CANTLON: (FRI) HUSKIES EDGE UNH 2-1 ON NEW YEAR’S DAY 

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings

DURHAM, NH – UCONN’s penalty kill on a late University of New Hampshire powerplay preserved their first come-from-behind road win of the season,  2-1.

The two teams hook up for the backend of the home-and-home matchup at the Freitas Ice Forum in Storrs.

UCONN’s record improves to just under .500. They are now 3-4-1, and UNH, which has been hit hard by COVID-19 and playing just their fifth game of the year, fell to (1-3-1).

“We came out well in the first two periods. We executed well, pressured them with pucks, and we had a lot of energy. I’m glad we got that goal to make it 1-1.  New Hampshire had a lot of push back in the third (period) after we made it 2-1, but we were able to hold them off. It was a great hockey game,“ UCONN bench boss Mike Cavanaugh said.

The UCONN penalty killers aided the usual stellar work of goalie Tomas Vomacka (29 saves). They blocked three key shots in the last minute of regulation, with two of them coming while a man down.

Freshmen Hudson Schandor blocked Kalle Eriksson’s blast from the right circle, and then Brian Rigali blocked Jackson Pierson’s last-second shot attempt to secure the win.

“It was huge for us, and that’s why both those guys are on the penalty kill (unit). They were willing to put their bodies in front of those shots. It was huge down the stretch for us,” a highly relieved Cavanaugh said.

Vomacka was superb with UNH goalie Mike Robinson pulled for an extra attacker on the power play to create a six-on-four situation. Off the draw, Vomacka stopped August Crookshank’s game-high fifth shot. The shot came from behind the net as Crookshank tried an eight-ball-in-the-corner-pocket attempt with 47.4 seconds left.

“By now, at this point of the season, we would have worked on that. Practices have been disjointed, and with games every other night, I was glad we got the timeout to talk about it. It is a certainty a unique situation in a hockey game when they pull the goalie,” Cavanaugh said.

Jachym Kondelik caught a puck by Eriksson off his left boot. Vomacka made one of many game-saving saves as he slid left-to-right and robbed Alex Semandel, who, off the rush, had gotten behind the Huskies defense and was set up perfectly by Cam Gendron with 2:45 to go.

“It was a great save. He had been locked in and playing pretty well for us, and we’re going to need that all season long if we’re going to be one of the top echelon teams in the league.”

UCONN scored the game-winner early in the third period off of solid work down low.

Kondelik was off the right-wing side and left a drop pass to Jonny Evans, who was denied in tight. A loose puck, a rebound, and defenseman Roman Kinal pinched in perfectly and deposited his first of the season into an empty net at 1:16 at even strength.

“Roman, he just jumped into the play and followed up; a really smart play on his behalf, and once again, we had traffic in front,” said Cavanaugh, whose defenseman made a big difference especially playing on the international-sized ice surface ay Whittemore Center.

“It’s always been a part of our repertoire, and sometimes it doesn’t dictate it. Tonight, it did. The players jumped up into the play but didn’t force those opportunities. Sometimes you can get in trouble when you try to force chances; tonight, we used what our opponent gave us and capitalized on it.”

Magnus Eriksson, who had a strong afternoon for the Wildcats, almost tied over a minute later, but Vomacka made the stop.

The Huskies’ second period was a lot like its first, and it took some puck luck to register their first goals, but the effort from UCONN was there.

The extra defenseman, Ryan Wheeler, had a chance at 7:02, with Rigali battling in front looking for a rebound.

The next shift a shot off the left point was stopped. Chase Stevenson, at 6:13, was turned aside and then Filip Engaras seconds later.

Artem Schlaine and 15 seconds later Carter Turnbull had a great chance, but Robinson (29 saves) denied him.

West Haven product, Eric Esposito, coming off the left point with 10:00 to go was stopped.

Crookshank tried to sneak one by with 7:16 to go, but Vomacka kept to one shot and no rebounds.

Spetz and Carter Berger tried to get UCONN a two-goal edge, but Robinson remained stingy in repelling the Huskies’ pair of chances.

Robinson stopped Turnbull on a break in chance with a blocker save before UNH’s Semandel’s late bid.

UCONN then had a terrific set of opportunities, but Robinson was sensational.

UCONN did everything right in the first period but didn’t score, and the Wildcats walked to the dressing room up 1-0.

The Huskies had some golden chances but couldn’t cash in.

Evans intercepted a cross-ice feed in the neutral zone outraced four Wildcats, but Robinson kept his glove hand low and stoned Evans.

On the same shift, Jachym had Kondelik on the left-wing wall and stopped a clearing attempt, and sent it back behind the net.

Evans then forced a turnover by UNH’s Ryan Verrier, and Kondelik followed in on a deep forecheck, got the loose biscuit, and made the pass out in front.

Their new linemate, Nick Capone, was in the shooter’s position down on one knee on the left side, but Robinson made a ten-bell save.

“You can’t get frustrated. You have to trust in the game plan. You have to keep getting bodies to the net, keep getting pucks to the net; sure enough, it paid off. We got a big boost right after that. My hats off to Robinson. He played outstanding tonight,” said Cavanaugh of the UNH goalie, a San Jose Sharks draftee.

UNH answered back as UCONN’s John Spetz fell at the right point. He tried to sweep the puck into the offensive zone to make the play offside, and stop play, but UNH’s blocked it and turned it around into a two-on-one the other way.

