HARTFORD, Conn. – UMass goalie Matt Murray and his UConn counterpart Darion Hanson stared each other down for 52 minutes. They matched save after save, posts, near misses and timely coverages Friday night at the XL Center.
Hanson blinked first. In that miniscule span of eyes snapping shut then back open, UMass defenseman Ryan Ufko clapped a missile of a slap shot from UConn’s Husky logo near the blue line to the top corner with 12 minutes, 14 seconds left to score the game’s first goal.
“He’s gonna score a lot of goals from the blue line. He’s got a skill at getting the puck to the net and getting it through,” UMass coach Greg Carvel said. “It was good to see that execution.”
Bobby Trivigno passed him the puck from down below the goal line. Garret Wait, on a five-game point streak, also added an assist.
Here’s a look at @RyanUfko’s fourth of the season – assists to @BobbyTrivigno and @Gwait17#NewMass x #Flagship 🚩 pic.twitter.com/l7Flb0qg2y
— UMass Hockey (@UMassHockey) February 19, 2022
The tally kept a few UMass runs alive. Ufko, a freshman, extended his point streak to five games. Trivigno has at least a point in 11 of his past 12 games.
It was No. 10 UMass’ sixth power play of the night. The Minutemen were 0-for-5 before that.
“You can’t give a power play like that three in a row,” UConn coach Mike Cavanaugh said. “When you do that you’re asking for trouble.”
UMass tacked on a necessary insurance goal in the final two minutes and left Connecticut with a 2-1 Hockey East victory.
“This is the best we’ve ever played in this building since I’ve been at UMass. We won once here but we almost stole the game,” Carvel said. “(Friday) I felt we deserved it.”
Murray finished with 19 saves, but many of them were high-leverage opportunities one-on-one with UConn shooters. UMass focused on clearing and blocking passing lanes or cutting down rebound paths, letting its all-time leader in wins (53 and counting) work.
“They’re basically breakaways,” Carvel said. “Matt was very confident. We need him to be. This was exactly what we need from him. He came up huge.”
Loves* 🙂 https://t.co/HRkRsIl1tF
— Matt Murray (@Mattmurray_31) February 19, 2022
The early portion of the third period was all special teams. No. 20 UConn’s Carter Turnbull went to the box 30 seconds in for cross checking. Then UMass’s Scott Morrow committed a hold 34 seconds later. After the 4 on 4, during which UMass defenseman Matthew Kessel had a clean breakaway look he couldn’t finish, John Spetz was called for slashing for the Huskies to push another 30 seconds of four a side before another power play by the Minutemen.
Neither team capitalized on its time, leaving the game scoreless.
“We went into the game with a couple set plays that we wanted to use against them, and we didn’t bother trying to use any of them. And so the first power play was terrible,” Carvel said. “And I sit in intermission and say, ‘why don’t we just try to do what we’re supposed to do?’ That play behind the net (that scored the first goal) is a set play.”
UMass gave UConn a clear chance to tie the game with 5:16 remaining after Trivigno committed a hook. The Huskies had just pulled Hanson 36 seconds prior for the extra attacker. The Minutemen killed the penalty to preserve their lead.
After the penalty expired, UMass doubled its lead with 2:55 left. Josh Lopina was crashing the net following a Trivigno/Wait breakaway and slammed home a rebound into an open net to make it 2-0.
“I was comfortable with the way we were playing that we were getting good chances,” Carvel said. “The guys had good energy, good focus on playing the right way. You do that, you usually find ways to win.”
The Minutemen had to survive one more penalty kill after a Lucas Mercuri hold with 1:56 left. Trunbull put the puck in the net with 1:08 remaining after Murray stopped several shots sprawled out. Jachym Kondelik added the assist for UConn.
The call was reviewed, but the goal was upheld to narrow the Huskies deficit to one again with time dwindling.
UConn pulled Hanson (31 saves) again with a minute left. Trivigno hit the post with a cross-ice shot.
The contest’s loudest cheer emerged after a scuffle near the net 7 minutes into the third that featured some shoving and a cluster of players in Hanson’s crease. No penalties were assessed.
The second period began with four skaters each side after Trivigno and UConn’s Harrison Rees were called for roughing after the buzzer. Neither team created much with the extra room.
UMass went on the game’s first real power play 8:48 into the second. The Huskies’ Vladislov Firstov slammed Mercuri into the boards in his own zone from behind. The Minutemen did not generate much with the change.
The Huskies hit two posts in a first period with little to separate the teams.
The teams will meet again at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in the Mullins Center.
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com. Follow him on Twitter @kylegrwbsk.