Weekly Roundup: Did UConn break Northeastern?

UConn takes down No. 20 Northeastern

• After an ugly sweep at Ohio State, UConn badly needed a win on the road at No. 20 Northeastern and it got it. The first seven minutes did not go great, but then UConn settled in and controlled the rest of the game. Northeastern never threatened in the third period and UConn came away with a pretty comfortable two-goal victory.

• There’s a lot to break down, but let’s start with Northeastern coach Jerry Keefe’s postgame press conference. In my seven years covering games, I’ve never seen a coach as angry as Keefe postgame. I seriously thought he was going to break the table. You can feel the anger through this clip:

• Keefe had some strong words: “We're not desperate enough as a hockey team. Obviously, I'm not pushing the right buttons. … we've got some guys that aren't performing at the level that they need to.”

• He later added: “We're participants of Hockey East right now.”

• Northeastern is either about to go on a 10-game winning streak or completely collapse. I’m not sure which, though.

• Back to the game, three things that stood out on Tuesday that didn’t make it into the postgame notebook:

• UConn put together a resilient performance, especially after rolling over in the second game at Ohio State. Northeastern scored first before UConn responded with three goals in the first period alone to take a 3-1 lead into the first intermission. When Northeastern cut the deficit down to one twice in the second, UConn answered immediately both times.

• Mike Cavanaugh said postgame that resiliency was a theme of the week for the team: “One of my former players, Tony Voce, came and talked to our team this week… he told our players, ‘You have to have a short memory. When things go bad, you can't let one bad shift turn into two bad shifts, turn into three bad shifts. People are going to score goals on you and the sign of a great team is resiliency. Can you come right back and score one on them?’ I think we were able to do that twice tonight. So I thought that was certainly a key in the game, definitely. We didn't allow them to really generate a lot of momentum.”

• UConn also hounded the puck as well as it has all season against Northeastern. The hosts struggled to clear the zone and UConn’s forwards were constantly pressuring and forcing turnovers in dangerous spots. Marc Gatcomb’s goal came after Jachym Kondelik and Jonny Evans helped win the puck back behind the net, which allowed Gatcomb to fire a quick shot past Devon Levi.“I think we did that consistently throughout the game better than we have all season long,” Cavanaugh said.

• There were some negatives despite the win, namely penalties. UConn has struggled with penalties all season long and has committed at least four in all but one game so far. Northeastern had five power plays compared to just one for UConn, which is how the hosts scored both of its goals in the second period. For as well as UConn’s penalty kill has been to start the season, it’s not sustainable to consistently be giving opponents 8+ minutes per game with an extra skater.

Links

• Ep. 32: UConn Hockey Hub Podcast

• Video: Mike Cavanaugh pregame availability (Northeastern)

• Preview: UConn vs. No. 20 Northeastern

• UConn men’s hockey looking to rebound at Northeastern

• UConn men’s hockey takes down No. 20 Northeastern, 5-3

• UConn's offense bounces back in 5-3 win over No. 20 Northeastern

• Photo gallery: UConn men’s hockey at Northeastern

Three stars

First star: Nick Capone

After scoring once his entire freshman season, Capone scored twice in the first period on Tuesday. It was a long-awaited breakout for the sophomore following a great week of practice. Capone demonstrated his immense offensive potential in what is hopefully a breakout game for him.

Second star: Marc Gatcomb

Gatcomb has quietly been UConn’s best player wire-to-wire this season and proved that further on Tuesday. He scored a crucial, momentum-swinging goal 30 seconds after Northeastern had drawn within one for the second time in the middle period and also added an assist on Capone’s first goal.

Third star: Jachym Kondelik

While Kondelik only got credited with one assist on the night (Gatcomb’s goal), he played a key role in Ryan Wheeler’s by screening Levi. With Kondelik’s 6-foot-5 frame in front of him, Levi had no chance at stopping Wheeler’s shot. Along with those two plays, Kondelik hounded the puck in Northeastern’s zone, routinely forced turnovers, and owned the space behind the net. He seemed to be everywhere on the ice in the win.