UConn men’s hockey routs Colgate, 6-1

UConn men’s hockey routed Colgate 6-1 in the Huskies’ largest victory of the year. UConn tied its season record with six goals from the sticks of six different players and held an opponent to one goal for the second game in a row, and fourth time overall.

Marc Gatcomb and Artem Shlaine finished with one goal and two assists each while Hudson Schandor, Nick Capone, Carter Turnbull, and Harrison Rees all found the back of the net as well. UConn scored on one of three power-play chances — though Rees’ goal came immediately after a man-advantage concluded — while the penalty kill went 2-for-2. UConn goaltender Darion Hanson stopped 31 of 32 shots in the win.

UConn dominated from the moment the puck hit the ice. Jachym Kondelik won the opening face-off and the Huskies took the first eight shots of the game. On the eighth, UConn finally broke through.

Shlaine held the puck in the corner along the boards and kicked it to Gatcomb. The senior took it behind the net without any defensive pressure and tucked a back-handed wrap-around shot inside the post to send the Huskies up 1-0.

UConn’s next goal came on its next shot. The Huskies forced a turnover thanks to their forecheck and Gatcomb knocked the puck to Schandor. The sophomore, who came in with eight assists but no goals, collected it along the goal line and beat Colgate goalie Mitch Benson five-hole to double the lead.

After that, the Raiders started to gain a foothold and pulled one back thanks to a 2-on-1 break. Hanson made the initial stop but UConn’s two defensemen whiffed on clearances while the netminder couldn’t cover it, which allowed Pierson Brandon to knock home the rebound and cut the advantage to 2-1.

It didn’t take long for the Huskies to build their lead in the second period. One minute in, Shlaine sent a pretty cross-ice pass to Capone, who buried a one-timer. Two minutes later during a power play, Shlaine scored one of his own. His shot from the left circle was blocked but the puck came straight back to his stick and he finished his own rebound to put UConn ahead 4-1.

Like the first period, Colgate woke up after giving up a pair of goals and took five of the next seven shots on goal, but couldn’t get one past Hanson. On a face-off in UConn’s zone, Turnbull picked up the puck near the dot and sniped it from a tough angle to make it 5-1 at the midway point of the period.

With a comfortable lead in hand, the Huskies played smart and disciplined to melt down the clock. They got their third power play after a roughing penalty on Colgate but couldn’t capitalize. Right after the penalty expired, Rees notched his third goal of the year with a wrister from the blue line to put UConn up 6-1.

The Huskies needed to kill a penalty the rest of the way but for the most part, the visitors didn’t threaten. UConn came away with a five-goal win and Mike Cavanaugh’s squad improves to 8-6-0 on the season.

Next, the Huskies will return to Hockey East play with a home-and-home series against the Merrimack Warriors.

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