In a rematch of last season’s Elite 8 semifinals, Cushing potted a power-play goal with 52 seconds remaining in overtime to empty the benches and upend Brunswick by a score of 4-3 on Wednesday at UConn's brand-new and beautiful facility in Storrs.
The Penguins held the territorial edge and had the better of the scoring chances in the first half of the game, taking a 2-0 lead after the first period and threatening to increase their advantage in the second before the Bruins found their legs and earned a power-play opportunity late in the stanza.
After a timeout to rest the team’s top (and somewhat lethal) PP unit, senior Brendan Giles finished off a great entry exchange between fellow classmates Cooper Cleaves and Sean Gibbons to bring the Bruins within one at the second intermission.
Cushing went ahead by two again early in the third, but the Bruins didn’t go quietly into the Connecticut night and answered with back-to-back PPGs by senior co-captain Luke Drury to give Brunswick all the momentum as the game entered the final eight minutes.
The Bruins kept coming and nearly popped another one down the stretch and even had a partial breakaway in the final seconds of regulation that nearly went down.
In overtime, the Penguins drew a power play of their own and cashed in on the rush just as the penalty was expiring to dash ’Wick’s hopes at a come-from-behind victory.
Shots finished at 31-26 in favor of Cushing, with each team earning three power-play chances in what was a very clean hockey game.
The Bruins will return to the ice on Friday night at Hartong Rink, where they’ll face Frederick Gunn at 6 p.m.