University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
New Hampshire
Huskies Open Series with UNH Friday at XL Center
1/24/2019 12:50:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey
TV Coverage: CW20 (Friday) - Joe D'Ambrosio, Rich Coppola | ESPN+ (Saturday)
Radio Coverage: UConn IMG Sports Network (Friday) - 97.9 ESPN Hartford | WILI 1400 AM and 95.3 FM - Bob Joyce (pxp) Adam Giardino (color)
Audio: TuneIn.com
Video: Huskies All-Access (Friday) ESPNPlus (Saturday)
Live Stats: UConnHuskies.com
Ice Chips
- The UConn Huskies jump back into Hockey East action this weekend with a home-and-home series against the New Hampshire Wildcats. The Huskies host UNH on Friday night at the XL Center on a game featured live across Connecticut on the CW20. UConn will head to UNH on Saturday night with the game available on ESPN+.
- Since joining Hockey East in 2014-15, the Huskies are 6-4-0 against New Hampshire and are currently riding a six-game win streak over the Wildcats.
- The Wildcats are under the direction of first year head coach Mike Souza, who was an assistant coach on Mike Cavanaugh's staff at UConn from 2013 through 2015.
- UConn is looking to end a two-game slide after falling to RPI, 5-2, last Wednesday at the XL Center. After this weekend's series, the Huskies will open a five-game homestand on Tuesday night against state rival Sacred Heart in their final non-conference game of the season. The Huskies will play eight of their final 10 at XL Center after this weekend.
- The Huskies open the weekend in 10th place in the Hockey East standings with five points, six points behind Maine in eighth place and seven points behind UNH in seventh. The top-eight teams in Hockey East will qualify for the 2019 league tournament.
- Senior Karl El-Mir carries a career-best six-game point streak into this weekend. During his last six, El-Mir has eight points on three goals and five assists. On the season, El-Mir has a team-best 20 points, a career-high mark, and shares the team-lead of 11 goals with junior Alexander Payusov, tied for fifth in Hockey East.
- El-Mir has six power play goals this season, tied for first in Hockey East and sixth in the NCAA. Five of El-Mir's power play scores have come with freshman Jachym Kondelik and sophomore Evan Wisocky picking up the assist..
- Freshman Jachym Kondelik has a five-game point streak (2g/4a) heading into this weekend's series with UNH. On the year, Kondelik is fourth among Hockey East rookies and tied for eighth in the NCAA in scoring with 19 points on three goals and 16 assists. The UConn freshmen class as a whole leads the team with 54 points (15g/39a) this season.
- Sophomore Evan Wisocky has piled up 11 assists on the season, second only to Kondelik. He has played a key role on the UConn power play all year with eight of his 11 assists coming with the man advantage.
Last Season vs. UNH
January 26, 2018
UConn scored three times in the final 3:17 of the third to comeback and beat the New Hampshire, 4-2, in game one of a Hockey East series from the Whittemore Center. UConn seniors Jesse Schwartz, Spencer Naas and Corey Ronan all found the back of the net in the closing minutes to fuel the Huskies comeback. The Huskies took a 1-0 lead after the first thanks to freshman Zac Robbins who scored his first collegiate goal. UNH stormed back in the second period with a pair of goals off the sticks of Charlie Kelleher and Anthony Wyse to take a 2-1 lead into the final stanza. The UConn comeback began with 3:17 to go as Schwartz took a feed from freshman Adam Karashik and buried one short side to tie it up a 2-2. Naas provided the game-winner at 18:55, taking a feed and burying one top-shelf. With 35 seconds left, UConn took a penalty and the Huskies faced a 6-on-4 chance but the defense chipped the puck out of the zone and Ronan chased it down and put it home in the empty net to seal the win.
January 27, 2018
UConn freshman Adam Karashik scored a pair of goals including the game-winner to lead the Huskies to a Hockey East sweep of New Hampshire thanks to a 3-2 win at the XL Center. UConn senior goaltender Tanner Creel stopped a season-high 31 shots to record his third win on the season. The UConn special teams had a good night, scoring a second period power play goal while killing off all seven UNH power plays. Karashik gave the Huskies a 1-0 lead in the first before UNH's Marcus Vela tied the score with 17 seconds left in the period. The Huskies got a five-minute power play chance at the start of the second and sophomore Wyatt Newpower buried his second goal of the season for a 2-1 lead heading to the third. The Wildcats tied the game in the opening minutes of the third as Charlie Kelleher converted on a two-on-one chance making it 2-2. Karashik provided the game-winner at 10:42, bouncing a slap shot past goaltender Mike Robinson. The Huskies held a 36-33 edge on shots.
Scouting the Wildcats
The New Hampshire Wildcats come into the weekend at 8-8-7 overall and 4-5-4 and in seventh place in Hockey East. Since returning from the December break, the Wildcats are 4-1-2 and are coming off a 4-4 tie at Maine on Monday. UNH is led by a pair of 20-point scorers in junior Liam Blackburn and freshman Angus Crookshank. Blackburn has put the puck in the back of the net a team-best nine times this season, including three power play goals. Crookshank has eight goals with a pair of game-winners on his ledger. The Wildcats have benefited from strong special teams this season with the league's third best power play (.221/17-77) and second best penalty kill (.857/76-86). In goal, sophomore Mike Robinson has seen the bulk of the minutes, posting a 2.34 goals against average and a .917 save percentage with a pair of shutouts.
