UConn men's hockey blown out by UNH, 5-0

UConn men’s hockey suffered a blowout 5-0 loss to the No. 17 New Hampshire Wildcats on Friday at Toscano Family Ice Forum. The Wildcats scored once in the first period then added three more in a 1:05 span during the third period to put the game away for good. They added another with 21.1 left to secure the final score.

Ethan Haider made 34 of 39 saves on the night, while UConn only generated 20 shots itself. The Huskies have now been shutout four times at home this season and three times at their on-campus rink alone.

UNH took the lead late in the first period courtesy of an own-goal by UConn. Andrew Lucas tries to break up a cross-ice pass, but the puck bounced off his stick and into the net past Haider, who was sliding to the other post expecting the back-side shot from New Hampshire.

While that was the opener, the Wildcats had plenty of chances in the opening period. They had a couple breakaways denied by Haider as well as a power play that came up empty. Down the other end, UConn had plenty of possession but didn’t do anything with it.

The second period didn’t have much in the way, even with the Huskies’ first power play.

Then everything fell apart for UConn in the third period. UNH doubled the lead by finishing a rebound that deflected off Haider and landed on the back post. 19 seconds later, the Wildcats made it 3-0 on a shot off the rush. 48 seconds after that, they put a fourth

In just over a minute, UConn’s deficit went from 1-0 to 4-0. With another lifeless offensive performance at Toscano, the Huskies never threatened a comeback. New Hampshire piled on another goal with 21.1 left for good measure.

The loss drops UConn to 9-11-2 on the season and 5-8-1 in Hockey East play. After a day off on Saturday, the Huskies will conclude the series at UNH on Sunday at 4 p.m. ET.