UConn takes care of business against Alaska Anchorage, 5-2

UConn men’s hockey took care of business by defeat the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves 5-2 on Wednesday night at Toscano Family Ice Forum.

Joey Muldowney notched his second hat trick of the campaign and in the process, tied Tage Thompson (2016-17) for the most goals in a single season during UConn's Hockey East Era with 19. Muldowney is also the second Hockey East Era Husky to record multiple hat tricks in both a season and a career, joining Jonny Evans.

Hugh Larkin and Ethan Gardula found the back of the net for the Huskies as well. In goal, Tyler Muszelik started and stopped 27 of 29 shots en route to the win.

UConn scored first without putting a shot on net. Larkin tried to center a pass to Filip Sitar but it hit an Anchorage stick and bounced past goaltender Tyler Krivtsov to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead.

10 minutes later, Gardula ripped a shot from the top of the circles that hit the post and went in to double the advantage. At the end of the period, UConn’s penalty kill scored its nation-leading ninth shorthanded goal of the season when Muldowney floated a shot that beat Krivtsov near-post.

The Seawolves appeared to get on the board with a power play goal in the second period but the Huskies challenged for goaltender interference and won. It ultimately didn’t matter, though — Alaska Anchorage converted on the man-advantage anyways and this time, it stood. That cut UConn’s lead down to 3-1.

The Huskies had a chance to push the gap back to three on their first power play of the day but they came up empty. Shortly afterwards, the Seawolves scored off the rush to make it 3-2 — a scoreline that held into the second intermission.

In the final period, UConn’s power play stopped the bleeding. Muldowney hammered a one-timer from the slot for his second goal of the night, which extended the Huskies’ lead back to two.

Alaska Anchorage pulled the goalie with nearly five minutes left and UConn quickly made the visitors pay. Muldowney had one attempt at the empty-net blocked but eventually buried his third on a no-look shot to secure the hat trick. The Seawolves kept the goalie in net for the remainder of the game and the Huskies came out with a 5-2 victory.

With Alaska Anchorage entering the night ranked 57th in the Pairwise, the win helps UConn avoid the final landmine on its schedule and solidifies its spot inside the NCAA Tournament field. The Huskies remain at No. 9 with the victory while improving to 16-10-3 on the year.

Next, UConn will get the weekend off before returning to play on Friday, Feb. 21 against Maine.