Landon Smith Lights the Lamp and Hopes of Bobcat Fans
11/17/2017 11:14:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey
by Victoria Rutigliano '18, special to QuinnipiacBobcats.com
It's mid November and the familiar fall chill from outside filtered into the Frank Perrotti, Jr. Arena. The 0-4 start to conference play isn't what the Quinnipiac Bobcats wanted, and losing to Brown on Friday would be especially chilling.
Senior forward Landon Smith knew this as he sat in the locker room before the game. He stayed loose, listening to his teammate Karlis Cukste's Latvian mixes playing around the room, chatted about the upcoming game with the his teammates and tried to get his mind in the zone.
When he stepped on the ice, Smith's looseness ended and he wired in.
The team's icy start ended when Smith scored three consecutive goals in the first 23 minutes of the Bobcats' game against Brown on Friday. They clinched their first ECAC win of the season, 5-0.
Two of the three goals came off rebounds in the first period -- one from a rebound from a shot by defenseman John Furgele, the other off a tip after Brogan Rafferty ripped a puck on-goal from the point.
It may not have been raining hats in the second period when Landon Smith's third goal of the game flew past Brown goalie Luke Kania, but for the senior forward, this type of tradition didn't really matter. A win was what really mattered.
This three-goal game was the third hat trick of Smith's career, and his second against Brown. (he did it previously in January 2015.)
Former Quinnipiac forward Brandon Wong was the only other player in Quinnipiac history to score two hat tricks against the same team. Wong had three of his all-time best four hat tricks against Union.
The three goals and one assist is a career high for Smith.
But, Smith credited his two linemates, Tanner MacMaster and Odeen Tufto, for helping him.
"I mean, I love it," Smith said. "Two high-class players? It's really nice to have Odeen come in and do what he's done. Obviously, Tanner's a great player. We've seen that for four years. So it's a privilege to play with those guys."
Smith's line accumulated four of the five goals tonight.
"He was really good," head coach Rand Pecknold said. "He had a nice play on the assist, too. He set up Tanner there for the goal, so he played great. That line was really good tonight."
Heading into the season, Smith was tied for first in the nation for consecutive games played, suiting up for 122 straight games. He hasn't missed a single game since debuting with the Bobcats in 2014.
"I mean it's been awesome," Smith said. "Definitely bumps and bruises along the way, but kind of my mentality is if I'm not dying I want to be on the ice.
He also entered the season second in the nation with 97 points and reached the coveted 100-point milestone in the team's fifth game of the season against Northeastern with an assist.
Offensive success wasn't something Smith had trouble with when transitioning to college three years ago as he scored more than 30 points his first two seasons and was named to the ECAC all-rookie team in his first year.
Now, Smith sees his role in his final season as more of a leader than anything else.
"We have 10 freshman, so I think it's important as a senior to kind of tell them what's going on, Smith said. "So really off ice stuff I think is my big role this year. Make sure that everybody understands the culture that we've had for the four years so that's kind of how I see it."
Smith hopes to parlay his four-point night against Brown into more success in Saturday's game against arch rival Yale, when the team searches for its second ECAC win.
"That's like the best game of the year," Smith said. "But you know it's just like a game at the end of the day. So we've just got to focus, make sure we bring what we brought tonight."
It's mid November and the familiar fall chill from outside filtered into the Frank Perrotti, Jr. Arena. The 0-4 start to conference play isn't what the Quinnipiac Bobcats wanted, and losing to Brown on Friday would be especially chilling.
Senior forward Landon Smith knew this as he sat in the locker room before the game. He stayed loose, listening to his teammate Karlis Cukste's Latvian mixes playing around the room, chatted about the upcoming game with the his teammates and tried to get his mind in the zone.
When he stepped on the ice, Smith's looseness ended and he wired in.
The team's icy start ended when Smith scored three consecutive goals in the first 23 minutes of the Bobcats' game against Brown on Friday. They clinched their first ECAC win of the season, 5-0.
Two of the three goals came off rebounds in the first period -- one from a rebound from a shot by defenseman John Furgele, the other off a tip after Brogan Rafferty ripped a puck on-goal from the point.
It may not have been raining hats in the second period when Landon Smith's third goal of the game flew past Brown goalie Luke Kania, but for the senior forward, this type of tradition didn't really matter. A win was what really mattered.
This three-goal game was the third hat trick of Smith's career, and his second against Brown. (he did it previously in January 2015.)
Former Quinnipiac forward Brandon Wong was the only other player in Quinnipiac history to score two hat tricks against the same team. Wong had three of his all-time best four hat tricks against Union.
The three goals and one assist is a career high for Smith.
But, Smith credited his two linemates, Tanner MacMaster and Odeen Tufto, for helping him.
"I mean, I love it," Smith said. "Two high-class players? It's really nice to have Odeen come in and do what he's done. Obviously, Tanner's a great player. We've seen that for four years. So it's a privilege to play with those guys."
Smith's line accumulated four of the five goals tonight.
"He was really good," head coach Rand Pecknold said. "He had a nice play on the assist, too. He set up Tanner there for the goal, so he played great. That line was really good tonight."
Heading into the season, Smith was tied for first in the nation for consecutive games played, suiting up for 122 straight games. He hasn't missed a single game since debuting with the Bobcats in 2014.
"I mean it's been awesome," Smith said. "Definitely bumps and bruises along the way, but kind of my mentality is if I'm not dying I want to be on the ice.
He also entered the season second in the nation with 97 points and reached the coveted 100-point milestone in the team's fifth game of the season against Northeastern with an assist.
Offensive success wasn't something Smith had trouble with when transitioning to college three years ago as he scored more than 30 points his first two seasons and was named to the ECAC all-rookie team in his first year.
Now, Smith sees his role in his final season as more of a leader than anything else.
"We have 10 freshman, so I think it's important as a senior to kind of tell them what's going on, Smith said. "So really off ice stuff I think is my big role this year. Make sure that everybody understands the culture that we've had for the four years so that's kind of how I see it."
Smith hopes to parlay his four-point night against Brown into more success in Saturday's game against arch rival Yale, when the team searches for its second ECAC win.
"That's like the best game of the year," Smith said. "But you know it's just like a game at the end of the day. So we've just got to focus, make sure we bring what we brought tonight."
Players Mentioned
DEFENSEMAN
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DEFENSEMAN
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FORWARD
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DEFENSEMAN
/ Men's Ice Hockey
FORWARD
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FORWARD
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