UConn forces 2-2 tie at Maine thanks to late goal from Jake Percival

UConn men’s hockey appeared to be on its way to a 2-1 loss on Saturday night at Maine. The Black Bears went ahead with 13:48 remaining in the third period and weren’t giving the Huskies many chances to tie the game.

Then Maine’s Ross Mitton delivered a horrific hit on UConn’s Ethan Gardula that sent the freshman to the ice in a heap — though he eventually skated to the locker room with some assistance. Mitton received a major penalty and game misconduct, which put the Huskies on the power play for the remaining 3:01.

UConn avenged its fallen teammate by scoring a game-tying goal on the ensuing man advantage. Jake Percival re-directed a shot from Kai Janviriya to pull the Huskies even at 2-2 with 37 seconds remaining.

That forced overtime where the two sides eventually skated to a tie. Maine grabbed an extra point towards the Hockey East standings with a shootout victory but UConn won the weekend by taking four of the six possible points.

The Black Bears started out on the front foot and dominated possession in first period, owning a 15-7 edge in shots and a 29-10 advantage in attempts. The Huskies didn’t help themselves either, taking three penalties in the frame. Despite that, UConn notched the first goal against the run of play when Ryan Tattle flew into the offensive zone and beat Maine goalie Albin Boija five-hole to make it 1-0.

The lead wouldn’t hold, though. The Huskies switched off in the final seconds of the first period and gave up a goal with 1.3 remaining, so the two teams went into intermission tied at 1-1.

The second period didn’t feature much action and the scoreline held into the final stanza. In the third, Maine pulled ahead when Taylor Makar blasted a one-timer from the top of the circle past UConn goalie Callum Tung to make it 2-1.

From there, the Black Bears began to methodically kill the game off until Mitton handed the Huskies an extended power play that resulted in the tying goal.

UConn’s man-advantage carried over into the first 1:59 of overtime but it couldn’t capitalize. Kaden Shahan had the best opportunity to end it when he got in behind the defense but he couldn’t bury it.

After the penalty expired, Maine nearly won it with a chance at the doorstep, only to be denied by an impressive pad stop from Tung. Ultimately, neither side found the back of the net in overtime, which sealed the tie.

In the shootout, the Black Bears scored on their first try while the Huskies went 0/3.

With the tie, UConn moves to 12-8-2 on the season and 7-6-2 in Hockey East. The Huskies currently stand fourth in the league standings with 24 points and ninth in the Pairwise rankings.

Next up, UConn will prepare for the fifth edition of Connecticut Ice, hosted this year by Sacred Heart. The Huskies will take on No. 16 Quinnipiac in the first round on Friday at 4:00 p.m. ET.