University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
4-2-1, 2-1-1HEA
Vermont
2-3-0, 0-2-0HEA
Huska Stops 39 as Huskies Blank Catamounts, 1-0
11/2/2018 9:30:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey
BURLINGTON, Vt. – UConn junior goaltender Adam Huska (Zvolen, Slovakia) turned away all 39 Vermont shots while senior Karl El-Mir (Montreal, Quebec) provided the only goal as the Huskies came away with a 1-0 win over the Catamounts Friday night at Gutterson Fieldhouse. The two teams will meet again Saturday night to close out the weekend Hockey East series.
Huska 17 of his 39 saves come in the final period protecting a 1-0 lead as he picks-up his first shutout win of the season and the second of his career. UConn improves to 4-2-1 overall and 2-1-1 in Hockey East while UVM falls to 2-3-0 and 0-2-0.
After a scoreless first period where UConn put 15 shots on Vermont goaltender Stefanos Lekkas, the Huskies finally broke through in the second, scoring a power play goal for the game's only score. El-Mir buried his fifth of the season, and 20th on his career, hitting on a one-timer off a feed from freshman Jachym Kondelik (Budejovice, Czech Republic), who picked-up his team-leading ninth assist.Â
Huska got better as the game went on, stopping 10 in the first, 15 in the second and 17 in the final period. The UConn penalty kill chipped in as well, killing off a full two minutes of a 5-on-3 advantage for UVM in the third.
Lekkas finished the night with 30 stops in taking the loss.
1st Period:
The Husky offense was all over Lekkas in the first period, peppering the UVM goaltender with 15 shots but couldn't sneak one past the junior. Huska was equally up to the task, turning away all 10 shots he saw from the Catamounts.
2nd Period:
UVM killed of two more Husky power play chances before the Huskies would capitalize with an extra skater score at 12:14. Sophomore Evan Wisocky (Hoboken, N.J.) fed the puck down to Kondelik in the right corner who played if off El-Mir then fed the junior when he snuck into the slot area for a one-timer past Lekkas and a 1-0 lead.
3rd Period:
The third period saw UVM outshoot the Huskies 17-5 as UConn's Huska stood tall. The Catamounts had a great chance to tie at the 10:27 mark as UConn's Alexander Payusov (Montreal, Quebec) and Adam Karashik (Ridgefield, Conn.) both took minors giving UVM a two-man advantage.
The Husky penalty kill did the job as Huska needed to make just two saves to kill off a full two minutes of 5-on-3 hockey.Â
UVM used their time-out with 2:12 left and pulled Lekkas for the extra skater. Huska slammed the door on Vermont, stopping four shots down the stretch while also getting three blocked shots by the UConn defense in front of him.
Up Next:
The Huskies and Catamounts close their weekend series on Saturday night from Gutterson Field House. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:05 pm.
