Hockey East apologizes to UConn men’s hockey for goaltender interference call against Northeastern

UConn men’s hockey received an apology from Hockey East Supervisor of Officials Brian Murphy for a goaltender interference call that wiped out the Huskies’ go-ahead goal in the third period of an eventual 5-2 loss to Northeastern on Saturday.

“It was a bad call. It happens in hockey,” head coach Mike Cavanaugh said on 97.9 ESPN’s Coaches’ Show Tuesday. “The director of officials for Hockey East apologized (and said) it was the wrong call.”

Early in the third period, UConn went on the power play less than 20 seconds after Northeastern tied the game at 2-2. Carter Turnbull stole the puck on the goal line, took it to the far post and sent it past Northeastern goalie Devon Levi to put the Huskies back ahead, 3-2.

However, Levi immediately sent one of his teammates to the bench to tell the coaching staff to challenge the play. After the officials reviewed it, they waived off the goal for goaltender interference. The replay showed that Turnbull made contact with Levi’s head inside the crease, though Levi initiated the contact and Turnbull had the puck.

After the call, UConn fell apart and gave up three unanswered goals — one of which was an empty-netter — en route to a 5-2 defeat and series sweep. Even though Turnbull’s goal should’ve counted, Cavanaugh wasn’t happy with the way his team responded to the situation.

“At the time that that happened, it was still 2-2. It doesn’t mean that we had to let them score two goals and lose the game,” he said. “We needed to handle that adversity a little bit better. I don’t think we necessarily did and hopefully that’s a good lesson for us going forward.”

UConn will close the regular season with two games at home against Vermont, who is in last place in the Hockey East standings. Puck drop is set for 7:05 p.m. on Friday night and 3:05 p.m. on Saturday from the XL Center.