There have been two versions of the UConn men’s hockey offense this season: The one with Vladislav Firstov in the lineup, and the one without. It’s not just that the Huskies are better when they have their top players — that’s the case with every team in the nation — but the gulf between the two has been vast.
Firstov played in UConn’s opening weekend against UMass before shipping off to Russia’s World Juniors Camp. He missed the Huskies’ next seven games while away at the tournament and UConn’s offense struggled without him, tallying just 2.0 goals per game while only scoring more than two goals in a single game twice.