Huskies Host No. 2 UMass on Senior Night

Friday, March 8

Hartford, Conn.

7:05 pm

University of Connecticut

Massachusetts

Tickets

Seniors Karl El-Mir, Miles Gendron & Max Kalter

Photo by: Stephen Slade

3/7/2019 11:43:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey

Game Notes vs. UMass

TV Coverage: CW20 - Joe D'Ambrosio, Mark Bailey

Radio Coverage: UConn Sports Network from Learfield IMG College | 97.9 ESPN Hartford | WILI 1400 AM and 95.3 FM

Bob Joyce (pxp) Adam Giardino (color)

Audio: TuneIn.com

Video: Huskies All-Access

Live Stats: UConnHuskies.com

GAME NOTES

Ice Chips

The UConn Huskies close out the season on Friday night playing host to the No. 2 nationally ranked and Hockey East regular season champion Massachusetts Minutemen at the XL Center to close out their three-game season series.
UMass has won the previous two meetings this season, both at the Mullins Center, 7-4 and 3-0. Since UConn joined Hockey East in 2014-15, the Minutemen hold a 4-6-1 lead in the all-time series.
Friday night will be "Senior Night" at the XL Center as UConn honors its three graduating seniors along with their families before the game. Captain Miles Gendron, alternate captain Max Kalter and Karl El-Mir will wear the UConn sweater for the final time on Friday night.
The Huskies enter the 2018-19 finale coming off a 5-1 win over Vermont last Friday night. The Huskies got a pair of goals from freshman Jonny Evans and three assists from fellow rookie Ruslan Iskhakov while freshman goaltender Tomas Vomacka stopped a career-high 34 shots in the win.
Evans and Iskhakov have been paired next to senior center Max Kalter in seven of the last eight games (3-4-0) and have produced 26 points (7g/19a), the second highest point total by a UConn line this season. Since returning to the lineup (missed 12 games/inj.), Evans has 10 points (5g/5a) in his last eight games. Iskhakov went 10 games without a point but has three goals and nine assists in his last eight games.
The Huskies have four 20-point scorers this season led by senior Karl El-Mir who has 27 points on 13 goals and 14 assists. Freshman Jachym Kondelik is among the league's top-rookie scorers with 26 points on four goals and 22 assists, third among league freshmen. Junior Alexander Payusov has a team-best 16 goals, second in Hockey East, and 20 points and freshman Ruslan Iskhakov has hit the 20 point mark as well (5g/15a).
Freshman goaltender Tomas Vomacka's last six starts have produced a 4-2-0 record with a 1.50 goals against average and a .951 save percentage during that stretch. On the season, Vomacka has a 2.27 goals against average and a .922 save percentage in 14 games.
In the UConn freshman record book, Jachym Kondelik's 25 points currently ranks seventh during the Division I era (1998-present) and 14th overall. His 22 assists is second on the rookie DI list and fourth all-time.

Huskies Celebrate their Three Seniors

Team captain Miles Gendron wore the "C" on his jersey this season leading the Huskies. During his four-year UConn career, he has played in 125 games. He enters his final game with 33 career points coming on 10 goals and 23 assists as well as 85 career blocked shots. He is going to graduate this spring with a degree in communications.
Team alternate captain Max Kalter has played in 134 games in an UConn uniform. During his career, he has produced 59 points coming on 19 goals and 40 assists. For the second-straight season he leads all UConn forwards in blocked shots and has 112 for his career. He will graduate with a degree in communications.
Karl El-Mir has appeared in 117 career games at UConn. He is the Huskies current active scoring leader with 62 career points on 28 goals and 34 assists. He has seen his offensive production improve with each season in Storrs and is leading the Huskies in scoring this year with a career-best 13 goals, 14 assists and 27 points. He is tied for the lead in Hockey East this season with seven power play goals. He will graduate this spring with a degree in management.

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.

February 21, 2019

The Huskies were shutout at No. 2 nationally ranked Minutemen, 3-0 in a Hockey East match-up two weeks ago. The Minutemen scored a goal in each period and twice on the power play in the win. Sophomore John Leonard provided the game-winner in the first period and classmate Mario Ferraro scored his first of the season in the second period, both on the power play. Freshman Marc Del Gaizo sealed away the win with an empty netter with 3:27 left to play in the third. UMass goaltender Matt Murray made 21 saves to record his first shutout of the season while UConn freshman goaltender Tomas Vomacka stopped a then career-high 33 shots for the Huskies in the loss.

Scouting the Minutemen

The Minutemen are currently ranked second in both national polls with a 26-7-0 record and have clinched the Hockey East regular season championship with a 18-5-0 mark. Since hosting the Huskies on February 21, the Minutemen have lost nationally ranked Providence, 3-2, and while beating Merrimack and Maine, 4-2 and 6-0, respectively. The Minutemen hold the first four spots in points in the league with sophomores Cale Makar (40), Mitchell Chaffee (38), senior Jacob Pritchard (37) and sophomore John Leonard (34) atop the rankings. In goal scoring, Chaffee is tied for third in the league and first among the Minutemen with 15 followed by Pritchard with 14, leaving him fifth in the league. Makar, Pritchard and Chaffee find themselves first, third and fifth in assists among all HEA point scorers with 27, 24 and 23, respectively. Pritchard is tied with UConn senior Karl El-Mir among the league leaders in power play goals with seven apiece. In net, sophomore Matt Murray holds a .800 winning percentage, 1.99 goals against average and a .924 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 .291 percentage. UMass also finds themselves in first with their scoring offense averaging 3.79 goals per game.