clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Hockey East Championship Preview: No. 4 UConn vs. No. 2 UMass | 7 p.m., NESN

The Huskies will look to claim their first Hockey East title on Saturday.

By Daniel Connolly
/ new
Ian Bethune/The UConn Blog

How to watch

Date: Saturday, March 19

Time: 7 p.m. EST

Location: TD Garden, Boston

TV: NESN | Tom Caron (pxp), Billy Jaffe (color), Meredith Gorman (rinkside)

Stream: NESN.com | SportsLive (outside New England)

Radio: UConn Sports Network | Bob Joyce (pxp), Adam Giardino (color)

Twitter: @UConnMHOC | @GoNUmhockey | @DanielVConnolly

UMass Minutemen

Record: 21-12-2 (14-8-2 Hockey East)

Seed: 2

Location: Amherst, MA

Head coach: Greg Carvel

On the line

UConn and UMass will battle for the 37th Hockey East Tournament title on Saturday. To get to this point, the Huskies had to go through Boston University, the 2022 Beanpot champions, Northeastern, the Hockey East regular season champions, and now the Minutemen, the defending Hockey East Tournament and national champions.

UMass has already secured its spot in the NCAA Tournament as the No. 11 team in Pairwise. UConn needs to claim the automatic bid to make it into the 16-team field having already been eliminated from contention for an at-large bid as the No. 18 team in Pairwise.

Championship histories

UConn has won a single conference championship — the 2000 MAAC Tournament title. As a new Division I league, the Huskies did not receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament that season. Prior to this season, UConn had not won a single Hockey East Playoff game.

UMass has two Hockey East titles — the 2019 regular season and 2021 tournament.

How they got here

UConn rode a strong first period to a 3-1 victory over 5-seed Boston University in the quarterfinals at the XL Center. On Friday, the Huskies took down top-seeded Northeastern thanks to three unanswered goals in the second and third periods.

Meanwhile, UMass needed just two points in its final regular season series against Boston College to win the league title. However, the Minutemen were swept, which allowed Northeastern to claim first.

In the postseason, UMass beat Providence 4-2 in the quarterfinals and moved past UMass Lowell in the semifinals with a 3-1 victory.

Previous meetings

UConn and UMass split the season series. The Minutemen took home a 2-1 win at the XL Center on Feb. 18 but the Huskies gutted out a 4-2 win on the road the next night.

Pregame spot

UConn Alumni is hosting a Husky Hangout at A&B Kitchen and Bar starting at 4:30 p.m.

Statistical leaders

UConn

Goals: 14 — Ryan Tverberg

Assists: 21 — Jachym Kondelik

Points: 33 — Jachym Kondelik

Blocks: 47 — Harrison Rees

+/-: +13 — Jachym Kondelik, Harrison Rees, Ryan Tverberg

UMass

Goals: 19 — Bobby Trivigno

Assists: 27 — Bobby Trivigno

Points: 46 — Bobby Trivigno

Blocks: 34 — Matthew Kessel

+/-: +24 — Bobby Trivigno

Goaltenders

UConn — Darion Hanson

Goals against average: 2.25

Save percentage: .922

Saves per game: 26.5

Record: 20-14-0

Most goals allowed: 6 (Providence on Nov. 13)

Shutouts: 1

UMass — Matt Murray

Goals against average: 2.31

Save percentage: .919

Saves per game: 25.6

Record: 20-11-2

Most goals allowed: 6 (Minnesota State on Oct. 3)

Shutouts: 3

Additional coverage

More From The UConn Blog

Loading comments...