Three New Hampshire power plays and a slow start set the UMass hockey team back in the first period Wednesday.

But the Minutemen killed each man advantage and built on that momentum over the second and third periods to put the Wildcats away, 4-0, at the Whittemore Center Arena in Durham, New Hampshire.

“I thought our kills gave us life and I thought we were really good on the kill tonight,” UMass coach Greg Carvel said. “Watching (UNH) on our pre-scout, we were really concerned about them, one of the better power plays in the league. … Once we got a couple kills, and at the end of one of the kills we got a hit, and once our team starts hitting and we get physically involved, we’re a much better team.”

The victory was the fourth in a row for No. 10 UMass (6-3-1, 6-3-1 Hockey East). It was the Minutemen’s first road win of the season and it came in a place where they haven’t historically had much success. UMass entered the game 1-3-1 at UNH since the start of the 2016-2017 season.

“Even though we have a strong record, we needed to find a way to win on the road and we have not fared well at UNH since I’ve been at UMass,” Carvel said. “To me it was a convincing win.”

UMass took a 1-0 lead 11 minutes, 58 seconds into the second period. Bobby Trivigno forced a turnover behind the UNH (1-1-1, 1-1-1) net and Josh Lopina picked up the loose puck along the goal line. Skating toward the blue line, Lopina spotted Matthew Kessel slipping behind the defense. Kessel took the cross-ice pass and beat goalie Mike Robinson under his glove.

UMass made it 2-0 early in the third when Carson Gicewicz scored his fifth goal in his last three games.

Defenseman Zac Jones sent a wrister from inside the blue line that hit a leg in front of the net. Gicewicz, who is 6-foot-3, skated in and powered the rebound in from between the faceoff circles.

“You have to go to the net to score and he’s a big man,” Carvel said. “I don’t think other teams, players want to mess with him so he gets a little space and he’s making the most of it. … He’s easily becoming one of our most important players offensively.”

UMass added two goals late. Trivigno scored in an empty net and Jones put one in with 32 seconds remaining.

Matt Murray made 27 saves in his sixth consecutive start. He has two shutouts during UMass’ winning streak.

“It’s tough to get shutouts, whether you have 10 or 40 shots — it’s tough to keep the other team under two goals,” Carvel said. “He’s doing a really good job.”

The Minutemen won 41 out of 57 faceoffs. Lopina won 14 of 19, while Philip Lagunov and Eric Faith each won 8 of 10.

“That’s a big part of being able to win on the road, and to beat a team like UNH,” Carvel added. “It’s a sign of where our group of centers have been this year.”

UMass plays at No. 13 Northeastern on Friday (7 p.m., NESN), before hosting the Huskies on Saturday night (6 p.m., NESN+).

Mike Moran can be reached at mmoran@gazettenet.com.
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