By Brian Farrell, QBSN Senior Staff Writer
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Kevin Bui cements his place in QU history with late-period game winner
Providence, R.I. – Quinnipiac’s storied season added another chapter to its book with a 4-3 win over Canisius in the first round of the NCAA tournament Saturday. Kevin Bui now has two full pages in the story land season pocketing the game winner with 5:32 left in regulation.
Bui was the double overtime hero three weeks ago in game three of the ECAC quarterfinals and once again he was the hero tonight.
Bryce Van Brabant carried the puck through the neutral zone and rushed into the Canisius end on the right side. Bui streaked in on the left side as Van Brabant slid the puck cross ice where Bui buried it into the back of the net.
“I’m just trying to go out there every shift and work my butt off,” Bui said. “That’s what a team is built on. We are working and competing and that’s what our practices are built around. We almost had a fight yesterday [at practice] because we are competing so hard.”
“If we had a yearbook he’d be most likely to succeed,” Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold said about Bui. “He brings energy all the time. He doesn’t wear a letter but he is one of our team captains.”
The Bobcats trailed 3-1 early in the third period before scoring three consecutive goals to keep their season alive. It is the first time in program history that the Bobcats have won an NCAA tournament game.
“We knew there was going to be something that we’d have to deal with and this was not going to be an easy game. When we got behind there really wasn’t panic … We believed we could come back,” Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold said.
Quinnipiac took the 1-0 lead 8:43 into the first period on Connor Jones’ 12th goal of the season. The Jones brothers came out flying in the first nine minutes. Kellen Jones skated to the left corner and flipped the puck out to the slot. Connor Jones blasted his one timer glove side past Canisius goaltender Tony Capobianco.
After that, it was all Canisius in the second period as the Golden Griffins scored back-to-back goals just 44 seconds apart.
First Stephen Farrell’s wrister trickled through Quinnipiac goaltender Eric Hartzell to tie the score at 1-1. Then Duncan McKellar fed Patrick Sullivan at the point where Sullivan’s shot tipped through the slot and through Hartzell’s five hole.
“We looked like a new team early and then the guys settled down … every first time we went through something I thought we settled down. We came out in the second period and played like the team we’d been playing,” Canisius coach Dave Smith said.
Canisius added a third goal 3:43 into the third period. From there Quinnipiac raised its game scoring three goals in the final 12 minutes.
Matthew Peca kicked off the wild comeback 8:02 into the third period on a highlight goal. Peca came off the left corner and skated straight to the top of the crease. As Peca made it to the goal mouth he roofed his shot just under the cross bar to get within one goal.
Less than two minutes later Jordan Samuels-Thomas picked up the equalizer on the power play. Mike Dalhuisen fed Samuels-Thomas on the right side where he picked his spot and wristed a shot past Capobianco.
“When we made it 3-2 and I knew we were going to win that hockey game,” Pecknold said.
The Bobcats will face off against either Union or Boston College tomorrow at 6:30 p.m.
