NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. - The UConn Huskies earned their fifth-straight Hockey East win on Tuesday night, posting a 6-2 win at Merrmiack College, sweeping the season series with the Warriors.
The win and three points vault the Huskies into a tie for third place in the Hockey East standings at 11-6-0 and 32 points. UConn improves to 15-11-0 overall on the year. Merrimack falls to 14-12-1 overall and 10-7-0 in the league.
The UConn offense again featured a balanced attack with five different Huskies finding the back of the net on Tuesday night. Sophomore Ryan Tverberg (Richmond Hill, Ontario) scored in his third-straight game and notched his team-leading 12th on the season to lead the way.
Seniors Jachym Kondelik (Budejovice. Czech Republic), Carter Turnbull (Nanaimo, Bristish Columbia) and Jonny Evans (North Delta, British Columbia) all scored goals and dished assists in the win. Junior Vladislav Firstov (Yaroslavl, Russia) scored a goal while classmate Jake Flynn (Bridgewater, Mass.) had a two-assist night for the second-straight outing.
UConn goaltender Darion Hanson (East Bethel, Minn.) made 23 saves to earn his 15th win of the season.
For Merrimack, Max Newton had a power play goal and Ben Brar had the other Warrior tally.
1st Period:
Merrimack opened the scoring at 7:32 scoring on their first power play chance of the night. Coming off a face-off in the UConn zone, Steven Jandric fed Newton in the right circle for a one-timer, and he buried it for his 12th goal on the season and 1-0 lead.
UConn answered right back with back-to-back goals from their two captains. Turnbull knotted the game up at 9:15, finding some room in front of Borgiel and stuffing in a rebound off a Jonny Evans (North Delta, British Columbia) shot in a scrum. It was Turnbull's seventh on the season.
Kondelik put the Huskies in front at 11:54, also putting in a rebound right in front. Junior Roman Kinal (Waterford, Mich.) picked-off a Merrimack pass at mid-ice and broke on net, looking for a wrap-around chance. Borgiel made the stop but Kondelik was right there to poke home the rebound, his 10th goal of the season.
2nd Period:
Merrimack tied the game up, 2-2, at 2:27, just after they ended a power play chance. Filip Forsmark found Brar at the top of the slot area and he buried a one-timer chance for his ninth of the season.
UConn needed just 58 seconds to answer as Aretm Shlaine (Moscow, Russia) broke Tverberg up the right wing and the sophomore used his speed to beat the defense and snap a shot past Borgiel short side, his 12th on the year, and a 3-2 lead.
Firstov made it 4-2 at 17:16 with a highlight reel goal, his ninth of the season. Kondelik flipped the puck up ice to Firstov who corralled it and with the defenseman on his back, spun back to the middle of the ice, shoveling a no-look, back-hander in one motion top-shelf past Borgiel.
3rd Period:
The Warriors made a goalie change to start the third period, going to Hugo Ollas but UConn gave the netminder a rude greeting, scoring just 27 seconds into the period. Turnbull played the puck to Evans in the corner and the senior threw one on net from a tight angle along the goal line, sneaking it inside the left post for a 5-2 lead.
With the Merrimack goaltender off for the extra skater, UConn's Chase Bradley (St. Louis, Mo.) sealed off the 6-2 win with an empty net goal with 25 seconds left.
Up Next:
The Huskies close out the week with a road trip up to Boston College on Friday night in the final game of a three-game series this season. The two teams split the first two meetings, each winning on the other's home ice.
