side snipe into the top shelf. That pushed the score to 3-1.

The Huskies poured it on in the third period. Trey Scott ripped a shot from the point and Murtagh cleaned up the rebound to extend UConn’s lead to three. Merrimack answered back just 37 seconds later to make it 4-2 but Fraser eventually slammed the door with a cannon of a one-timer from the slot. That put the Huskies ahead 5-2, which proved to be the final.

With the win, UConn improves to 9-5-3 overall and 7-3-1 in Hockey East — good for first place in the league standings. Next, the Huskies will head into the winter break and don’t return to action until Dec. 31, when they take on LIU at Toscano Family Ice Forum.

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