By: Neil Simmons | Follow me on Twitter / X: @NSimmz
Fresh off a decisive 4-1 road win in Storrs the night before, Boston Bruins prospect Philip Svedeback and the Providence Friars sought to secure the weekend sweep against rivals UConn on Saturday. Svedeback, fresh off a 37-save performance, was penciled in as the starter for the second consecutive night.
Neither team wasted any time getting into the game, playing with speed, physicality, and fearlessness right off the puck drop. Both sides traded rush chances and big hits throughout the first period, and the Friars held firm in front of Svedeback, not allowing a Connecticut shot attempt to reach the Swedish netminder for the first nine minutes of play.
The Huskies ramped up the pressure as the game progressed, finishing with nine shots and 18 shot attempts, with a few near misses that Svedeback managed to repel. The two sides traded power plays in the back half of the period, with Providence cashing in on theirs for a 1-0 lead they would hold through the buzzer.
The Friars rode the confidence off their first-period lead into the second frame and dominated the early run of play. Undeterred by a UConn power play, John Mustard doubled the Friar lead by beating Connecticut goaltender Tyler Muszelik on an odd-man rush. The two-goal advantage put Providence firmly in the driver’s seat, and they stepped on the gas. The Friars handily outshot and outchanced the Huskies, who hardly looked threatening on goal, even with another trip to the man advantage.
The third period started much like the second. Providence took another penalty within the first few minutes, but again killed off the UConn advantage without facing much threat. The Friars maintained control of the game until Carlin Dezainde sparked the Huskies just before the midpoint of the period. Dezaine picked up a loose puck along the wall, walked into the faceoff dot, and beat Svedeback with a perfect shot off the crossbar and in.
The goal breathed life into the Huskies, and the game opened right back up to its early first-period frantic pace. UConn started firing anything and everything at Svedeback to level the score, and the Friars failed to capitalize on a power play to put the game on ice. The Huskies pulled Muszelik with just under two minutes to play, and their gamble paid off when Ryan Tattle beat Svedeback to tie the game and force overtime.
Both Svedeback and Muszelik held firm in the extra frame, each turning away a handful of solid scoring chances. However, it was UConn who prevailed in the shootout, as the Friars were held off the board while the Huskies scored on their third and final attempt. UConn walks away with the extra point on the night, but Providence secured the weekend series win.
Takeaways: Svedeback looked solid all night long. He’s definitely found his confidence after a shaky opening weekend against Michigan, and that’s a credit to the defense in front of him as well. The Wolverines sprung breakaway after breakaway on Svedeback and put pressure on him early and often to keep him rattled, and that was not the case tonight.
Providence controlled the majority of the play and gave Svedeback ample time and space to set his positioning and make composed saves. UConn’s two goals came off a perfectly placed bullet of a shot, and seemingly the only time they managed to get body position in front of the net. He finished the weekend saving 65 of 68 shots, good for a .956 save percentage.
Since the Michigan series, Svedeback has only given up more than two goals once in six starts. If the Friars are to go as far as he’ll take them, his recent run of play has to be encouraging for their Hockey East and NCAA Tournament prospects.
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