The Quinnipiac men’s ice hockey team couldn’t hold their lead against the Northeastern Huskies Friday night, settling for a draw in its season opener.
Quinnipiac opened the scoring late in the first, with Andrew Taverner firing a shot top shelf. An ensuing rush knocked Northeastern goaltender Ryan Ruck out of the net, causing the play to go under video review. The call on the ice stood and the Bobcats officially took a 1-0 lead.
Northeastern started the second period on the power play, and did not let it go to waste. With less than 10 seconds left in the penalty to Quinnipiac’s Scott Davidson, the Huskies rushed up the ice. After a series of passes, the puck found its way to the stick of Lincoln Griffin who tapped it into the back of the net.
Quinnipiac had three power plays of their own in the second, but couldn’t convert on any of them. Pecknold said the power play “is a work in progress.” The Bobcats finished the contest 0-4 on the man advantage.
Quinnipiac head coach Rand Pecknold gave the start to junior goaltender Chris Truehl, attributing the decision to Truehl’s prior NCAA experience. Truehl, the transfer from Air Force Academy, has 50 NCAA hockey games under his belt.
“He has had played college hockey before,” Pecknold said. “So he has a little bit of that advantage.”
Truehl was the highlight of the second period, making 16 saves on 17 shots, and coming up big when called upon. Northeastern had a big chance on a 2-on-1 rush, but Truehl made a tough save on Adam Gaudette and stopped a secondary attempt by Grant Jozefek.
Going into the third, Quinnipiac and Northeastern were tied 1-1, with Northeastern leading in the majority of shots.
Things started to open up when Quinnipiac was awarded the only power play of the period with 11:32 remaining. The Bobcats started to open the game up, generating two shots on the power play.
The first goal of the period was scored by Quinnipiac’s Bo Pieper with 6:23 remaining in the third. The Bobcats had a 3-on-2 rush when Pieper skated across the blue line and fired a slap-shot on net. The ensuing rebound then laid in the slot, and the first to the puck was Pieper. The puck fell behind him, and an improvising Pieper put his stick between his legs, lifting the puck over and past Northeastern’s goaltender giving Quinnipiac a 2-1 lead.
With 1:10 left to play in the third period, Northeastern pulled their goalie for an extra attacker.
Sustained pressure in the Bobcats’ defensive zone led to a shot from the point by Dylan Sikura, which was tipped into the net by Nolan Stevens, tying the game with just 53.8 seconds left to play.
Quinnipiac’s Bo Pieper said that it hurt to let up that late goal, but the focus is on the next step.
“Everyone’s been through this before, and we’re going to rally as a team and come back with the same energy and same intensity,” Pieper said.
Right before the period ended, Truehl was called upon once again to make a big save with six seconds left in the period. This stop would ensure an extra frame.
Overtime brought five more minutes of hockey to try and find a winner.
Both teams had a lone shot on goal in the overtime period, but they were turned away by the goaltenders.
Though the Bobcats would have to settle for a tie, Pecknold was on the optimistic side.
“We have to look more at the good,” Pecknold said.
The Bobcats will finish the series against Northeastern in Hamden on Oct. 8 at 7 p.m.
