University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
1-2-0, 0-1-0HEA
Providence
3-1-0, 1-0-0HEA
Huskies Beaten by No. 5 Providence, 7-2
10/19/2018 9:42:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The UConn men's hockey team got a pair of power play goals from senior Karl El-Mir (Montreal, Quebec) and junior Alexander Payusov (Montreal, Quebec) but seven different Friars found the back of the net as No. 5 nationally ranked Providence posted a 7-2 win Friday night at Schneider Arena in the Hockey East opener for both clubs. The Huskies drop to 1-2-0 and 0-1-0 in Hockey East with the loss.
After leading 1-0 into the first break, Providence put three on the board in both the second and third periods and finished 3-of-4 on the power play in the win. The win also marked the 1,000 victory in Providence program history.
UConn went 2-for-8 on the power play, with El-Mir's second period goal pulling UConn to within 2-1. Payusov opened the third period with a power play goal and pulled the Huskies to within 4-2 before the Friars scored three-straight to close it out.
Providence held a 39-26 advantage on the shot chart with UConn goaltender Adam Huska (Zvolen, Slovakia) making 32 saves in the loss. PC netminder Hayden Hawkey turned in 24 saves to earn the win as the Friars improve to 3-1-0.
1st Period:
The Friars held a 14-10 shot advantage in the first period and scored the period's only goal at 7:56. After keeping the puck in the zone, freshman Jack Dugan circled the back of the net and fed Michael Callahan on the right dot who rifled a wrister bar down, stick side for his first collegiate goal and a 1-0 lead.
The Huskies got three chances on the power play in the first period, including a 4-on-3 chance, but came up empty.
2nd Period:
Providence tacked on three, two on the power play, in the second to build a 4-1 lead after 40 minutes of play. Four minutes into the period, Josh Wilkins notched his first goal of the season, burying one in the slot off a feed from Jacob Bryson on the left boards.
The Huskies cut the lead in half with a power play goal of their own at 8:01, coming off the stick of El-Mir, his second of the season. Freshman Jachym Kondelik (Budejovice, Czech Republic) picked-up the puck behind the net and found the senior in the slot area where he buried a wrister.
The Friars pushed their lead to 3-1 at 10:48 when Jack Dugan scored his first career goal with just one second left on the power play, burying centering pass by Tyce Thompson through traffic. They closed the period with a goal from Kasper Bjorkqvist, who cleaned up a rebound of a Davis Bunz shot at 16:28 to make it 4-1.
3rd Period:
The Huskies opened the third with their second power play goal of the night to pull within 4-2 at 2:09. Kondelik picked-up his second assist, feeding Payusov in the left circle who blasted home a one-timer for his second goal of the season.
Providence got it back at 10:40, scoring their third power play goal of the night. Scott Conway took a feed from Bjorkqvist and walked into the slot, burying a wrist shot top-shelf for a 5-2 lead. The Friars put the game completely out of reach with an empty net goal by Bryson at 19:02 and then tacked on one more at 19:19 by Shane Kavanagh to produce the 7-2 final.
Next Up:
The Huskies close out their four-game road swing to open the season on Saturday night with a stop at Houston Field House to face the Rensselaer Engineers.
