The Bobcats will face the Yale Bulldogs on home ice this weekend. The Bobcats. The Bulldogs. The Battle of Whitney Avenue. 

You know the story. A tale as old as time.

The No. 1 seed in Quinnipiac will host the No. 10 Bulldogs. It’s ECAC Playoff hockey now, whether you believe in what the rivalry truly is or not. 

How does the No. 2 team in the nation stack up in comparison to the Bulldogs? Not much has changed since the last column I penned about two weeks ago, where the Bobcats decimated the visitors from down the road 5-1. 

The Yale Bulldogs exuded solid defensive play, and have won three of their last four games and only surrendered three goals in their victories over Princeton, Colgate, and RPI. 

Goalkeeper Luke Pearson has continued his formidable craft, carrying a 2.17 GAA and a whopping .926 save percentage into the post-season. Don’t let the team’s record fool you, Pearson could be what stands between a sweep to the Bobcats and a dark horse series victory for the Bulldogs. 

The Heavyweights from Hamden have not waved the white flag to Yale in 10 home matches. The offense will roll starting with the GQL (Collin Graf, Jacob Quillan, and Sam Lipkin) line, the young guns have a combined 112 points this season. I wrote about their chemistry here. 

Grit, pace, and limiting mistakes. The name of their game is physicality. How do you win in the post-season? You win in the trenches, one of those battlefield craters, the faceoff dot.  If the Bulldogs manage to stop this juggernaut, they will have to mix it up with a formidable middle six that thrives in the post-season.  Enter Mike Lombardi, TJ Friedmann, and Skylar Brind’Armour. 

The Bobcats look to be the favorite again against the opponent from New Haven. Listen to the call tonight on QBSN radio and be sure to follow the series for Game 1 tonight at 7:00 and Game 2 tomorrow at 7:00, a Game 3 potentially on Sunday slated for 4:30.