Box Score  | Season Stats | Infographic | Press Conference

HARTFORD, Conn. – Connecticut (6-10-2, 4-6-1) scored three times in the first period and received 26 saves from Adam Huska to skate to a 4-1 victory over the No. 12/11 Northeastern men's hockey team (7-5-1, 5-3-0) on Tuesday night at XL Center.
 
UConn struck twice in a span of 90 seconds midway through the first period on goals from Maxim Letunov and Johnny Austin before adding a third with 1:13 to play in the frame on Jesse Schwartz's sixth of the year.
 
Cayden Primeau (nine saves) replaced Ryan Ruck (five saves) at the start of the second period, where Northeastern got one back on Dylan Sikura's seventh of the year with 2:48 to go in the stanza. Connecticut, though, brought the lead back to three five minutes into the third when Alexander Payusov netted his seventh of the season to put the game out of reach.
 
Adam Gaudette recorded his 100th career point in the loss, becoming the 51st player in team history to reach the century mark, and the 22nd to do it in three seasons or fewer.
 
Northeastern held a 27-18 shot advantage in the game, including a 20-10 edge in the final 40 minutes, while going 1-of-4 on the power play. UConn, meanwhile, went 1-of-3 on the man advantage and won 25-of-48 faceoffs.
 
Goal descriptions
• Connecticut jumped out to a 1-0 lead 8:27 into the game when Letunov scored his third of the season with the Huskies on the power play. Shortly after NU was called for boarding, UConn made its way through the neutral zone before Schwartz dished to Letunov across the blue line. Letunov then split a pair of Northeastern defenders before firing a shot that beat Ruck short side.
 
• UConn made it 2-0 just 90 seconds on Johnny Austin's second of the season. As the Huskies controlled the puck in the attacking zone, Zac Robbins fed the puck up to Austin along the left wall. Austin then took a step towards the cage and ripped a shot through traffic and over the glove of Ruck.
 
• Connecticut took a three-goal edge with 1:13 to go in the opening frame when Corey Ronan battled below the goal line and dishing to Schwartz in between the hashmarks. Schwartz quickly settled the puck and sent a low shot past Ruck for his sixth of the year.
 
• Northeastern cut the deficit to 3-1 with 2:48 remaining in the second period with a power play strike off the stick of Sikura. As the Huskies controlled the puck in the UConn zone, Garret Cockerill worked it down low to Gaudette along the left wall. Gaudette then fired a pass across to Sikura in the right face-off dot, whose subsequent shot on goal went off the stick of a UConn defenseman and past Huska for the score.
 
• UConn brought it back to a three-score game with 14:49 left in regulation on Payusov's seventh of the season. As the teams jockeyed for possession in the Northeastern zone, the puck popped out to Austin at the point. He then fired it towards the cage where Payusov got a stick on it to redirect it past Primeau.

Stats of the game
• Northeastern is now 10-1-0 all-time against Connecticut.
 
• Gaudette became the 51st player in team history to reach 100 career points, and the 22nd to do it in three seasons or fewer.
 
• Sikura moved into a tie for 38th on Northeastern's all-time scoring list with 108 points (43 goals, 65 assists).
 
• Sikura is now tied for seventh among active NCAA players in career goals (43), and fourth in career power play goals (17).

The road ahead
• Northeastern is back in action this weekend when the Huskies battle Merrimack in a home-and-home set, beginning on Friday night at Matthews Arena (7 p.m.). It's Red Out Weekend at Matthews Arena, so head to tickets.GoNU.com to secure your seats and join the Huskies on Friday night.