There is no such thing as a meaningless game in the Hockey East. After a 3-0 win by No. 16 Providence in the first game of the series, the No. 10 Vermont Catamounts came into the Saturday game with a chip on their shoulder.
The first period of the second game started right where the first game left off, with both teams playing an extremely physical style of hockey. However, the Catamounts were the clear benefactor, keeping the puck on the Providence side for most of the first period.
They finally broke through in the 11th minute of the game when Malcolm McKinney slid a shot past the right leg of Friars goaltender Jon Gillies. McKinney was assisted by Jonathan Turk and Yvan Pattyn.
The Catamounts scoring did not stop there, as forward Mario Puskarich buried a shot in the top right corner of the net nearly seven minutes later. Puskarich was assisted by Jake Fallon and Brendan Bradley.
Providence had a few close chances, including a screaming slap shot from Jake Walman that dinged off the left post, but they could not ultimately put the puck in the net.
The Friars began the second period with a more methodical approach to the game, as they made a concerted effort to limit their turnovers and stop stacking up penalty minutes. Friars defenseman Anthony Florentino saved a goal by inches in the 10th minute of the second period, flicking a puck out of the Friars zone after it slipped behind Gillies.
Catamounts goaltender Mike Santaguida tallied 15 saves through the first 14 minutes of the game. His first mistake came nearly 15 minutes into the second period when Providence forward Trevor Mingoia crashed the net to cut the Catamounts lead to one. Mingoia was assisted by Mark Jankowski and Walman on the goal.
With the Catamounts moving into the Friars zone, Catamounts defenseman Dan Senkbeil delivered a crushing hit on Providence defenseman Kyle McKenzie. McKenzie smashed into the boards and stayed on the ground for a few moments. Both players received two minutes in the box for this play, as the refs felt that McKenzie had intentionally embellished the severity of the hit. However, neither team could take advantage of a four-on-four
The Friars came out firing at the start of the third period, winning the opening faceoff and immediately getting a great scoring chance when Brandon Tanev narrowly missed.
Santaguida was tested once again with a little over seven minutes left in the game, with Florentino gaining the puck off of a deflection and narrowly missing the bottom left corner of the net. In addition to Santaguida, the Catamounts defense limited the Friars chances down the stretch, getting in front of several shots in the final five minutes.
The game got extremely chippy in last five seconds, with a scrum occurring behind the net on the Friars final scoring chance. As a result, players on each side were sent to the penalty box on two different occasions with 2.6 seconds remaining.
The Catamounts did not succumb to the final efforts of the Friars, narrowly escaping Schneider Arena with a 2-1 victory. Vermont coach Kevin Sneddon said of his team’s efforts, “That was a playoff game. We didn’t understand that last night. Our response, our resilience, and our character were at their highest.”
This type of resilience earned praise from Providence coach Nate Leaman, who said, “You gotta give them credit for winning the battles. I thought they had a little bit more jump than us to start the game. We dug ourselves in a hole out of the first period that we weren’t able to get out of tonight.”