Stevenson got a return pass from Reid on the left-wing, but Vomacka came out and cut the angle down and stopped it just 39 seconds after Capone’s bid.

The Huskies finally broke the curtain Robinson had thrown around the net, and it was Spetz at the right point who took defense partner Carter Berger’s pass with Turnbull up looking for the tip.

The shot looked as if it was going wide, but UNH defenseman Semandel, with his back to the play, had the shot ricochet off his stick and into the net at 12:59. The Huskies tied the game at one.

“He made a nice move to get the puck down low, and we had traffic, and he got a bounce,” Cavanaugh remarked about his freshmen rearguard.

Vomacka kept UNH from scoring with three last-minute saves on Benton Maass with 1:04 left, then Patrick Grasso with 43 seconds to go, and Ryan Verrier with 8.4 ticks left on the clock.

Kondelik intercepted a pass in the UCONN zone. They broke out with Rigali on the left-wing flipped a soft backhanded pass, but Robinson denied the two on one bid at 12:06.

26 seconds later, he stopped Adam Karashik as Zac Robbins led a three-on-two break-in from the Huskies defensive zone.

Robbins went on a semi-two on nothing with Schlaine. At 14:38, he fed the speedy winger, but Robinson’s shot from the left-wing side was denied a celebration.

After a TV timeout, the officials reviewed the play, and Carter Berger was hit with a two-minute interference penalty, and UNH capitalized.

UNH’s Patrick Grasso took the pass and went to the middle faked a slap shot that froze the defense and goalie Vomacka. He then slipped a pass to a wide-open Eriksson at the right-wing faceoff dot. He wired a slapshot to the short-side before Vomacka slid over for his second goal of the year at 16:47.

Before the period ended, each goalie stopped as Angus Crookshank with 34.3 seconds left and Marc Gatcomb, who had strong first from a sharp angle lower right wing faceoff circle with 6.9 seconds left, was stopped UCONN held a 12-6 shot advantage.

LINES:

Capone (Kale Howarth)- Kondelik-Evans
Gatcomb-Schlaine-Turnbull
Zac Robbins- Schandor-Rigali
Eric Linnell-Gavin Pushkar-John Wojciechowski

Jake Flynn-Adam Karachik
Carter Berger-John Spetz
Kinal-Harrison Rees
Wheeler

Puskar (Farmington/Hotchkiss Prep-Lakeville) was making his collegiate debut, and Wojciechowski (shoulder injury) was making his season debut.

The 9th ranked UMASS-Amherst (7-3-1) stays atop Hockey East with a 4-3 win over Northeastern. They have played the most games in the conference (20), and Boston University has yet to take the ice this season.

Evans now has a career-best six-game point streak (three goals/five assists) and has tallied at least a point in seven of UCONN’s eight games this season. Evans leads the team in scoring with nine points (three goals/six assists) and is tied for third in Hockey East in points.

Through eight games, Vomacka has played every minute in net (487:03) for the Huskies. He owns a 2.59 goals-against average and a .921 save percentage.

The Huskies have made a roster addition for the second semester with the addition of freshman forward Ryan Tverberg.

Tverberg was announced as signing an NLI with UCONN back in November. He will enter school for the spring semester and bring added depth to the Huskies forwards.

With the addition of Tverberg, the Husky lineup will feature nine NHL draft picks in 2020-21, a new program high. That number climbed with the 2020 NHL Draft this fall as sophomore Yan Kuznetsov (Calgary/2nd round) and freshmen Artem Shlaine (New Jersey/5th round), Capone (Tampa Bay/6th round), and Tverberg (Toronto/7th round).

UNH leads the all-time series versus UConn, 16-9-1. Last year, the Wildcats went 0-2-0 over the Huskies with two 7-4 defeats on Jan. 31-Feb. 1. The Wildcats are 1-2-3 versus the Huskies over the last five contests and 1-9-1 over the last 10 games.

UNH is now 5-5-0 all-time versus UConn at the Whittemore Center. Tomorrow’s game will be the first game between the two schools at the Freitas Ice Forum.

The first game ever played between the two schools was January 16, 1929, an 8-1 UNH win, a span of 91 years.

The two schools had played just 12 times before UCONN joined Hockey East in 2014.

Plenty of CT connections on the Wildcats roster.

Starting with Drew Hickey (New Canaan/CT Jr, Rangers-NCDC), Joseph Cipollone (Selects Academy at South Kent Prep), and Eric Esposito (West Haven/Loomis Chaffe-Windsor).

Head coach Mike Souza is an ex-Bridgeport Sound Tiger and brother-in-law of ex-Pack, Chris Bourque. The Associate Head Coach is Glenn Stewart and ex-UHL New Haven Knights, and goalie coach Ty Conklin is a former Wolf Pack.

Several players have some unique backgrounds, several internationally.

Joe Hankinson is the son of former NHL’er and AHL’er, Ben Hankinson. His two uncles played pro hockey in Casey, in the NHL and AHL, and Peter, after leaving the University of Minnesota, skated for the Ft. Wayne Komets (IHL) version.

His cousin, Sami, is currently playing for Edina High, the Minnesota town that has spawned many pro players.

Eriksson’s father, Niklas, was drafted by the Flyers had a long 16 year Swedish Elite League career, as did his uncle Marcus who spent 14 years in Sweden and two years in Norway.

Kohei Sato was born in Japan, grew up in Quebec, played US junior hockey, and has represented Japan in the World Championships in the Division I Group B and in Olympic qualifying tournament.