Quinnipiac shuts out rival Yale
NEW HAVEN — The sixth-ranked Quinnipiac men’s hockey team handled Yale 3-0 Friday night at Ingalls Rink, 602 days after the teams were supposed to meet in the ECAC quarterfinals before the pandemic squashed that. The Bobcats got a season last year. The Bulldogs did not.
The Bobcats (6-1-2, winning their first ECAC game) were playing their ninth game against just the second for Yale (0-2, 0-2 ECAC).
Two games without a win and two games without a goal doesn’t sit well with the Yale hockey team, but the Bulldogs’ sophomore goalie said he sees some light.
“I’m really excited about the chances going forward,” said Yale goalie Nathan Reid, who made 34 saves in his first college game.
“I know we didn’t get a couple of bounces tonight and shots were a little lopsided, but our compete level was great the whole night. I’m really proud of this group despite the outcome.”
Yale spent a lot of the night in its own end. Shot attempts were 78-27 in the Bobcats’ favor; shots on goal were 37-12. But Yale blocked 20 shots and held a potent power play scoreless on four chances.
“Our D-zone I thought was spectacular tonight,” Yale coach Keith Allain said. “Despite spending a decent amount of time in our zone I thought we handled a high-octane offense pretty well.”
Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold agreed, crediting the Bulldogs for their blocked shots and for boxing out his players in front of the net.
“I’m just happy to get out of there with a win,” Pecknold said. “I thought we defended really well. Our penalty kill was excellent.”
It wasn’t the typical madhouse for this rivalry game. Attendance was 1,200 with capacity limited to 75% anyway by Yale policy. Fans under 12 weren’t permitted to attend, and those who did had to show proof of vaccination against COVID-19 and wear a mask.
They were still filing in as the Bobcats kept the puck in the Yale end most of the first 10 minutes, forcing turnovers and working in Yale’s end, even though the Bulldogs kept them from collecting a ton of top-notch chances.
The Bobcats broke through late in the first on defenseman Jayden Lee’s goal, coming back into the zone off a turnover as Yale crossed its own blue line.
Players like Joey Cipollone, Skyler Brind’Amour and T.J. Friedmann were tenacious on the puck.
“That’s how we want to play, to be relentless on the puck, on the forecheck,” Pecknold said.
Friday wasn’t the busiest night for Quinnipiac goalie Yaniv Perets in his second shutout (Northeastern on Oct. 9), but Pecknold raved about a point-blank stop he made in the third on William Dineen when it was still 2-0 after a turnover led to blown coverage.
Ethan de Jong made it 2-0 early in the third off a Wyatt Bongiovanni faceoff win to Reid’s right. Friedmann scored an emptynetter in the last minute.
Quinnipiac visits Brown on Saturday night. Yale, with only nine players who’d played a college game before last weekend, hosts Princeton on Saturday.
“I think a lot of guys are getting used to the pace, playing with each other, getting used to Coach Allain’s systems,” Reid said. “Even from our preseason games, to last week against Brown, to tonight, I can see the chemistry getting better and better.
Reid at least played last year for Muskegon in the junior USHL. He played 27 games.
“Personally for me I know my first couple of years of juniors were kind of all over the map, trying to find myself as a player and a person,” Reid said. “Last year, I kind of grew into a veteran role and I try to take everything I learned from there and bring it to this group.”