Men’s hockey: UConn ties No. 7 UMass with short-handed goal with 2:00 to go in regulation
UConn’s Brian Rigali scored a short-handed goal with 2 minutes left in regulation as the Huskies rallied with a two-goal third period to tie seventh-ranked UMass 2-2 in men’s hockey Saturday afternoon at the Freitas Ice Forum in Storrs.
After the teams played through a scoreless newly-adopted 3-on-3 overtime, the Huskies won a four-round shootout, 2-1. Due to the uncertainty of the 2020-21 schedule, the shootout may become impactful in the Hockey East standings if this weekend’s games are deemed conference matchups retroactively.
Matthew Kessel and Philip Lagunov gave the Minutemen a 2-0 lead with first-period goals. Carter Turnbull broke through for UConn at 9:53 of the third off assists from Vladislav Firstov and Yan Kuznetsov, then, after UConn failed to score on a 5-on-3 power play, Rigali tied it at the 18-minute mark.
Tomas Vomacka had 34 saves for the Huskies. Filip Lindberg made 35 for UMass.
UMass had beaten UConn 5-1 in the season opener for both Friday night in Amherst, pulling away with three third-period goals.
On Saturday, the Minutemen picked right up where they left off as Bobby Trivigno found Kessel for a quick strike on a power play 3:25 into the game. Lagunov then pushed the advantage to 2-0 at the 12:40 mark.
After Turnbull put in a rebound in the third to cut the deficit to one, Cassidy Bowes set up Rigali on a 2-on-1 for UConn’s second goal.
It appeared that junior Colin Felix had an OT winner for the Minutemen, but the goal was waved off for too many men on the ice.
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