UConn men's hockey not panicking despite rough start

When UConn men’s hockey got off to a program-record 9-1-1 start last season, head coach Mike Cavanaugh knew it was largely smoke and mirrors.

“We were winning some games I didn't think we deserved to win. We got some excellent goaltending and were opportunistic in certain areas,” he admitted. “I didn't feel our record was indicative of how we were actually playing.”

The Huskies eventually turned into a pumpkin and went 11-11-2 the rest of the way. Now, they find themselves in the other seat — last weekend vs. Holy Cross, they felt they played well enough to win but ended up being swept.

With the way UConn’s last two seasons have started, Cavanaugh has continued to preach his message of performance over results.

“This year, I'm not sure our record’s indicative of how we're playing. I think we're playing playing pretty solid,” he said. “You have sleepless nights when you have to win games 8-6 all the time. If you have pretty solid goaltending and good defense, the goals will come.”

For the results to turn around, the performance has to get better, though. The Huskies were the better team on the weekend, but they weren’t without their problems. They failed to light the lamp a single time on Saturday despite an advantage of 62-34 on attempts and 28-17 on shots. Through four games, they’ve scored just a single goal off a rebound. UConn’s spent plenty of practice time working to change that.

“We've focused a lot this week on more traffic in front of the net and hitting the net more,” Cavanaugh said.

The good news, as the coach mentioned, is that the Huskies haven’t had any issues down the other end of the ice. Through two weeks, they’ve split their two goaltenders — Arsenii Sergeev starts the first game, and Ethan Haider follows the next night. Sergeev has given up a pair of goals in his two starts and has a .932 save percentage while Haider has also allowed four goals, but with three in his first game at Colgate followed by one in the series with Holy Cross. His save percentage is just .912 since he’s faced 13 fewer shots than Sergeev.

Neither has stolen a win for UConn — though Haider arguably stole a tie at Colgate with his play in overtime — but more importantly, they haven’t been the reason the Huskies have lost, either.

“They're both successful in their own ways,” Cavanaugh said. “I just like so far how they've given us a chance to win every game and that's all you can ask of your goaltender.”

With the defense performing up the par and the talent on offense, UConn isn’t panicking. The Huskies will stick to their process and beliefs with the expectation that, like last year, the results will eventually catch up with the performances.