A goal late in the third period pushed the Bobcats past the McGill University Redmen 2-1 Saturday in Quinnipiac’s last exhibition game before their season opener.
Quinnipiac struck first off of a face-off win to the half wall where Connor Clifton finds the open shooting lane where Tiefenwerth deflected the puck into the top right corner of the net to take a 1-0 lead against McGill.
Bobcats led the Redmen 1-0 after the first period, as well as 8-4 in the shots column.
“I thought effort was good, there were a lot of positives,” Quinnipiac head coach Rand Pecknold said, “and there is certainly a lot of things we need to work on.”
Freshman goaltender Andrew Shortridge started the game and looked poised for his first experience as a Bobcat, allowing zero goals on eight shots. Shortridge was relieved of his duties for the second period for Sean Lawrence to come in because the starting goaltender position is still up for up for grabs.
“I think they all played well,” Pecknold said. “They were tested, but we did not give up a lot of shots.”
McGill fought back early in the second period on a one-time hard shot to the top right corner of the net from Guillaume Gauthier to level the game one to one.
With 11:21 remaining in the second McGill’s Jerome Verrier was shown the door receiving a five minute major penalty for elbowing. The Bobcats were unable to capitalize on the five-minute man advantage, nor any of the other seven times in the second period the Redmen found themselves in the penalty box.
“We want the power plays. We don’t want to be on the penalty kill all night like they were,” defenseman Connor Clifton said.
At the end of the second period the score was tied one all, while the Bobcats dominated in shots 29 to nine. Lawrence made four saves on five shots before he was replaced by Air Force transfer Chris Truehl for the third period.
“I really didn’t do much, the credit goes to MacMaster and Duane for those passes,” Landon Smith said.
With 18:00 minutes remaining in the third period McGill’s Alex Sills was given a five-minute major for cross-checking, but was not ejected.
“All the stuff after the whistle was disappointing,” Pecknold said of the extracurricular activity. “But it’s life and it’s part of hockey.”
After a timeout from Pecknold the Bobcats seized a 2-1 lead after attacking the zone on a three on two where Tanner MacMaster sent a backhand pass to Kevin Duane who slid the puck on the ice to an open Landon Smith, whose easy shot took the goal.
“Were trying to figure out the first unit,” Pecknold said when addressing the power play. “It’s a little bit of chaos because guys are fighting for spots.”
Bobcats were able to hold onto that lead from exceptional goaltending from Truehl in the third period, where he stopped seven shots. Quinnipiac finished the game with a 40 to 16 lead in shots.
When asked about next weeks starting goaltender, “We never talk about our starting goalie,” Pecknold said jokingly. “We haven’t done it in 23 years and we’re not going to start now.”
The Bobcats will start their season against Hockey East opponent Northeastern at home on Sept. 7 for alumni weekend.
