The Quinnipiac Bobcats took care of business in an exhibition game Sunday afternoon against the St. Mary’s Huskies, dominating their way to a 7-2 victory. It was the first time out on the ice for the Bobcats since they fell short against the Yale Bulldogs in last season’s national championship.
Jordan Samuels-Thomas and Connor Jones each scored two goals for Quinnipiac in the second period en route to the win over the Huskies.
In the second period, Quinnipiac scored three consecutive power-play goals, two of which came on a five-minute major penalty to Steven Shipley for hitting from behind. Shipley then was awarded a game misconduct for the hit, and the Huskies couldn’t fight back.
“When you take a five-minute major, that was the right call, I think, they scored three goals, you’re out of the game,” St. Mary’s coach Trevor Stienburg said. “We’re not going to come back against that, against a team as good as that.”
Quinnipiac enjoyed great success on the power play, converting on four of the six in the game, while St. Mary’s was just one of six.
Michael Garteig and Brady Rouleau each didn’t face too many shots, as Garteig had eight saves while Rouleau recorded six. Anthony Peters of St. Mary’s led all goaltenders with 23 saves, while his backup Curtis Black had nine.
“It worked out fine for us; I thought Garteig was really good tonight, and that’s what we needed to get him a little bit of confidence and game experience,” Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold said.
After just over 17 minutes of scoreless action, Peter Quenneville put Quinnipiac on top when he ripped a shot from the slot on a missed Samuels-Thomas wraparound.
One minute later, Matt Lemire gave the Bobcats a 2-0 lead when a simple shot on Peters squeaked underneath his right pad. Soren Jonzzon picked up an assist on the play by hitting Lemire with a pass at center ice to set up the goal.
The offense came alive for Quinnipiac in the second period, as it put four goals on the board, three coming off the five-minute power play.
Samuels-Thomas gave the Bobcats a 3-0 lead just 41 seconds into the period after he tipped Zach Tolkinen’s shot from the point. It was Quinnipiac’s first power-play goal of the day, stemming from a Matt Tipoff roughing penalty at the end of the first period.
On the five-minute advantage, Samuels-Thomas tallied his second goal of the game with a five-hole deke to make it 4-0 Quinnipiac. Quenneville set up the goal with a pass up center ice to a wide open Samuels-Thomas, who went one-on-one and beat Peters.
“I felt pretty good; they were both on the power play, and I had a lot of time and space,” Samuels-Thomas said. “You have guys like Bryce [Van Brabant] making a lot of room for me and Zach [Tolkinen] making good passes, so when you have the time and space, it’s easy to make plays.”
A minute and a half later, Jones scored his first goal of the afternoon with a five-hole wrister to make it 5-0 and give the Bobcats their final power-play goal of the period.
Jones added his second goal of the game with a snipe from the right faceoff circle off a pass from his brother Kellen, giving Quinnipiac a 6-0 lead. Peters was pulled from the game after the goal
St. Mary’s got one goal back after Quinnipiac brought in freshman goaltender Brady Rouleau with one minute remaining in the second period. Steven Beyers received a centering feed from Cory Tanakan, who had the puck near the boards on the left side and ripped it over the right shoulder of Rouleau to make it 6-1 in favor of Quinnipiac.
In the third period, both teams scored just one goal each as the physical play continued. Connor Clifton lit the lamp just 23 seconds into the third when he one-timed a shot from the point off a pass from Brooks Robinson, who dug the puck out of the corner.
Michael Strickland gave the Huskies one last go on the day nearly midway through the third period off another pass from Tanakan. Brady Rouleau attempted to poke check the puck away from an oncoming player, but came too far out of position, giving Strickland an open opportunity.
