Canton, NY– 185. That is how many minutes St. Lawrence’s goalie Kyle Hayton has held steadfast in his denial of any offensive opportunity Quinnipiac has thrown at him during the three games the goalie has faced the Bobcats so far this season.
Hayton pushed away 32 shots Friday night as the St. Lawrence Saints took down the Quinnipiac Bobcats 2-0 in game one of their three-game series in the ECAC Hockey Quarterfinals to take a 1-0 series lead.
“I thought Hayton was excellent. I thought he played really well,” head coach Rand Pecknold said after the game. “But it was a poor effort on our part. We had some guys who really struggled tonight.”
Hayton’s performance Friday night comes after the goaltender has put up two impressive performances against the Bobcats in the regular season. In the first meeting of the season, Hayton forced away 25 Bobcats shots en route to another 2-0 shutout in North Country.
Just 20 days later, Hayton would put on another stellar performance across the pond in Belfast, Northern Ireland, where he saved 37 shots in a game that would come down to a shootout.
The Bobcats were able to make their lone blemish on Hayton’s stat sheet when Nick Jermain found the top shelf on a beautiful goal during the shootout, giving the Bobcats the 1-0 win, advancing them to the finals of the Friendship Four.
“I think St. Lawrence was really good in front of Hayton tonight too,” Pecknold said. “Blocking shots, they played with a lot of desperation and we didn’t play with that same amount of desperation.”
The Saints jumped out to an early start using a vast amount of pressure in the offensive zone. St. Lawrence’s Joe Sullivan obtained the puck behind the Quinnipiac net and threw a pass out in front of goaltender Andrew Shortridge. The pass from Sullivan was reigned in by Michael Ederer, who deposited the puck behind Shortridge to give St. Lawrence the 1-0 lead on his eighth goal of the season.
Even on the power play, The Bobcats struggled to throw Hayton off his game, as they failed to find the twine on any of their six opportunities on the man-advantage.
“We just have to finish our chances,” Pecknold said about the power play. “We are getting good looks… The puck just wouldn’t go in for us.”
However, the Saints were able to capitalize on their power play opportunities, finally striking on their third chance in the second period, pushing their lead to two.
Quinnipiac’s Kevin Duane took a penalty and was sent to the box with just 64 seconds left in the second period. The Saints’ Ben Finkelstein rifled one on net as the final seconds ticked away when Sullivan tipped it past Shortridge with .6 seconds to play in the middle stanza, sending the raucous crowd into an absolute frenzy, notching his second point of the night.
“You have to give credit to St. Lawrence though. They were phenomenal,” Tim Clifton said, “They were in our face all night. They played fast, played aggressive and we didn’t match it.”
The two teams will resume action tomorrow night for game two where the Bobcats will look to hold off elimination and send it to the decisive game three.
“You know, it’s hockey. They give you a best of three series for a reason.” Clifton said.
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