UConn Men’s Hockey Splits at Vermont

UConn men’s hockey journeyed to Burlington, Vermont over the weekend with two games against the Vermont Catamounts, continuing Hockey East play on a three-game unbeaten streak.

Game 1 went favorably for the Huskies, riding a second-period power play goal from Karl El-Mir, his fifth tally of the season, to a 1-0 victory. Adam Huska made 39 saves for the shutout, including 17 in the final 20 minutes.

The top-line combination of El-Mir, Jachym Kondelik and Alexander Payusov played in their fifth game together on Friday and scored their combined 10th goal, half of the Huskies’ 20 on the season.

The following evening, the game was just as tight, as Payusov scored from El-Mir and Kondelik at 15:14 of the initial stanza, but Liam Coughlin came through for the Catamounts with just 13 seconds in regulation to force overtime and Ace Cowans won it for the hosts with 0.5 seconds remaining in the extra session.

Freshman Tomas Vomacka has proven himself to be a solid backup behind Huska, performing well in each of his three games. He allowed two goals on 28 shots on Saturday and now has saved 48 of the 51 shots he’s faced through 124:59 of play. He allowed just one goal on the road against RPI on October 20.

Huska was fabulous in net on Friday and was named defensive player of the week on Monday by Hockey East. He earned his second career shutout with his 39-save performance and he has a 2.49 GAA with a .924 save percentage. Those numbers are good for sixth in both categories in the conference.

In addition, Kondelik, who is fourth in Hockey East in scoring with 10 points (0-10—10), first among freshmen and leading in assists, was named to Hockey East’s top performers list. He registered an assist on both of UConn’s goals over the weekend.