UConn men's hockey takes down No. 7 Maine, 2-0

In front of the largest home crowd in program history with 9,428 filling the XL Center, UConn men’s hockey beat the No. 7 Maine Black Bears 2-0.

Neither side found the back of the net for the first 40 minutes until Tabor Heaslip and Joey Muldowney scored 3:53 apart at the start of the third. That proved to be all the Huskies needed.

UConn started Arsenii Sergeev in goal for the first time since Nov. 10 and he shined with his first collegiate shutout, stopping all 25 shots he faced.

The first two periods were inverses of each other.

Maine dominated the opening 20 minutes. The Huskies managed just two shots — both of which were essentially dump-ins that hit the net — and while the Black Bears had 13, they didn’t create anything all that dangerous.

UConn then owned the middle stanza with a 12-3 advantage in shots on goal in the period. Both teams had power plays, though neither did much with the extra skater.

Once the third period started, the Huskies needed just 22 seconds to break the deadlock. Heaslip won the puck below the dots, took it around the net, and snuck a back-handed shot over the shoulder of Maine goalie Albin Boija to give UConn a 1-0 lead.

Four minutes later, the Huskies struck again. Muldowney shot near-post and the puck found its way through Boija’s pads and into the back of the net to double the advantage.

Unlike Friday night, UConn didn’t blow a 2-0 lead in the third period.

Over the final 15 minutes, the Huskies played a smart game to melt the clock down slowly. The defense stood up when called upon — during one sequence, it blocked three shots in the defensive zone and then broke out on a 2v0 rush.

Maine pulled the goalie with 2:47 remaining but UConn held strong. Chase Bradley drew a penalty with 56.3 seconds left, which sealed the victory for the Huskies.

UConn improves to 9-10-2 overall and 5-6-1 in Hockey East play. Next, the Huskies will take on UNH in a home-and-home series beginning at Toscano Family Ice Forum on Friday.