UConn men's hockey runs over Dartmouth, 6-1

UConn men’s hockey’s offense broke out in a commanding 6-1 win over the Dartmouth Big Green on Saturday at the XL Center. The Huskies set a season-high in scoring and snapped a four-game losing skid at home behind goals from Chase Bradley (2), Jake Richard, Ryan Tattle, Jake Black and Matthew Wood.

Ethan Haider came 4:47 away from his second shutout of the year before Dartmouth broke through with a power play goal. He still stopped 22 of 23 shots on the day.

UConn started slow and struggled to grab possession of the puck in the first few minutes. Then, the Huskies got the first power play of the day and although it didn’t result in a goal, they used it to seize the momentum. Over the final 14:30 of the first period, UConn held Dartmouth without a shot.

That helped the Huskies snap a long drought: For the first time in over a month — and just the third time all year — UConn scored first. Tom Messineo threw a shot at net from the boards and the puck landed in the middle of the crease, where Bradley poked it in to put the Huskies on the board.

UConn doubled the lead just 18 seconds later. Richard beat the goalie with an initial move, but couldn’t get the shot on target. Unfazed, he collected it and scored from a tough angle to make it a 2-0 game. That lead held into the first intermission — and through much of the second period.

Despite a combined three power plays — two for Dartmouth, one for the Huskies — neither side generated much offense in the middle stanza outside of UConn’s third goal. Andrew Lucas flew into the zone and dropped a pass for Bradley, who scored five-hole for his second goal of the day. After 40 minutes, the Huskies led 3-0.

The goals kept coming in the third. First, Tattle sniped a shot off the rush for his first career score and then set up the next one a few minutes later. Tattle found Black in front of the net, who sent the puck off the post and in to make it a 5-0 game.

Dartmouth added a power play goal in the final minutes but Wood pushed it the gap back to five with a highlight-reel goal in which he deked through the visitor’s entire defense and slipped the puck into the back of the net.

Next up is the Huskies’ final weekend of the first half. They’ll take on UMass Lowell at Toscano Family Ice Forum on Friday and travel up to Maine on Sunday.