Two top tier teams met for a rematch on Saturday, with a much different result than the hard-nosed tie the night before, as the Quinnipiac Bobcats pushed five goals past Ryan Ruck en route to a 5-2 win against the Northeastern Huskies.
Quinnipiac scored a pair of goals in the first 10 minutes of a game with a lead it would not relinquish. The second and third periods were chopped up as the battles became too physical, resulting in nine penalties. Forty eight minutes worth of penalties were assessed in the game, and neither team could garner any momentum.
“Yeah, the phrase the referees are using is ‘They’re reclaiming the rulebook.’ So we’ve been told that, we certainly saw that,” Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold said. “We need to adapt, all the teams need to adapt. That why you’ve seen the power plays are so high. I think they had 10, we had eight. It is what it is. They’re reclaiming the rulebook so we’ve got to adapt and figure it out if we want to win games.”
The Bobcats’ penalty kill went 1-for-10 on the night with 24 blocked shots in total, stifling all but one goal by Zach Aston-Reese.
“I thought our shot blocking was phenomenal,” Pecknold said. “That 3-on-5, I don’t know how many blocks but it was impressive; they were 1-for-4.”
Both teams were caught up in penalties, many of which overlapped in the middle period, leaving the Huskies feeling like they were chasing their tails.
“We tried to get some momentum building but every time we did we went on the power play, we couldn’t convert on the power play, then we took penalties,” Northeastern head coach Jim Madigan said. “After we have three power plays in a row, you know they’re gonna even the score up. It’s ECAC officials, so you know the ledger’s gonna be even; we were just waiting for it to come.”
Aston-Reese’s power-play goal had the potential to kick-start another Huskies’ late-game rush, but instead sparked more penalties after the goal was reviewed for a high stick. Quinnipiac’s Pecknold discounted the goal, even though it made no major dent in his team’s lead.
“The review on that goal, they don’t have that overhead shot, like it’s pretty clear it’s no goal, but they only have straight down so you can’t tell,” Pecknold said. “Unfortunately the call on the ice is what stands, the four guys didn’t get together and communicate. It’s disappointing but that’s life, we get the win.”
Quinnipiac and Northeastern continued the trend of high overall penalty totals that have skyrocketed across Division I hockey so far this season. Quinnipiac travels for a pair of games at Maine next weekend, while Northeastern has a home and home with Bentley.
ECAC results
Union 0, at Michigan 4
The Michigan Wolverines shut out the Union Dutchmen 4-0 Saturday, as Hayden Lavigne made 31 saves en route to the victory. The first of James Sanchez’s two goals on the night came shorthanded in the second period.
Boston University 6, at Colgate 1
Boston University Terriers overwhelmed Colgate 6-1, as six different players tallied on the night. BU’s Jake Oettinger turned away 29 of 30, as Bruce Racine came on in relief of Charlie Finn, who gave up three goals on 22 shots.
Rensselaer 2, at Maine 4
Maine’s three-goal third period pushed them past Rensselaer for a sweep of their weekend. Both RPI goals were short-handed tallies by Riley Bourbonnais and Drew Melanson. The game-winner came on Mitchell Fossier’s fourth goal of the year.
Clarkson 3, at Vermont 2
Clarkson took the second game of the weekend series in the Green Mountain State 3-2 as Ben Dalpe scored a short-handed goal 6:08 into the first. Each team put up a power-play goal in the first, as the Golden Knights went 1-for-10 on the man advantage, while the Catamounts went 1-for-5.
US Under-18 Team 2, at Harvard 5
In an exhibition tuneup between the Ivy League squad and the national team development program, Harvard skated to an easy 5-2 win. Harvard’s Clay Anderson scored a power-play goal and NTDP alum Adam Fox notched four assists, while Merrick Madsen turned away 25 of 27 shots.
