BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings
HARTFORD, CT – The University of Connecticut Huskies (7-6-0) remain in fifth place in Hockey East (5-4-0) after surviving their weekend series with a split of their games with UMass-Lowell. After winning 3-1 at the XL Center, the Huskies snapped a three-game losing streak and earned their first win over the Riverhawks, undefeated since opening night to Division-I Independent, Arizona State.
“It was a gutsy win for our team,” remarked UCONN Head Coach, Mike Cavanaugh of the weekend split. “It was different than last night. We had a much better second period. We got a 2-1 lead in the third period and held on. We played mainly three lines and got tired at the end.”
The winning goal was the result of a lot of hard work and a touch of puck luck.
Jake Flynn launched a right-point shot with Jachym Kondelik creating havoc at the right side of the net. Flynn’s shot hit the post and the back of goalie Owen Savory’s right leg and in.
REACTION
“Tonight, we made a lot more myriad of plays than we did last night. That (goal) was one of them. You get puck luck when you go to the net. The goalie gets screened. He doesn’t know where the puck is, and you need that. You have to create your own puck luck on that goal there was a lot of that.”
The Huskies took a 1-0 lead at 26 seconds of the second period when grad transfer Kevin O’ Neil fed Ryan Wheeler on the right-wing. Wheeler snapped a one-timer through the five-hole for a 1-0 lead.
Lowell then tied the game while playing four-on-four.
The Riverhawks’ Andre Lee took the puck away from John Spetz at the right point after failing to handle a pass from Kondelik. Lee broke in down the left-wing side and went to the backhand and roofed his eighth of the year, and fifth in three games, past UCONN netminder, Darion Hanson at 16:51.
INJURIES FOR THE HUSKIES
The Huskies were without their top two goal scorers, forwards Jonny Evans and Vladislav Firstov who were both out with upper-body injuries. However, both are expected back as these are considered short-term injuries.
“Both have nagging injuries,” commented Cavanaugh. “I know how Lowell plays, so you can’t go in less than 100%. It showed a little last time, so that’s why we held them out. It’s too hard of a game to play when you’re not 100%, and we should have them back next Saturday.”
UM-L Head Coach Norm Bazin stresses a total team attack with five-man units making them a tough team to play against on both ends of the ice.
“You can see how hard it is. There is never a blowout,” Cavanaugh said with a hint of humor. “They’re a tough team to get to the front of their net on. But, I like to think we are to. Last night, its a 2-0 game with an empty-netter, and tonight was more of the same.”
Both schools had transfers playing in net that came from the ECACHL, which took last year off. They have both excelled in Hockey. Owen Savory (29 saves) was brilliant stopping a two-on-one odd-man rush from Marc Gatcomb by making a stupendous slide across the crease with 6:09 left in third.
“I thought for sure that would be in the net. I still haven’t seen the tape of it. He made a heck of a save on Tverberg last night,” Cavanaugh said.
HANSON SAVES TOO
Darion Hanson (19 saves) played at his finest for UCONN just 53 seconds into the third period.
“Both (goalies) were excellent in net this weekend,” Cavanaugh said.
The play of Artem Schlaine’s line greatly pleased Cavanaugh.
“That line has been fantastic forechecking. They’ve been good for a while. The last two weeks have been heavy for us and they’ve been checking well. Chase (Bradley) has been a horse out there getting up-and-down the ice finishing checks for us, breaking up plays for us. He has an excellent stick for us. He has an offensive upside that hasn’t been tapped yet, but that’s coming,” Cavanaugh said of the seventh-round Detroit Red Wings draftee.
LINES
O’NEIL-KONDELIK-TVERBERG
GATCOMB-SCHANDOR-TURNBULL
SCHLAINE- BRADLEY-CAPONE (The NHL Line-all NHL draftees)
TELGUINE-WOJCIECHOWSKI-BOWES (Wojciechowski played his first game of the season)
WHEELER-REES
BERGER-SPETZ
GOURLEY-KINAL
FLYNN
NOTES
The next non-conference meeting after UCONN takes on Harvard will be the Connecticut Ice Festival at the Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport at the end of January. First, they’ll take on the reigning tournament champion, Sacred Heart University of Fairfield, then ECACHL powerhouse Quinnipiac University from Hamden, and then the winless, offensively challenged (0-6-0 just five goals) Yale University Bulldogs also of the ECACHL. Yale was shut out over the weekend by a score of 3-0 in both games). They are the only NCAA Division-I team in the country without a win.
