 "Photo: courtesy of www.quinnipiacbobcats.com")
Quinnipiac seniors forwards Brandon Wong, Eric Lampe and Jean-Marc Beaudoin combined for seven points and scored all three goals as the men’s hockey team held off Dartmouth, 3-2. Beaudoin and Lampe each tallied their 100th career point on Beaudoin’s power play goal with 9:33 left in the third period, which turned out to be the game-winner.
The win gave the Bobcats a 1-0 lead in their opening round series of the Eastern College Athletic Conference men’s hockey tournament.
With the win, Quinnipiac head coach Rand Pecknold is now just one win shy of 300 wins for his 16-year career at Quinnipiac. The Bobcats also improved their record to 18-15-2 (12-11 ECAC) as Dartmouth falls to 9-18-3 overall (7-13-3 ECAC).
Despite the seniors’ offensive output, it was sophomore Dan Clarke’s 23 saves and defensive play which led the Bobcats to the win.
The first period was a back-and-forth affair as Quinnipiac outshot the Big Green 9-8. The Bobcats had a great scoring opportunity with three minutes left. Freshman forward Russell Goodman had a breakaway chance, but his shot was blocked wide by Dartmouth goaltender James Mello. Neither team was able to get on the board in the opening period..
“We had a sluggish first period. I was extremely disappointed with our [competitive] level, our passion and our game prep,” Pecknold said. “My seniors weren’t very good either. We just held on there and weathered the storm. I thought we got out played in the first period.”
Dartmouth took a 1-0 lead just 1:23 into the second period. Big Green sophomore forward Doug Jones sent the puck along the boards to sophomore Nick Walsh behind the net. Walsh centered the puck to freshman Dustin Walsh in front who went high past Clarke’s right shoulder for the first goal of the game. Both Jones and Nick Walsh picked up assists on the goal.
The Bobcats knotted the game at one just 3:49 later, thanks to a power play goal from Wong. Two Dartmouth penalties gave Quinnipiac had a 5-on-3 advantage. Junior defender Zach Hansen sent a pass to Beaudoin, who found Wong waiting in the right faceoff circle. Wong shot it high to the left corner of the net for the equalizer. Hansen and Beaudoin were awarded the assists for the goal.
Dartmouth responded, attacking the Bobcat net with a flurry of shots as they tried to regain the lead. The Quinnipiac defensemen blocked shots and did their best to clear the puck. Clarke stood strong between the pipes, keeping the game 1-1 as the teams headed into the third period. Dartmouth outshot the Bobcats 25-20 in the game.
“We really tried to take care of our defensive zone,” Lampe said. “We figured that if we take care of defensively we can chip in offensively, and it came out that way.”
The Big Green had two prime chances to take the lead four minutes into the final period. One shot ricocheted off Clarke’s glove and trickled through the crease, nearly catching the right post. Another shot beat Clarke, but he got a little help from the iron as it rang off the post.
Despite early strikes from Dartmouth, the Bobcats rebounded and extended their lead at 14:29 mark when Lampe caught the deflection of Beaudoin’s shot just right of the crease, and wristed it past the outstretched Mello for the goal. Beaudoin and Zurevinski were given the assists.
Four minutes later, the Bobcats gave themselves a 3-1 cushion, thanks to a power play goal from Beaudoin, his ninth point in the last three games. Wong sent the puck along the boards to Lampe at the right faceoff circle. Lampe sent it across the crease to Beaudoin at left circle who one-timed it into the upper left corner for the Bobcats second power play goal of the game. Quinnpiac was very efficient with the man advantage, going 2-3 on the power play on the night.
“On the power play, we just had to move the puck quick. I knew Jean [Beaudoin] was going to go back-door so that’s when I stepped over and just threw it backdoor and it ended up on his stick,” Lampe said.
Dartmouth attempted to mount a comeback with less than three minutes left in the game, when Quinnipiac senior forward Greg Holt was penalized for holding. Thirty seconds into the power play, the Big Green called a timeout and decided to pull their goalie in favor of an extra attacker, giving them a 6-on-4 advantage.
The decision paid off when Dartmouth brought the game to within one with 1:19 left to go. Junior forward Matt Reber sent the puck from the blue line to junior forward Adam Estoclet at the left faceoff circle. Estoclet then found junior Scott Fleming who smacked it past Clarke to bring the game to 3-2. Estoclet and Reber picked up the assists for the Big Green.
The Big Green continued to harass Clarke, trying to find the equalizer. Dartmouth had one final chance with 3.9 seconds left when the Big Green won the faceoff in the offensive zone and tried to slap a shot into the Bobcat net. The shot went wide and the Bobcats held on, taking a 1-0 lead in the first round of the ECAC playoffs.
“Clarke and our power play stole the game tonight,” Pecknold said. “We got outplayed for most of the game. We know we’re going to have to play a lot better tomorrow night.”
The Bobcats will return to TD Bank Sports Center today, in hopes of a two-game sweep. Faceoff is set for 7 p.m.
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