STORRS, Ct. - [stats] The Connecticut Huskies scored two third-period power-play goals in a span of just 3:11, erasing a 3-2 deficit and downing Bemidji State, 4-3, in a non-conference men’s ice hockey game tonight at the UConn Ice Arena.

Bemidji State drew first blood just 5:00 into the game as freshman right wing Luke Erickson helped BSU take advantage of a two-man advantage after holding and hooking penalties to UConn’s Adam Rhein and Beau McLaughlin, respectively. Erickson knocked home his fifth goal of the season to give BSU a 1-0 lead at the 4:55 mark, taking helpers from Peter Jonsson and Brendan Cook.

Connecticut needed just over two minutes to make things interesting, scoring a pair of goals just 17 seconds apart later in the first. Marcus Baxter drew the Huskies even at 7:02, and William Magnuson gave the hosts a 2-1 lead with his third goal of the season 17 seconds later.

But BSU would respond, getting the fourth goal of the season from Wade Chiodo at 11:59 to help the Beavers take a 2-2 draw into the first intermission.

The second period was a scoreless defensive struggle which saw the teams combine to kill six penalties - three on each squad - and take just 19 combined shots on goal. UConn managed just six shots in the frame, while Husky netminder Scott Tomes turned away all 12 Beaver shots.

For the game, BSU out-shot Connecticut 34-19. In the last three games BSU holds a commanding 99-57 edge in shots but has just eight goals and one win to show for its dominance in both zones.

Chiodo gave BSU its first lead at 6:48 of the third, scoring fifth marker of the year even-strength with helpers from Ryan Huddy and Riley Riddell. The assist for Riddell was his 60th career point and helped run his personal scoring streak to five games. But as with its first-period lead, BSU’s third-period edge was short-lived. Matt Scherer needed just 53 seconds to advantage of a penalty on Nathan Schwartzbauer, scoring on a power-play at 10:47 to draw the game even at three.

Just 2:35 after Scherer’s equalizer, Andrew Murray was caught for obstruction-hooking, and this time the Huskies needed just 36 seconds to make BSU pay. Tim Olsen netted his second marker of the campaign at 13:58 to give UConn a 4-3 edge and the eventual victory.

The Beavers skated with an empty net for the game’s final 1:25 but were unable to force overtime.

BSU senior goaltender Grady Hunt saw his four-game winning streak in net come to an end, taking the loss after allowing four goals on just 19 shots faced. It is the first time Hunt has allowed more than three goals since Feb. 21, 2003 when he allowed five in a 6-3 loss to Ala.-Huntsville. He falls to 4-3-0 on the season.

After holding opponents without a power-play goal for a span of nearly 300 minutes earlier this year, Bemidji State’s penalty killers have struggled on the current road trip. BSU entered the four-game road swing ranked eighth in the nation in penalty killing at 91.1 percent, and had allowed just four power-play goals in eight games, but in the last three games have allowed opponents to convert on five of 13 opportunities with the man advantage - a penalty-killing efficiency of just 61.5 percent.

After allowing two power-play goals in Sunday’s loss at Merrimack and two in tonight’s loss, BSU has allowed back-to-back opponents to score two or more power-play goals for the first time since March 9-16, 2002 when Ala.-Huntsville converted on 2-of-7 chances and 2-of-4 chances in 5-3 and 5-2 BSU setbacks, respectively.

Tonight’s defeat is the first in three games against Connecticut for BSU, and its first-ever loss to a current member of Atlantic Hockey. BSU entered play tonight with a 2-0-0 all-time record against the Huskies and 9-0-2 all-time against Atlantic Hockey.

The loss drops Bemidji State to 4-5-2 on the season, while Connecticut improves its season mark to 4-5-3. BSU has lost back-to-back games for the first time this season and first time since a five-game losing skid from Feb. 7-21, 2003. The Beavers and Huskies now take two days off and wrap up their non-conference series on Friday, Nov. 28. Opening face-off is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Eastern time at the UConn Ice Arena.

NOTES: Luke Erickson second career power-play goal; first career first-goal... Wade Chiodo first multi-goal game since 10/26/02 vs Union College (2-2=4 points)... Riley Riddell extends scoring streak to five games (2-3=5 points during streak); assist was 60th career point; just the fourth player in BSU’s Division I era to score 60 or more points... Ryan Huddy extends scoring streak to three games (1-3=4 points during streak); four assists in last five games... Grady Hunt improved career total to 5,127 minutes played in goal; he moves past Adam Pavlatos (5,107, 1996-2000) into third place all-time at BSU... Anders Olsson 25th career assist.