Saturday, October 21, 2017

Three third period goals spur Quinnipiac victory over Northeastern

Quinnipiac vs Northeastern (copyright BobcatsHockeyBlog)
You don't see many times in hockey when a team scores six goals on 15 shots and gives up 41 shots in the game, yet ends up winning the game. That is exactly what happened tonight as the #18 Quinnipiac Bobcats roared back with three third period goals in a 6-4 win over the #16 Northeastern Huskies Friday night at Matthews Arena in Boston, MA. The win showed the type of character this team has especially after not playing well for two periods. For a team that had limited prior opportunities on the power play coming into this game (8 in total) they made the most of their two power plays scoring goals on both chances first with Alex Whelan (1 goal, 1 assist) in the first followed by a highlight reel goal by Odeen Tufto (1 goal, 1 assist) at almost the 16 minute of the second period.

The Huskies Dylan Sikura (2 goals, 1 assist) and Adam Gaudette (1 goal, 1 assist) were all over the ice for Northeastern in the first two periods creating numerous scoring chances. Sikura's 11 shots on goal were only 4 less than Quinnipiac had all game. After forty minutes Quinnipiac trailed 4-3 after giving up a late period goal by Sikura (2nd of the game) with 1.3 seconds on the clock. "We talked. I didn't yell after two periods. I wasn't happy and I was blunt but I think our guys were accountable and we talked about re-setting and finding a way to play better", said head coach Rand Pecknold following the victory.
Quinnipiac vs. Northeastern (copyright BobcatsHockeyBlog)
With the wild second period that saw a combined five goals in the rear view mirror, Quinnipiac found the back of the net just 1:04 into the third period when Karlis Cukste (1 goal, 1 assist) scored his first of the season to tie the game at 4. Eight minutes later Tanner MacMaster (1 goal, 1 assist) scored off a screen to give the Bobcats the lead which they would not relinquish. "Jermain made a really nice outlet pass and I l kind of noticed I didn't have much support so I kind of went to the outside and took a shoot through a screen and luckily it went in", said MacMaster.

Craig Martin (1 goal, 1 assist) sealed the win five minutes later to give the Bobcats the insurance they needed in the final five plus minutes of the game. Nick Jermain assisted on all three third period goals. Keith Petruzzelli made 37 saves for his first career win. The two teams wrap up their two game series Saturday night at Matthews Arena before Quinnipiac has a week off before heading into ECAC play.

Jonathan Singer is a 2004 Quinnipiac alum. You can follow him on Twitter @QHockeyBlog.

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