University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
Quinnipiac
UConn Travels to State Rival Quinnipiac Tuesday Night
10/15/2018 4:10:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey
Radio Coverage: UConn IMG Sports Network -Â Â 97.9 ESPN Hartford | WILI 1400 AM and 95.3 FM
         Bob Joyce (pxp) Adam Giardino (color)
Audio Stream:Â TuneIn.com
Video: ESPN+
Live Stats: QuinnipiacBobcats.com
IceChips…
- The UConn Huskies continue their season-opening road swing on Tuesday night with a trip down state to battle the Quinnipiac Bobcats. Both teams are coming off season opening wins over the weekend with the Huskies winning 5-2 at Army West Point and the Bobcats grabbing a 3-2 win at Vermont.
- Five different Huskies scored in Friday night's win at Army led by junior Alexander Payusov and freshman Ruslan Iskhakov who had a goal and an assist each. The Huskies picked up a power play goal off the stick off junior Benjamin Freeman and a shorthanded goal from sophomore Brian Rigali.Â
- UConn had eight freshmen make their collegiate hockey debuts on Friday and in addition to Iskhakov (1g/1a), Jachym Kondelik (2a) and Jonny Evans (1a) also picked-up their first collegiate points.
- The Huskies will be road warriors for the first three months of the season, playing just five times at the XL Center in their first 21 games. UConn will open the Hockey East portion of the schedule on Friday night at No. 5 Providence and host Maine for a two-game series next weekend in Hartford.
- UConn is coming off their best season in Hockey East, tied for fifth with an 11-12-1 record and spot in the tournament quarterfinals, and were tabbed to finish eighth in this year's Hockey East Preseason Coaches' Poll. In three of their first four years in the league, UConn has outplayed their preseason prediction.
- UConn senior defenseman Miles Gendron will captain the Huskies this season with senior forward Max Kalter and junior forward Benjamin Freeman serving as the squad's alternate captains.
- Junior Benjamin Freeman is the Huskies top-returning point producer after a 21-point season coming on eight goals and 13 assists while junior Alexander Payusov is the team's top-returning goal scorer after putting 12 in the back of the net last season. After recording two assists in 15 games as a rookie, Payusov broke out last year with a 20-point (12g/8a) campaign.Â
- Junior goaltender Adam Huska played in 27 games last year and ranked seventh among Hockey East goaltenders in goals against average (2.59) and 10th in save percentage (.912).
Last Meeting vs. Quinnipiac (Jan. 2, 2018)
The Bobcats took the trip up to Hartford for the annual meeting between UConn and Quinnipiac and came away with a 3-0 win to kick off the second half of the season. The Bobcats got the game-winner at 6:15 of the first when Alex Whelan put home a rebound of a Kevin Duane chance for a 1-0 lead. The Bobcats kept the game scoreless through the second and then got a big penalty kill to start the third, when UConn got 55 seconds of a 5-on-3 power play to start but couldn't generate any chances. Quinnipiac pushed their lead to 2-0 at the 6:30 mark when senior Bo Pieper found Scott Davidson's rebound and blasted home a slap shot. With 59 seconds left, senior Kevin McKernan gathered and fired from three quarters ice into the empty net to seal it 3-0. The Huskies finished the night 0-for-6 with the extra skater with only 21 shots on goal. UConn's Adam Huska made 24 saves in taking the loss.
Scouting the Bobcats
The Bobcats are coming off of a 3-2 road win at Vermont to open their season on Saturday night. Facing a 1-0 deficit heading into the third, Quinnipiac put three on the board in the final stanza including two in the final 2:19 to head home with a 3-2 win. Trailing 2-1 late, the Bobcats pulled the goaltender for an extra attacker and Chase Priskie tied the game at 17:41. The Bobcats avoided the extra session by netting the game-winner with 15.2 seconds left as Odeen Tufto found the back of the net for the go ahead goal. Tufto was the Bobcats leading returning scorer from a year ago after finishing with 41 points on nine goals and 32 assists last season. His 32 assists are tied for the fifth most in a single season in the school's Division I history. Also returning for the Bobcats is the team's leading goal scorer in junior Alex Whelan, who had 16 goals on the season. The Bobcats, like the Huskies, have 12 freshmen on their roster in 2018-19. Quinnipiac was tabbed to finish seventh in the ECAC Preseason Coaches' Poll.
Huskies vs. ECAC
- UConn is 19-55-10 all-time against teams from the ECAC.
- This season, the Huskies will face Quinnipiac, RPI and Brown and could potentially face Union, Yale and St. Lawrence as part of the Friendship Four and Ice Vegas Invitational.
- The Huskies were 2-1-0 against the ECAC last season, beating Brown 6-4 on the road and beating then No. 16, Colgate, 4-2 and falling to Quinnipiac, 3-0, at home in the XL Center.
- Under head coach Mike Cavanaugh, the Huskies are 6-6-2 against the ECAC.
- The Huskies have faced Brown (4-5-1), Colgate (3-5-0), Dartmouth (0-2-0), Princeton (0-3-0), Quinnipiac (11-18-2), Rensselaer (0-3-2), Union (1-7-4) and Yale (0-12-0) from the league.
