#16 Bobcats Complete Weekend Sweep with 3-2 Win at #19 AIC

Sunday, December 27

Springfield, Mass. / MassMutual Center

3:00 PM

Quinnipiac University

6-2-0, 0-0-0-0ECAC

AIC

5-2-0, 5-0-0-0AHC

Quinnipiac

American Int'l

Photo by: Rob Rasmussen / P8Photos.com

#16 Bobcats Complete Weekend Sweep with 3-2 Win at #19 AIC

12/27/2020 5:47:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey

Box Score

de Jong Scores Game-Winning Power-Play Goal Late in Second to Cap Fourth Straight Win

By: QU Athletic Communications

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The No. 16 Quinnipiac men's ice hockey team extended its winning streak to four games as the Bobcats capped off a weekend sweep of No. 19 AIC with a 3-2 victory Sunday at the MassMutual Center.

Ethan de Jong (North Vancouver, British Columbia) recorded a power-play goal for a fifth straight game, and added an assist, as the Bobcats went 2 for 5 on the man advantage.

Ty Smilanic (Denver, Colorado) also tallied a goal and an assist for the Bobcats Sunday afternoon while Odeen Tufto (Chaska, Minnesota) extended his point streak to five games with two more assists.

Keith Petruzzelli (Wilbraham, Massachusetts) continued to star between the pipes for the Bobcats as he made 24 saves, 18 of which came over the final 40 minutes of play. Petruzzelli came up big on the penalty kill as he turned away several key looks for the Yellow Jackets.

Desi Burgart (North Vancouver, British Columbia) got the Bobcats on the board early in the first period before Smilanic followed suit minutes later to give the Bobcats a 2-1 lead early in Sunday's game. AIC added a power-play goal of their own late in the first two tie the game.

Both teams played even through the second period until de Jong buried the game-winner and Petruzzelli held first in the third period to hold on for the win.

SCORE
Quinnipiac 3, AIC 2

RECORDS
#16 Quinnipiac (6-2-0, 0-0-0 ECAC Hockey) | #19 AIC (5-2-0, 5-0-0 Atlantic Hockey)

LOCATION
MassMutual Center | Springfield, Mass.

SCORING SUMMARY

(4:24, 1^st period) – Quinnipiac 0, AIC 1: Michal Stinl fired a shot from on top of the crease that was saved by Petruzzelli and got his own rebound back where he managed to wrist a shot around a Quinnipiac defender through traffic for the game's first goal.
(6:00, 1^st period) – Quinnipiac 1, AIC 1: Burgart tied up the game 1:36 later with his fifth of the season. Christophe Fillion (Sherbrooke, Quebec) started the play chasing down the puck in the right corner and playing along the end boards to Guus van Nes (Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht, Netherlands). van Nes played it back to Fillion who backhanded a pass to Burgart all alone in the slot for the easy tap-in goal.
(7:34, 1^st period – PP) – Quinnipiac 2, AIC 1: Smilanic gave the Bobcats lead another minute-and-a-half later on the power play. The Bobcats passed the puck around the perimeter before it came to Odeen Tufto (Chaska, Minnesota) on the left wing where he found Ethan de Jong (North Vancouver, British Columbia) on the left post. de Jong slid a pass across the slot to Smilanic for the tap-in backdoor goal.
(18:42, 1^st period – PP) – Quinnipiac 2, AIC 2: The Yellow Jackets tied the game with just 1:18 left in the first period as Elijiah Barriga passed the puck to Chris Theodore right on the end line and redirected it right to Chris Dodero on the back door for the goal.
(17:57, 2^nd period – PP) – Quinnipiac 3, AIC 2: Quinnipiac took the lead for good with just 2:03 left in the second period. Smilanic pushed a puck one-handed from behind the Bobcats goal to Tufto on the left wing. Tufto quickly found de Jong next to the left post where he spun on top of the crease and fired the puck into the top right post.

NOTES

de Jong extended his goal streak to five games as he recorded a power-play goal for a fifth straight game.
He also added an assist to give him his third multi-point game of the season and 10^th of his career.
After reaching the 50-point mark in his career, de Jong now has 22 goals and 30 assists in 80 games as a Bobcat.
Smilanic continued his impressive start to his Quinnipiac career as he tallied his third multi-point game of the season with a goal and an assist.
He now has five goals, good for fourth nationally among first years and now has six points in his last four games on the strength of four goals and two assists.
Burgart kept pace with de Jong and Smilanic as he buried his career-best fifth goal of the season with the Bobcats' first goal Sunday afternoon.
He now has six points on five goals and an assist, pulling within two points of tying his career-high.
Tufto continues to be a point machine for the Bobcats as he picked up another two assists for his 41^st career multi-point game and 28^th game with two or more assists.
Tufto now has points in five straight games with a goal and 10 assists for 11 points in that span.
His 13 assists and 15 points take over sole possession of the national lead in both categories as he is scoring nearly two points per game to open the season.
Petruzzelli notched 24 saves for the Bobcats as he picked up the 40^th victory of his collegiate career, making him the seventh Quinnipiac goaltender since joining Division I to win at least 40 games.
He now owns a .933 save percentage and 1.82 GAA through eight games of the 2020-21 season.
van Nes picked up his fourth point in the last four games with another assist Sunday as he adds to his career-high assist and point totals with six assists and seven points now this season.
Fillion recorded his second helper of the season after recording his first career point against Holy Cross on Tuesday.

NEXT GAME

Quinnipiac men's ice hockey opens up ECAC Hockey play this week with a home-and-home series against St. Lawrence beginning on New Year's Eve at 4 p.m. at Appleton Arena before both teams return to Hamden on Sunday for a 1 p.m. matinee matchup..
For more information on Quinnipiac men's ice hockey, visit gobobcats.com/mih and follow the Bobcats on Twitter and Instagram, @QU_MIH.