Was it pure coincidence or something more intentional when the lights went out in overtime of a 3-3 game between UMass and UConn and the Huskies had a chance to win?
That’s the question UConn hockey fans are probably asking themselves after the No. 13 team in the nation lost in a shootout to the Minutemen over the weekend, after play had to be halted due to the lights at Mullins Center.
UMass nearly scored with less than two minutes remaining in overtime when the puck went flying out of the UConn end, and the Huskies started rushing up the ice the other way.
As this was happening, the lights began flickering, and as Kai Janviriya crossed the blue line into the UMass zone, the red lights came on before the entire arena went pitch black — forcing the refs to stop play.
The UConn players were understandably frustrated when the lights came back up, with several players raising their arms up and one slamming his stick on the ice.
It appeared the issue with the lights stemmed from the arena ops staff thinking that UMass had scored, which triggered what appeared to be the goal celebration.
Earlier highlights in the game showed a similar flickering in the lights after several of UMass’ goals.
The Minutemen ended up winning the game in a shootout and picking up an additional point in the standings.
Jack Musa scored the winning goal in the shootout and called the emotion inside the Mullins Center during the game “surreal.”
“I’ve never heard Mullins that loud, and got scared a little bit before I even touched the puck because of the noise, but it was an awesome feeling after I saw it go in,” He told the Daily Collegian.