UConn's Saturday struggles continue with 6-3 loss at BU

The Huskies are 3-0-0 in series-openers and 0-3-0 in the second game so far this season.

UConn men’s hockey suffered a 6-3 loss to the No. 15 Boston University Terriers at Agganis Arena on Saturday. The Huskies looked to be on their way to a blowout defeat when they fell behind 4-0 in the second period but threatened a comeback bid and pulled within two with 6:45 to play. Ultimately, the hosts ended those hopes with an empty-net goal in the final minute.

Despite the scoreline, UConn head coach Mike Cavanaugh wasn’t dismayed by his team’s performance.

“I actually thought we played better tonight than we did on Thursday,” he said. “We certainly had a lot more scoring chances, some good ones. I thought we played structurally better than we did (on Thursday). They were opportunistic and when they had their chances, they buried them. I think that was probably the difference in the game.”

BU scored the opening goal just 2:04 in, tagged a second on 5:04 later and never looked back. The Terriers led 2-0 after one period and went up 4-0 late midway through the second period before Jeremy Loranger got the Huskies on the board with his first goal of the season. 2:35 into the third, BU pushed the gap back to four, though Kaden Shahan answered for UConn with a missile from the top of the circles.

The Huskies made it interesting after BU’s Kamil Bednarik received a major penalty and game misconduct for spearing Trey Scott. Shahan scored again with 3:08 left on the ensuing power play to cut the deficit to 5-3, but the unit couldn’t convert beyond that.

Veeti Louhivaara had a rough night in goal for the Huskies, allowing five goals on 35 shots (an .848 save percentage). He’s now 0-3-0 on the season.

UConn actually had the edge in attempts, 67-56, and were even on shots on goal with 35 apiece. The Huskies went 1-5 on the power play and 2-3 on the penalty kill.

With the loss, UConn falls back to .500 at 3-3-0 overall and 1-1-0 in Hockey East play. BU ultimately wins the weekend with four of six possible points after forcing overtime on Thursday.

Saturday struggles continue

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