UConn men's hockey beats UMass in shootout

UConn men’s hockey tied the No. 13 UMass Minutemen 3-3 on the road Friday night and won a shootout 1-0 to claim the extra point toward the Hockey East standings.

Hudson Schandor scored a game-tying goal with two minutes left to force overtime and Jake Flynn converted the lone score of the shootout with a pretty back-hander in the fourth round to send the Huskies home with the extra point.

Jake Percival and Joey Muldowney also found the back of the net in the victory. Ethan Haider stopped 42 of 45 shots in the win and denied all four attempts he faced in the shootout — including an impressive kick save in the second round.

UConn’s penalty kill went just 3-5 on the day but the power play had a 1-3 performance — the tying goal late in the third. UMass had a 45-30 edge in shots.

Neither side generated much offense in the first period. UConn ended its first power play six seconds in with a penalty of its own, then actually did better on the penalty kill. The Huskies had 2v1 rushes and a half-breakaway while shorthanded but couldn’t do anything with any of the opportunities. The two sides went into the intermission knotted at 0-0.

The goals finally came in the second period. UMass struck first just 1:17 into the second period on the power play. UConn couldn’t get ahold of the puck for a clearance and the Minutemen eventually made them pay.

The hosts’ lead didn’t last long, though. Less than a minute later, Messineo threaded a pass through the neutral zone to spring Percival on a breakaway and he scored to even the game at 1-1. The Huskies didn’t take advantage of their first full power play but still eventually went ahead.

Midway through the period, Muldowney collected a loose puck between the dots and fired it at net. His shot deflected off the skate of a UMass defenseman and went in, putting UConn up 2-1. That scoreline held into the final intermission.

The Huskies couldn’t hold the one-goal lead, though. Eight minutes in the third, they again struggled to clear the puck and turned it over in their defensive zone. Cole O’Hara picked it up and sent it to the net, when Kenny O’Connor beat Haider to even the game at two goals apiece. Shortly after, the Minutemen had a chance to go back ahead on the power play but UConn came up with a timely kill.

They wouldn’t be denied twice, though. The Huskies went to the box again, this time for interference on John Spetz. For the third time, UConn couldn’t get a clearance and UMass made it pay when Aydar Suniev ripped a shot into the twice from the top of the dots. That gave the Minutemen a 3-2 advantage with 6:43 left in the game.

After going down, UConn looked dead in the water. The Huskies couldn’t get control of the puck, let alone get any shots on goal. Then UMass threw them a lifeline with a high-sticking penalty and they grabbed it.

UConn won the draw, worked it around the ice and eventually found Schandor in front of net, who tapped it in to the tie the game at 3-3 with 2:00 left. It was the Huskies’ first shot on goal since the 11:29 mark in the third period. Neither team could final a winner in the final minutes, which sent the game to overtime.

Both teams had chances to win it in the extra period. UMass hit the inside of the post and had UConn playing desperation defense multiple times, but couldn’t break through. The Huskies had a 2v0 rush, but Muldowney got denied on the doorstep. With no score after five minutes, the game officially ended in a tie and went to a shootout.

Neither team converted in the first three rounds, then Flynn stepped up and sent a back-hand shot bar-down to get UConn on the board. Haider denied UMass’s final attempt to secure the extra point for the Huskies.

Next, UConn will host Maine for two games at the XL Center next weekend.