UConn's comeback falls short in 4-3 overtime loss to Northeastern

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UConn men’s hockey rallied from a 3-0 deficit in the third period to force overtime, but still fell to the No. 19 Northeastern Huskies, 4-3, at PeoplesBank Arena on Saturday.

Northeastern scored three times in the opening stanza but UConn roared back with three goals in the third. Jesse Heslop lit the lamp first, Jeremy Loranger made it 3-2 and then Carlin Dezainde tied it with a 6-on-5 goal with 59.9 remaining. But in overtime, UConn never touched the puck and Northeastern found the winner after 3:21.

Kam Hendrickson started in goal and recovered from an early mistake to finish with 36 saves on 40 shots (a .900 save percentage). UConn went 0-1 on the power play but 1-1 on the penalty kill.

For the third straight game, UConn gave up the opening goal. Hendrickson spilled what should’ve been a clean save and then didn’t realize he lost the puck. Northeastern flew in and cleaned up the rebound to make it 1-0.

UConn almost answered right back. It sent a flurry of chances on net and even rang the post but couldn’t break through. Soon after, it went on the power play but failed to convert.

Midway through the frame, Northeastern jumped on another mistake to take a 2-0 lead. Will McIsaac lost an edge in the corner of the defensive zone, which led to a goal from Giacomo Martino on a backdoor one-timer.

From there, UConn unraveled. After falling behind by two, the hosts were outshot 12-0 over the final 8:30 of the opening period. While getting hemmed in its own zone, UConn took its first penalty — high-sticking on Owen Simpson — and Northeastern scored just as its power play expired to go ahead 3-0.

That scoreline held into the first intermission and through an uneventful second period as well.

UConn finally broke through 4:03 into the final stanza. Heslop picked up the puck at the bottom of the circles, took it to net and deked past Northeastern goalie Lawton Zacher for his first career goal. UConn wasn’t done, either.

With 8:43 to play, Loranger fired a shot from the far side that hit off Zacher’s glove and went in to cut the deficit down to 3-2. UConn pulled the goalie for the extra attacker with 1:20 remaining and capitalized moments later. McIsaac sent a pass from the blue line to a wide-open Dezainde, who buried a one-timer from a tight angle to pull UConn even at 3-3 with 59.9 to play.

In overtime, UConn lost the faceoff, never gained possession and couldn’t get a change, either. It eventually lost track of Joe Connor on the backside, who scored the winner to finish off the sweep.

With the defeat, UConn falls to 4-7-1 overall and 2-5-1 in Hockey East. Next, it’ll take on UNH in a home-and-home series beginning on Thursday at Toscano Family Ice Forum. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. ET.

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