UConn men’s hockey gave up a late goal and had to settle for a 3-3 tie with the No. 15 UMass Minutemen on Friday night at the Mullins Center. The hosts won the shootout to claim the extra point towards the Hockey East standings — the first time the Huskies have dropped a shootout since they were introduced ahead of the 2020-21 season.

Tyler Muszelik started in goal after a one game absence but had an up-and-down performance with 30 saves on 33 attempts.

UConn never trailed thanks to goals from Ethan Whitcomb, Kaden Shahan and Ryan Tattle but allowed the tying goal with 17.6 seconds remaining in the third period, which forced overtime. After neither side found a winner in the extra period, the Minutemen prevailed in an eight-round shootout.

No penalties were called in the contest.

The Huskies jumped out to an early lead thanks to a pretty set up from Jake Richard. He carried the puck through the zone, pulled the defense to one side of the net and fed a pass back to Whitcomb, who tapped it in for his first collegiate goal.

After they controlled the opening minutes, UMass then took over for a stretch. With John Spetz sidelined with a dislocated shoulder, UConn’s defense struggled to get out of the defensive zone and the hosts eventually capitalized. On an attempted clearance, Franceso Dell’Elce picked up the puck and fired a shot from the point that went off Muszelik’s glove and in to even the score at 1-1.

Both teams had chances to go back ahead — Ryan Tattle missed the net on a breakaway while the Minutemen hit the post — but the Huskies ultimately re-took the lead.

A stretch pass from Kai Janviriya caught UMass on a bad change and sent Shahan in all alone on net. He fired a wrister past Michael Hrabel to give UConn a 2-1 advantage, which held into the first intermission.

When play resumed, it took the Minutemen just 39 seconds to knot the score at 2-2. Jack Musa plucked a clearance out of the air inside the blue line and sent a pass to Cole O’Hara, who buried a one-timer.

UMass nearly went ahead just a few moments later when it got behind the Huskies’ defense on a breakaway, but Muszelik turned it away. Later in the period, the Minutemen found the back of the net on a re-direct, but the nearest official immediately waved it off.

For much of the middle stanza, UMass controlled possession and had the better chances — but it trailed at the second intermission. In the final minute of the period, Tristan Fraser had an initial shot denied, but collected the rebound and slid the puck to Tattle, who poked it in to put UConn on top, 3-2.

The Minutemen dominated the start of the third and hemmed the Huskies in their defensive zone, but couldn’t find the equalizer. UConn eventually turned the tide back in its favor and slowly bled the clock down. It held UMass without a shot on goal for almost four minutes late in the game and kept Hrabal in goal until the final minute.

But the Huskies’ defense eventually cracked under the pressure. After Muszelik turned away the initial shot, the rebound bounced into the slot where Aydar Suniev buried it to tie the game with 17.6 left.

In overtime, Janviriya hit the post on a would-be game-winner with just over a minute left while Muszelik made a big stop with 15 seconds remaining to secure the tie.

In the shootout, both teams scored on their first attempt but then each went scoreless over the next sixth tries. In the eighth round, Jake Percival got denied while Lucas Mercuri converted down the other end to get UMass a second point.

UConn moves to 3-2-1 overall and 0-1-1 in Hockey East play. The Huskies will try to win the weekend in the second game of the series on Saturday at Toscano Family Ice Forum. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. ET.