AMHERST – Two Merrimack defenders collapsed on UMass defenseman Ryan Ufko near the blue line. The Warriors hadn’t touched the puck all overtime period at the Mullins Center and needed to take one of their few risks Saturday to gain possession and change players out.
UMass shuffled skaters in and out for the entire frame until it put Ufko, Kenny Connors and Taylor Makar in the the right positions. Ufko whipped a cross-ice pass to Connors as he entered the zone, creating a two-on-one with Makar.
“We try to squeeze everything we can out of (Ufko). You know, if we could play him 40 minutes, we would. He doesn’t make mistakes, and he just makes a lot of things happen offensively,” UMass coach Greg Carvel said. “Just plays the game the right way. When he doesn’t have the puck, he works. He plays real hard without it. When he has it, he does really special things.”
Connors pushed a pass over to Makar, who whipped the puck into the net after a toe drag 1 minute, 12 seconds into the three-on-three extra period to give UMass its first Hockey East win of the season, 3-2.
“It’s pretty nice. I think we were struggling the whole game. We weren’t really playing our systems well, and we were playing a little slow,” Makar said. “Anything I can do to help out the team was kind of nice to pot that.”
The Minutemen (5-0-1, 1-0-0 Hockey East) held the puck the entire overtime period after straining with Merrimack’s efforts all game. The Warriors (3-3, 1-1) outshot UMass through the first two periods (9-3 and 13-9).
“I don’t think we played very well, so I’m glad we found a way to win. I’m not gonna go home with a smile. We weren’t very good,” Carvel said. “I felt like we regressed. We talked all week about how this is Hockey East, things are going to crank up here.”
Ufko rescued a particularly middling to subpar stretch when the Minutemen finally went on the power play for the first time 5:34 into the third frame. The referees earned a Bronx cheer from the crowd.
After some threatening early charges, Connors whipped a pass to Ufko waiting above the circle. He ripped a slapshot to the top corner stick side that put UMass ahead with 13:25 left. Scott Morrow also received an assist.
Merrimack almost immediately tied the game with a rush. Mac Welsher tapped the puck in around a sprawling Luke Pavicich with 12:48 to go. It was reviewed for running into the goaltender, but the call on the ice was confirmed.
Pavicich, who has been stellar this season, let the shutout slip through his grasp 11:21 into the second period.
Merrimack freshman defenseman Trevor Griebel unleashed a waffling, skipping shot from straight on center that Pavicich saw the whole way. He grabbed it in his chest, but the puck caromed down his body and between his legs, dribbling in the goal despite Morrow’s best efforts to slap it out of the crease to tie the game 1-1.
Pavicich still finished with 25 saves.
“The first one we deflected in , the second one he gets knocked into the net by our own D. Our own D didn’t help him out much,” Carvel said. “He continues to be strong, but there’s a lot of guys in our lineup that did not play to a level that they need to. That was a frustrating game.”
The Warriors outshot UMass 12-6 in the frame and didn’t fully capitalize on some questionable puck decision that led to turnovers.
The pixie dust did not wear off the Minutemen after their 14-goal weekend against Union. Ryan Lautenbach put UMass ahead 1-0 within the game’s first five minutes.
Makar carried the puck behind the net below the goal line and picked out Lautenbach in front of the net for an easy one-timer that relied more on accuracy than power 3:36 in.
It was the sixth consecutive one-goal game between the Minutemen and Warriors. UMass has won the past five.
“I love playing them. They push our game to a place that makes us a better team,” Merrimack coach Scott Borek said. “I liked that response. I didn’t like our finish.”
The UMass student section aggressively booed former Minuteman defenseman Slava Demin on the few occasions he touched the puck. Demin is a graduate transfer with the Warriors after spending the first part of his career with Denver and had a goal and two assists in 22 games at UMass.
CHEERS – UMass debuted its co-branded beer, the Massachusetts Lager – a collaboration with Amherst Brewing – at the game. The school announced its existence Thursday.
The Massachsuetts Lager is 4.5 percent alcohol by volume, light drinking fare at home at a tailgate or an arena concourse.
The beer will be available in cans at both the Mullins Center and McGuirk Alumni Stadium.
Amherst’s Hangar Pub and Grill will carry it on draft, and the plan is to add it to the tap list in South Hadley soon.
It will also be distributed throughout the commonwealth.