University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
Massachusetts
Huskies Head to No. 2 UMass on Thursday
2/20/2019 11:54:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
TV Coverage: NESN, TSN.CA/TSN APP | Tim Neverett & Brock Hines
Video: UMassAthletics.com (Outside NESN market)
Live Stats: UMassAthletics.com
Ice Chips
- The UConn Huskies make the short trip up Massachusetts on Thursday night to take on the No. 2 nationally ranked Minutemen in a Hockey East match-up. The two teams will close their season series in the regular season finale on March 8 at the XL Center in Hartford.
- Thursday night's game marks the final road game for the Huskies this season. They will play their final three at home in the XL Center starting Tuesday night, February 26 vs. Providence. The game was moved to Tuesday from its original date of March 2. All tickets issued for the original date of March 2 will be honored on Tuesday night.
- The Huskies are coming off a split last weekend with Boston University, winning 3-2 in overtime at home on Friday night and getting shutout, 2-0, at Agganis Arena on Saturday. The loss snapped the Huskies three-game win streak and leaves them tied for ninth in the Hockey East standings with Vermont with four games to play.
- UConn has 12 points and is seven points back of New Hampshire for the eighth and final playoff spot. The Huskies will need to win all four of their remaining games and get help to secure a playoff spot. Heading into this weekend, Massachusetts, UMass Lowell, Providence, Northeastern and Boston College have clinched playoff spots.
- Freshman goaltender Tomas Vomacka has earned the starting nod in the last four-straight, posting a 3-1-0 record with a 1.50 goals against average and a .946 save percentage during that stretch. On the season, Vomacka has a 2.41 goals against average and a .914 save percentage in 12 games.
- Junior Alexander Payusov is the Huskies leading goal scorer with 15 on the year and had his second overtime game-winner last week to beat BU at home. He is currently tied for second in Hockey East in goal scoring.
- Senior Karl El-Mir leads the team in scoring with 27 points on 13 goals and 14 assists, both career-best marks. He eighth in Hockey East in scoring and has seven power play goals, tied for first.
- Freshman Jachym Kondelik is among the league's top-rookie point producers with 25 points on four goals and 21 assists. He is third in Hockey East in freshmen scoring.
- In the UConn freshman record book, Kondelik's 25 points currently rank eighth during the Division I era (1998-present) and 15th overall. His 21 assists is tied for second on the rookie DI list and tied for fourth all-time.
- Freshmen Ruslan Iskhakov and Jonny Evans have seen a jump in their offense of late. Iskhakov went 10 games without a point but has three goals and five assists in his last five games. Evans put up a career-best four points on two goals and two assists in the win over Merrimack and since returning to the lineup (missed 12 games/inj.) he has seven points (2g/5a) in his last five outings.
This Season vs. UMass
November 30, 2018
The Huskies suffered a 7-4 loss to the then No. 3 nationally ranked Minutemen back in November. The Minutemen jumped out to a 1-0 lead just 1:34 into the game but the Huskies tacked on two off the sticks of junior defenseman Wyatt Newpower and freshman Kale Howarth to take the lead into the locker room after the first. UConn put 17 shots on goal in the second and goaltender Matt Murray stopped every one while the Minutemen offense put two on the board to take a 3-2 lead into the second break. The Huskies had almost a full power play to start the third period but needed only 34 seconds for senior Karl El-Mir to tie up the game up at 3-3. The Minutemen responded with three-straight goals over the next seven and a half minutes to seize control of the game. Mitchell Chaffee picked-up the game-winner at 5:24, scoring his second of the night. UMass was awarded a penalty shot at 7:33 due to a holding call on junior Philip Nyberg and Bobby Trivigno converted for his second of the game as well. The Huskies cut it to 6-4 at 16:25 as Howarth notched his second but as UConn pulled junior goaltender Adam Huska, UMass got an empty net goal to close out the nights scoring with just over a minute remaining in the third. Murray made 29 saves in the win while Huska stopped 31 in taking the loss.
Scouting the Minutemen
The Minutemen are currently ranked second in both national polls with a 23-6-0 record and sit atop the Hockey East standings with a 15-4-0 mark. In a home-and-home series this past weekend, UMass swept conference foe Boston College, 4-3 and 4-2. The Minutemen hold the first four spots in points in the league with senior Jacob Pritchard (37) and sophomores Cale Makar (34), Mitchell Chaffee (33) and John Leonard (33) atop the rankings. In goal scoring, Chaffee is second in the league and first among the Minutemen with 15 followed by Pritchard with 14, leaving him fifth in the league. Makar, Pritchard and Leonard find themselves second, third and fourth in assists among all HEA point scorers with 24, 23 and 21, respectively. Pritchard is tied with senior Karl El-Mir among the league leaders in power play goals with seven apiece. In net, sophomore Matt Murray holds a .818 winning percentage, 2.03 goals against average and a .923 save percentage, leaving him first, second and fourth, respectively among HEA goaltenders. The Minutemen are first in the league when it comes to their power play converting at a .308 percentage. UMass also finds themselves in first with their scoring offense averaging 3.79 goals per game.
