AMHERST — It took 56 seconds for UMass to restore order to the Mullins Center on Tuesday.
The second-ranked Minutemen had dominated the action for the first 40 minutes and held a two-goal lead over No. 18 Yale. The Bulldogs scored twice in the first 5:17 of the third period to tie the score and add some intrigue into the game, but it didn’t last long.
Yale goalie Sam Tucker stuffed Jacob Pritchard’s wraparound attempt and sophomore Jake Gaudet strode in to flip the rebound over a sprawled-out Tucker to restore UMass’ lead. The Minutemen added two more goals in the final period for a 5-2 victory to close out the first half of the regular season.
“So far this year, we’ve had a lot of success in the third period,” Gaudet said. “We’ve gained a lot of experience whether we’re down a couple of goals and we need to come back or we have a one-goal lead and we need to keep it. In that way our team, even though they came back and tied it in the third, there was a cool confidence that if we keep playing our game, we’ll be OK.”
Pritchard, the senior transfer from St. Lawrence who joined UMass (14-2-0) this summer, was the catalyst of the Minutemen’s offense in the third period. He assisted on all three goals in the final stanza as he dominated possession behind the Yale net and deliberately delivered feeds to skaters crashing the net.
He showcased tremendous patience on UMass’ fourth goal after quickly gaining possession of the puck on the power play and setting up next to the Bulldogs’ goal. He waited without much pressure for about 10 seconds before sliding a pass to Mitchell Chaffee, who easily beat Tucker with a one-timer to double the lead to 4-2.
What made the play more impressive was the fact it was an improvisation created by the players to adapt to Yale’s penalty kill. UMass coach Greg Carvel said the Bulldogs didn’t defend the Minutemen’s power play as he expected and was surprised when he noticed his players moving around the offensive zone outside of UMass’ normal power-play actions.
“In the second period, I could see they were doing things we hadn’t talked about and then I realized these guys made up their own play,” Carvel said. “They tried it in the second period and then they scored on it in the third. They came back to the bench and I said, ‘Marc (Del Gaizo), you guys made that play up and didn’t tell me about it,’ and they said ‘Yeah.’ What a sign that is of the team that they’re so comfortable that they see what’s going to work … and they didn’t even include me and went out and scored the goal.”
Gaudet scored the game’s first goal to cement his line’s status as Carvel’s shutdown trio. Chaffee took a clearing feed from the defensive zone and dropped a pass to Oliver Chau, who had filled in behind him. Chau then left a drop pass for Gaudet, who took one stride and ripped a wrist shot past Tucker.
It was Gaudet’s first goal of the season after scoring seven as a freshman, and he said it was a relief to enter the break by finding the twine twice.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve scored a goal, so it’s definitely nice to be on the scoresheet and contribute in that way,” Gaudet said.
Yale (7-3-2) came out strong for the first two minutes, but the next 38 minutes belonged to UMass as it kept the puck pinned in its offensive zone. The Minutemen outmuscled the Bulldogs along the boards on consecutive shifts several times in the first two periods to keep possession of the puck, with the third and fourth lines doing a lot of the damage.
The Bulldogs managed just 11 shots on Matt Murray in the first two periods and most of them didn’t really test the sophomore. Murray finished with 21 saves to maintain his 11-0-0 record, making a couple of important saves late once the Minutemen had retaken the lead. He said he had no trouble paying attention through the long lulls in action at his end.
“You’ve just got to stay focused and make sure you’re always watching the puck even if it’s on the other side of the ice,” Murray said. “Just doing whatever you can to stay in the game. I like just watching the puck even if it’s in the other zone and just following it around. Always keeping my eye on the puck helps me stay dialed in.”
Despite having multiple chances to extend the lead, UMass could only muster two goals in those first 40 minutes. After Yale’s surge to begin the third period, the Minutemen doubled down on their previous efforts and kept the Bulldogs mostly away from Murray for the final 15 minutes. They finally broke the dam with those three goals and beat Tucker several other times only to hit the post or have the puck swept off the line at the last minute.
Carvel said he was happy his team raised its level after Yale tied the game, but also fully expected the Minutemen would respond to the challenge.
“We can play really well, as we did, for 40 minutes and then they can still find another gear,” Carvel said. “I feel confident as a coach that I can play all four lines, it allows every line to keep their energy level pretty high. But there’s a lot of skill out there and guys are making plays.”