BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — After surrendering an early goal on a giveaway, Quinnipiac scored four unanswered, including an empty netter, to secure its third Frozen Four appearance in program history.
Yaniv Perets continued his stellar season with another shutdown performance, allowing just one goal on 35 shots in a 4-1 victory against Ohio State on Sunday to win the Bridgeport Regional.
“Exciting moment for Quinnipiac and Bobcat nation,” Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold said. “We’re just ecstatic to go back to the Frozen Four. Obviously, we’ve been before, but for my fifth-year guys, we got to the elite eight twice and didn’t break through, so I’m just thrilled for these guys.”
The Bobcats took control with two goals in a 15-second span in the first period after they fell behind 1-0.
They regained momentum through extended offensive zone time and generated several high-danger scoring opportunities. Of those chances, a few were mishandled by Ohio State goaltender Jakub Dobes, leading to second-chance shots for Quinnipiac.
Not one, but two ultimately fell for the Bobcats as they capitalized on two prime rebounds on consecutive shifts.
Christophe Fillion tied the game after delegating the puck to Victor Czerneckianair on the rush, who fired a shot up high on Dobes. The puck plopped into the crease as Fillion drove to the net for an easy tap-in.
The game-winning goal came from Skylar Brind’Amour, who chipped the puck over Dobes after Desi Burgart chopped the puck toward the net from below the goal line.
“Being a senior and kinda last kicking the can, this is what we worked for all years to get to this moment,” Brind’Amour said. “Like Rand said, we’ve been to a couple elite eights and lost, so everyone’s fired up and really excited that we’re able to have the opportunity to go compete for a national championship.”
Quinnipiac’s lone goal against developed on a poor blue line pass by Jacob Nordqvist less than 90 seconds into the game. Joe Dunlop promptly picked off the puck and stormed down the ice to sneak one past Perets, who nearly stopped the puck from crossing the line.
Roughly a minute later, Ohio State earned a power play chance, looking to double its lead early into the contest. Quinnipiac managed to clog the slot area, preventing shots from reaching Perets and eventually killing the penalty.
“[Perets is] a big-time goalie,” Pecknold said. “Richter finalist, Hobey Baker finalist, and he was excellent, as we expect him to be every night. And I thought we did a nice job in front of him in the end defensively.”
Quinnipiac entered the first intermission in control of a 2-1 lead. But the second period was drastically different in terms of possession. Ohio State took over the middle frame, dominating offensive control and putting Quinnipiac back on its heels.
Despite outshooting the Bobcats 15-3 in the second period, Ohio State saw Perets prevent every puck from entering his net. And after two periods of play, the score remained 2-1, even though Quinnipiac had been outshot 24-11 through 40 minutes.
Very few scoring chances occurred during the final period of play, even with three total power plays being awarded. However, the most significant happened within the game’s last five minutes.
Cristophe Tellier managed to chip the puck over Dobes and then bat the puck out of mid-air and into the net. Initially, the officials waved the goal off as Dobes made what looked like a sprawling save and gloved the puck, but it was entirely across the goal line. After a brief review, the call was overturned and deemed a good goal.
A desperate Ohio State team pushed to cut the deficit, ultimately pulling the goalie with 3½ minutes left to find an equalizer. But with two minutes to play, Jayden Lee iced the game for Quinnipiac by potting an empty-net goal.
“Disappointing result,” Ohio State coach Steve Rohlik said. “I mean, I couldn’t ask for more for my team. I thought we played a good game. I thought we left everything on the rink. As you guys can understand, to coach at any level, there’s two things that are really important to me. It’s being around great players and great people, and I’m fortunate to have both. I’m really proud of our hockey team and really proud of the people that put so much work into it.”
Quinnipiac will play Michigan in the April 6 semifinals at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla.
