UConn knocks off No. 2 BC in wild 5-4 victory

UConn men’s hockey knocked off the No. 2 Boston College Eagles with a wild 5-4 victory at Toscano Family Ice Forum on Friday night. The Eagles scored first, then the Huskies responded with three unanswered goals before the two teams combined to light the lamp five times in the third period.

Neither side finished with their starting goaltender, either. UConn’s Tyler Muszelik left during the second intermission with a lower body injury after a collision behind the net late in the middle stanza. The team is still evaluating him but there’s concern he could miss an extended stretch of time. In Muszelik’s place, freshman Tommy Heaney made his second career appearance and played the final 20 minutes.

Down the other end, BC’s Jacob Fowler received a major penalty and game misconduct after he sucker-punched Tristan Fraser at the 15:11 mark of the second period following a goal. Jan Korec finished the game between the pipes for the Eagles.

UConn’s five goals are the most that Boston College has allowed all season. Tristan Fraser (2), Hudson Schandor, Kaden Shahan and Tom Messineo all found the back of the net for the Huskies.

UConn went into the first intermission trailing 1-0 despite out-playing the visitors through 20 minutes. The Eagles scored on a soft goal that trickled through Muszelik but other than that, it was all Huskies with a 23-9 edge in shots.

After peppering the net, UConn finally broke through just 18 seconds into the second period when Schandor tucked a shot past Fowler, who was pushed out of position by one of his own teammates. That opened the floodgates.

Less than three minutes later, the Huskies went ahead on a snipe from Shahan that hit every post and went in. 1:40 after that, Fraser stretched to knock a cross-ice pass from Nick Carabin into the back of the net. The junior got taken down as he scored and crashed into Fowler. With the two tangled behind the net, the BC goaltender punched Fraser in the face with his blocker, which resulted in a five minute major roughing penalty and game misconduct.

Despite almost seven straight minutes on the power play — the Eagles took another penalty at the end of the major — UConn couldn’t capitalize. The 3-1 scoreline held into the second intermission.

The Huskies had to play the third period without their top goaltender, though. When play resumed, Heaney was in the net with Muszelik nowhere to be seen. BC quickly took advantage, scoring on its first shot of the period to cut UConn’s lead to 3-2.

The Eagles continued to apply the pressure in the Huskies’ zone but Heaney and the defense did enough to stay ahead. Then with 9:05 left, Messineo notched a crucial insurance goal on a shot through traffic from the point that found the back of the net. Just like that, UConn pushed the gap back to two.

The Huskies killed off a late power play but BC still scored with a 6-on-5 advantage to make it a one-goal game with 1:14 remaining. Tattle answered back 18 seconds later with an empty-netter from the defensive zone, but that didn’t end it. With 33 seconds left, the Eagles scored another when a puck went off Viking Gustafsson Nyberg and in.

In the end, UConn’s defense held strong over the final seconds to secure the upset victory.

With the win, the Huskies improve to 6-5-1 on the season and 3-4-1 in Hockey East play — all the while handing Boston College its first league defeat of the year.

Next, UConn will take on UMass Lowell in a two-game series on the road beginning on Friday.