CANTON, NY – With 21.9 seconds remaining in game two of the ECAC Hockey Quarterfinals, head coach Rand Pecknold sent out Tim Clifton to take the biggest face-off of the game.
Clifton lined up to the right of Quinnipiac goaltender Andrew Shortridge’s right as the crowd at Appleton Arena rose to their feet, shaking the glass around the ice.
Clifton won the draw, firing it down the ice and solidifying the Bobcats victory, 3-2 forcing an all-decisive game three tomorrow night after a full-team effort.
“I thought we played pretty close to 60 minutes from a compete level. It wasn’t perfect. We made mistakes,” Pecknold said after the game. “We talk a lot about it as a team: mistakes are going to happen and if our compete level is off the charts, you are going to bail your teammates out and that is what we did tonight.”
The Bobcats wasted little time getting on the board Saturday night when Alex Whelan obtained a tipped puck by Craig Martin, swung behind the net of the Saints’ goaltender Kyle Hayton. Whelan then stopped briskly at the face-off circle and rifled one on net, getting it up and over Hayton’s shoulder and giving Quinnipiac the 1-0 lead just 16 seconds into the game.
“We all seemed to have our jump,” Martin said after the game. “Our line was going from the first shift. Whales made a nice play and was able to put it in there. It’s nice to get an early one. You always feel good after that, and we were rolling ever since.”
The goal is Whelan’s second of his inaugural postseason, the other one coming just 32 seconds into game one against Brown last weekend.
“I thought he had a nice game tonight,” Pecknold said. “He played really well. Some of the freshmen were really good tonight.”
Whelan’s goal snapped a three-game streak in which the Bobcats were not able to find the back of the net against Hayton.
On the other end of the ice, Shortridge stood tall for the Bobcats, fending off a plethora of scoring opportunities for the Saints in the opening minutes.
“Mentally it’s awesome to get those first couple big saves,” Shortridge said about his handful of strong saves in the opening frame. “You are feeling good, you are feeling confident and then everything can build off of there easily.”
St. Lawrence wasted little time responding. The Saints found themselves on the penalty kill, but after a mishandled puck by the Bobcats, Ryan Lough and Mike Marnell found themselves all alone with Shortridge. The freshman made the initial save on Lough, but Marnell followed right behind his winger and poked the rebound home tying the game with 10:19 to play in the opening period.
Shortridge bounced bank, continuously making big saves for the Bobcats and whisking away 31 saves on the night.
“Just staying in the moment,” Shortridge responded when asked what’s been working for him. “It’s playoff hockey and everything counts, you can’t let anything slide. You have to be intense, you can’t take anything off, so just stay in the moment and keep working our bags off.”
The Bobcats struck back quickly to take ahold of the lead once again when they found themselves back on the man-advantage halfway through a penalty-ladened first period.
Chase Priskie dazzled in the offensive zone, making two defenders miss before being brought down by a hooking penalty. However, the puck wouldn’t stop moving as it found its way onto Martin’s stick.
Martin cranked back and shot one glove-side past Hayton, quieting the roaring crowd with a little over nine minutes left in the first period and giving Quinnipiac a 2-1 lead.
The Bobcats stormed out of the first intermission and returned to two common sources of offense to push their lead to two. Whelan gathered the puck in the defensive zone and barreled up the ice, into the offensive zone and around the net. After Whelan’s attempt for a wrap-around goal was pushed away, Martin came into the zone, finding the loose puck near the crease and netted his second of the game, giving Quinnipiac the 3-1 lead.
“I guess I just like going to the net,” Martin said about his two-goal game. “I got a couple of fortunate bounces, guys are making good plays and I’m just capable of burying those ones.”
St. Lawrence put in a strong effort to tie the game late in the third period, striking with less than five minutes to play when Michael Ederer scored after a giant scrum at the crease for his second goal of the season.
With a late penalty called, the Bobcats held strong, using a defiant penalty kill to solidify their game two victory.
The two teams will face-off tomorrow night in the all-decisive game three at Appleton Arena at 7 p.m.
