With 10 seconds to play in the first period of the ECAC Tournament final, Quinnipiac’s Sam Anas was in the corner, playing a puck to the left of goaltender Michael Garteig.
Then, Harvard’s Luke Esposito took a run at Anas, slamming him up against the boards and injuring the star forward. The hit left Anas crawling to the Quinnipiac bench.
There were collective gasps from the Quinnipiac faithful who took the trip up to Lake Placid and tweets that echoed the same sentiment from the fans watching the game at home.
“It happened again” was likely the thoughts many fans had when they saw Anas go down, drawing up memories of last season when their top goal scorer was injured and unable to play in the ECAC Tournament.
Last season, Anas returned to play in the opening game of the NCAA Tournament, where head coach Rand Pecknold said his forward was only playing at 40 percent. The Bobcats’ season ended that night at the hands of the University of North Dakota.
Anas did not return to play in this year’s ECAC Tournament final but the Bobcats went on to defeat Harvard by a score of 4-1.
Two of Quinnipiac’s goals came off the major penalty Esposito received due to his hit on Anas. The Bobcats returned home with their first Whitelaw Cup in program history.
Then began the circus that was last week.
With Anas’ status up in the air, the Bobcats traveled to Albany for the opening round of this year’s NCAA Tournament. Questions arose about whether the Bobcats, who experienced unfortunate luck in the opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament the past two years, were doomed for the same result without the services of their leading scorer.
The news filtered in just under five minutes until puck drop that No. 7 was in the lineup for the Bobcats, who faced off against the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) Tigers.
And Anas delivered, still visibly in pain from the hit he received a week before.
The forward lured three RIT players out of position with just under five minutes to play in the first period. On the power play, Anas found his line mate Travis St. Denis for a goal, tallying his career-best 26th assist of the season.
Quinnipiac was up 1-0 and never looked back as they went on to shut out RIT 4-0.
The following night, the Bobcats returned to the Times Union Center to face off against the University of Massachusetts-Lowell with a ticket to the Frozen Four on the line.
With the same story as the night before, Anas would be a game-time decision.
Shortly after warm-ups and right before the national anthem, it was announced that Anas was going to suit up again for the Bobcats.
However, the night started out uncharacteristically for Anas.
The Maryland native took two penalties in the first two periods, one of them leading to an early goal for the River Hawks. After a second-period goal from Landon Smith knotted the game up at one, it was redemption time for Anas.
Defensemen Kevin McKernan found Anas just outside the Bobcats’ defensive zone.
Anas then went to work, displaying his masterful skill just as he’s done many times over his three-year career at Quinnipiac.
Anas flipped the puck over a defender’s stick and a two-on-one developed with Travis St. Denis as fans rose to their feet.
The game seemed to slow down as the junior galloped down the ice toward UMass-Lowell’s goaltender Kevin Boyle.
Anas approached the net, looking to his teammate as if he was going to pass. But he never did, using a head-fake to get Boyle out of position.
Swiftly moving to his backhand, Anas scooped the puck through the minimal space between the crossbar and Boyle’s shoulder to score his 24th goal of the season.
The Times Union Arena reached its loudest decibel of the weekend and Twitter surged with reactions of the goal.
Anas, who was elated, seemed to have a weight lifted off his shoulders.
After a week of nothing but questions pertaining to his health, Anas jumped into the boards to celebrate his game-winning goal.
Forty-one games into the season, the Bobcats found their season-defining play.
If Quinnipiac finds themselves hoisting their first national title trophy next weekend, it will be Anas’ backhand shot for the game-winner while battling an injury that the fans will remember.
