UConn men’s hockey takes down Northeastern in overtime, 4-3

UConn men’s hockey was less than 10 seconds away from a frustrating tie until Hudson Schandor poked home a rebound to score the game-winner with 8.2 seconds left in overtime and give the Huskies a 4-3 road victory over Northeastern.

Schandor scored a pair of goals on the night while Jake Flynn and Matthew Wood found the back of the net as well. Northeastern took a 2-0 lead in the first period but UConn responded with three straight goals and was ahead late into the third period. The other Huskies then tied it with 3:55 left in regulation, sending the game into OT.

Logan Terness started in net and put in one of his best performances of the season, stopping 36 of 39 shots while also making more than a few key saves in big moments.

UConn won the special teams battle 2-0. The Huskies were 1-3 on the power play and notched a 3-on-3 goal while the penalty kill stood up with a 5-for-5 night.

UConn couldn’t do anything right in the opening 10 minutes, struggling in all three zones. Northeastern got on the board three minutes in off a turnover deep in the zone and added a second after a giveaway in the neutral zone sprung the hosts on an odd-man rush the other way.

UConn controlled the puck better later in the period but didn’t do much with it. Still, the Huskies kept the deficit at two going into the first intermission. UConn clawed one back thanks to a bizarre play where Flynn threw a shot in from the blue line that snuck past an unsuspecting Levi.

From there, special teams defined the second period. The Huskies went to the box three times but killed all three penalties thanks to desperation defending and timely stops by Terness. At the end of the third penalty, UConn got its second power play of the day and stayed on the advantage after a second infraction by Northeastern.

Levi denied the Huskies multiple times but UConn finally broke through when Schandor cleaned up a rebound after Wood’s initial shot clanged off the post.

Just like that, UConn went into the third period tied at two.

Just 26 seconds into the final stanza, Wood buried a rebound to give UConn its first lead of the day at 3-2. After going ahead, the Huskies continued to dominate possession but couldn’t find a fourth goal to put the game away.

Despite controlling play, UConn couldn’t keep Northeastern down forever. Off a draw, Cam Lund threw a shot on net that took a deflection and found a wide-open Justin Hryckowian on the back post, who scored an easy game-tying goal with 3:55 left.

The Huskies from Storrs had their chances in the final moments but, again, were stopped by Levi. They continued to put pucks on target in overtime but with the clock winding down, the game seemed destined for a tie.

Then, Flynn took the puck into the zone on a 2-on-3 rush, sent a speculative shot toward goal that Levi turned away, but it went straight to Schandor, who scored to seal a victory with 8.2 remaining.

The Huskies improve to 5-1-3 in overtime and 17-8-3 on the season. Next, UConn will head to Durham for a two-game road series against the New Hampshire Wildcats on Friday and Saturday.