CANTLON: (FRI) HUSKIES AND FRIARS SETTLE FOR A TIE  

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings

HARTFORD, CT – Carter Turnbull scored twice to lead the UCONN Huskies to a 3-3 overtime tie with the Providence College Friars on Friday in a Hockey East matchup at the XL Center. The tie came for the second week in a row for the Huskies.

Sophomore Tomas Vomacka was in net for UCONN for the fourth time this season and faced 40 shots and gave the Huskies a chance to win in this game.

The two teams will complete the weekend home-and-home Saturday in Providence at the Schneider Arena.

The Huskies record now stands at 3-5-3 overall (2-3-2 HEA) while Providence College is 6-4-3 overall (4-3-2 HEA).

The Huskies cashed in on a quality chance early in the third to tie the game at three.

Turnbull was able to get the edge on Friars’ rearguard, Cam McDonald. The right-handed shot was on the left-wing at full throttle and slipped his third goal under the right pad of Friars’ goalie, Matt Lackey at 3:39.

“We practice that all week, cutting across the net, that was the shot I was looking for,” remarked Turnbull.

Each team had golden chances to get the go-ahead tally.

Brian Rigali had a breakaway opportunity at 11:28 and couldn’t dent the twine.

Particularly over the final six or seven minutes of the game, Vomacka was simply spectacular.

Vomacka stoned the Friars’ Luke Johnson at 13:15 and 17-seconds later stopped Spencer Young from 20-feet out. Ben Mirageas’ one-timer was denied from the right-point and then eight seconds later, Greg Printz came off the half-wall at 14:31 and with traffic in front of the net, he was prevented from turning on the goal light.

Printz just shook his head after his backhanded attempt was rejected. It was amazing how Vomacka even found the puck through all the traffic, sticks and legs, that were obstructing his view.

“They put a lot of pressure on me in front, and that’s my job; to find the puck, and I was able to do that a couple of times,” Vomacka, a Czech native said.

Huskies Head coach, Mike Cavanaugh, was battling a persistent cough and a cold, was effusive in his praise of him.

“He made some great saves. That’s his job,” Cavanaugh said with a smile. “That’s what he is supposed to do. Their kid was good too. He stopped two breakaways on us.”

The power play couldn’t provide a game-winner while operating in overtime. The team was just too stationary and only managed to put two shots on net.

The Huskies were down one player, an important one at that. Second-line center, Kale Howarth, was injured, forcing the Huskies into playing mostly three lines while the Friars had lots of horses to wear UCONN down.

Jachym Kondelik picked up a lot of the work down the middle.

At 4:45, of the second period, after Ben Freeman broke in, but was in too tight as his backhand-to-forehand just went wide. He was in too tight for the big man with a shortage of space to be flexible enough to slip it on to the net. UCONN had another solid chance when Jordan Timmons stole the puck from twenty feet out and was in all alone, but he also lost control of the puck at the last second.

Providence scored twice in the second period to take a 3-2 lead on very quirky plays.

At 9:23, Colin O’Neil went for a wraparound. Carter Berger lost his edge and slid past him. The wraparound attempt went off Vomacka’s right pads and in just before a Friars player slid into the net and knocked the net off.

It as O’Neil’s fourth goal. The video review confirmed the goal was a good tally.

Three minutes later, at 12:22, Berger grabbed the rebound of Printz’s tip-in shot, turned to clear it and his shot went off of his teammate. Jack Dugan, the leading scorer in Hockey East, grabbed the loose biscuit and whacked the rolling puck off the inside of Vomacka’s pad for his sixth of the year.

“We were down a bit after those two lucky goals,“ said Turnbull. “Tomas is playing great and he gave us the energy. He’s a gamer. He works hard. It’s not a secret. He practices the same way every day so it’s no secret why he’s so successful.

Timmons and Turnbull had quality chances turned aside as Vomacka worked his magic in goal for UCONN, keeping the Friars at bay, including his stop of a Parker Ford point-blank shot.

With 3:33, the Huskies’ Sasha Payusov cut across from the left-wing side couldn’t get it past Lackey. Then UCONN’s Marc Gatcomb had a quality chance just before the period expired.

It didn’t take long for the Friars to get on the board in the first period.

Max Crozier retrieved the puck off the right-wing boards sent the shot toward the net.

Then Tyce Thompson sliced through Payusov and Ryan Wheeler, a New Jersey Devils draftee, found the rebound and backhanded in his tenth of the season at 3:38. He’s in a three-way conference tie for second place in goals scored.

The Huskies tied the game at one with a solid offensive zone cycle.

Timmons, playing on the fourth-line for the game, was in the lower, left-wing, circle chipped the puck back to Yan Kuznetsov at the left point as he headed off at the end of his shift.

Kuznetsov was patient with the puck. He put an accurate, low shot, toward the net.  Freeman used his 6’6 frame and perfectly boxed out defenseman Cam MacDonald and screened Lackey perfectly for his first of the season.

UCONN made it 2-1 when Turnbull scored his first of the night, second of the season, on a superb wrist shot that sailed past the unprepared Friars goalie for the UCONN lead at 17:59.

Kale Howarth got the whole play started by winning the offensive zone draw.

NOTES:

Cavanaugh had no update on Howarth’s condition except to say that he was taken to a local hospital to be evaluated.

Providence has a few CT hockey connections on its roster. Senior Vimal Sukhamen, (Salisbury Prep), Greg Printz, (Select Academy at South Kent Prep), Ben Mirageas (Avon Old Farms) and of course sophomore right-wing Tyce Thompson (Milford/Salisbury Prep), who’s the brother of former UCONN star, Tage Thompson, who’s currently with the Buffalo Sabres.  Of course, as stated, both are sons of current Bridgeport Sound Tigers head coach, Brent Thompson, who also happens to be a former Wolf Pack player.

Coincidentally, Bridgeport was in Providence tonight. The elder Thompson would have liked to be there. They got shutout 5-0.

The Friars have owned the Huskies since their joining Hockey East. Their record is 8-0-2 and they’ve have won five of the six meetings in Hartford (4-0-2).

UCONN is still without a home win (0-4-2). They play five of their next six in the supposed to be friendly confines of the XL Center before the holiday break.

Wyatt Newpower (goal and two assists) earned Hockey East Player of the Week. The Huskies dormant powerplay awoke to reverse a 1-22 trend tallying twice at key points of both games.

The Hartford Wolf Pack were shutout for the first time this season in Rochester 4-0. Goalie Igor Shesterkin played his first back to back games gave up the first goal 22 seconds into the game.

Former UCONN defenseman Joseph Masonius signed a deal with Norfolk (ECHL).