Five-Goal Third Period Powers No. 15 Men's Ice Hockey Past St. Lawrence, 6-1

Saturday, February 15

Hamden, Conn.

7:00 PM

Quinnipiac University

18-10-2, 11-5-2

St. Lawrence

3-23-4, 1-16-1

St. Lawrence

Quinnipiac

Photo by: Rob Rasmussen / P8Photos.com

Five-Goal Third Period Powers No. 15 Men's Ice Hockey Past St. Lawrence, 6-1

2/15/2020 11:21:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey

Box Score

Bobcats Score Four Power-Play Goals for Second Straight Season Against Saints

By: QU Athletic Communications

HAMDEN, Conn. – The No. 15/15 Quinnipiac men's ice hockey team scored six unanswered goals Saturday night as the Bobcats blew past the St. Lawrence Saints, 6-1, at Frank Perrotti Jr. Arena.

Quinnipiac exploded for five goals in the third period after heading into the second intermission tied, 1-1. Four Quinnipiac's five goals in the final frame came on the power play as the Bobcats improved to 18-10-2 on the season.

The Bobcats' five-goal third period was its first period with at least five goals since scoring six in a 7-5 come-from-behind victory at Dartmouth on Jan. 29, 2016.

Odeen Tufto (Chaska, Minnesota) scored a highlight reel goal with just 2:20 remaining in the second period, chipping the puck top shelf with one hand as he was getting dragged down to the ice by St. Lawrence defenseman Bo Hanson.

Nick Jermain (Norwalk, Connecticut) and Peter DiLiberatore (Bedford, Nova Scotia) scored power-play goals with 1:13 of each other early in the second period to take a two-goal lead before Alex Whelan (Ramsey, New Jersey) added a pair of power-play goals with in 1:24 at the midway point of the period to make it 5-1. Guus van Nes (Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht, Netherlands) capped off the win with his second career goal to take a 6-1 lead with 3:23 left in the game.

Tufto led the Bobcats with three points on a goal and two assists while Whelan had two goals. DiLiberatore had a goal and an assist while Wyatt Bongiovanni (Birmingham, Michigan) and Karlis Cukste (Riga, Latvia) each had two assists to contribute for two-point nights.

Quinnipiac finished Saturday night's game 4 for 10 on the power-play, its most power-play goals in a game since also scoring four against St. Lawrence at home last season on Feb. 22, 2019.

With the win and Harvard's tie with Brown, Quinnipiac moves back into sole possession of third place in ECAC Hockey with 24 points. The Bobcats have their first chance to clinch a first-round bye in the ECAC Hockey Tournament next weekend with a win Friday night over Rensselaer as well as a Colgate loss.

SCORE
Quinnipiac 6, St. Lawrence 1

RECORDS
Quinnipiac (18-10-2, 11-5-2 ECAC Hockey) | St. Lawrence (3-23-4, 1-16-1 ECAC Hockey)

LOCATION
Frank Perrotti Jr. Arena at the People's United Center | Hamden, Conn.

SCORING SUMMARY

(15:25, 1^st period – PP) – Quinnipiac 0, St. Lawrence 1: The Saints got on the board first with 4:35 left in the first period as Keenan Suthers put home a rebound on Zach Risteau's shot from the right point to give St. Lawrence the first goal of the game.
(17:40, 2^nd period – DP) – Quinnipiac 1, St. Lawrence 1: Tufto evened the score with 2:20 remaining in the second as he received a pass from Bongiovanni and carried the puck towards the crease before he chipped the puck over Daniel Mannella as Bo Hanson pulled him down to convert the highlight reel goal.
(3:29, 3^rd period – PP) – Quinnipiac 2, St. Lawrence 1: Quinnipiac came out firing in the third period as Jermain broke the tie early as he put home his own rebound as he got knocked to the ice to take a 2-1 lead.
(4:42, 3^rd period – PP) – Quinnipiac 3, St. Lawrence 1: DiLiberatore doubled the Bobcats lead just over a minute later as he retrieved the puck along the boards near the St. Lawrence bench and stepped into a wrister that beat Mannella.
(11:49, 3^rd period – PP) – Quinnipiac 4, St. Lawrence 1: Whelan scored his first of two goals on the night with 8:11 left in the third period as he received a pass on the far side of the slot from Tufto and wristed home the puck into the top left corner with Mannella out of position.
(13:13, 3^rd period – PP) – Quinnipiac 5, St. Lawrence 1: He added his second goal of the period and the Bobcats' fourth power-play goal as he tipped home a DiLiberatore shot from the point to claim a four-goal lead.
(16:37, 3^rd period) – Quinnipiac 6, St. Lawrence 1: van Nes tallied the Bobcats final goal of the night as his initial shot was saved but Joe O'Connor (Hamden, Connecticut) tapped a pass behind the end line for van Nes and he skated around the goal and wrapped home his second of the season.

NOTES

Quinnipiac scored four power-play goals in a game for the second straight season as the Bobcats did so twice last season against AIC on Oct. 27, 2018, and St. Lawrence on Feb. 22, 2019.
The Bobcats' five-goal third period were its most goals in a period since scoring six in the third period of a 7-5 win at Dartmouth on Jan. 29, 2016.
Tufto's three-point night was his second of the season and 10^th multi-point game as he led the Bobcats in scoring.
He now has five goals while his 29 assists lead ECAC Hockey and his 34 points are second in the league behind Harvard's Nick Abruzzese.
Tufto is three assists away from tying his career-high of 32 set during his first season in Hamden in 2017-18.
Tufto's 88 career assists are tied with George Hines '88 for 12^th in program history while his 117 points pass Hines for 24^th all-time.
Whelan scored multiple goals in a game for the third time this season and second time against the Saints.
He scored a pair of power-play goals to move into a tie with DiLiberatore and Bongiovanni for the team lead with four on the season.
Whelan also tied Bongiovanni for the team lead in goals with 13 this season and is tied for fourth in ECAC Hockey while his 48 career goals are tied with Matt Goodrich '99 and Shawn Mansoff '01 for 23^rd in program history.
DiLiberatore's two-point night was his second of the season as he moved into a tie for fourth among ECAC Hockey defensemen with six goals and fifth with 18 points.
He is one point away from tying his career-high of 19 from last season
Jermain continues to impress in his senior season as he buried his 11^th goal of the season and give him points in back-to-back games.
van Nes scored his second career-goal to cap off the scoring with his first tally since Nov. 1 at Arizona State.
Petruzzelli made 14 saves on the 15 shots he faced to lower his GAA back down to 2.12 on the season before giving way to Evan Fear (Winnetka, Illinois) who made one save in the final 3:23 of the night.
Bongiovanni recorded two assists in a game for the first time in his career as he set a career-high with 10 assists this season and tied his career-high with 23 points.
He now has points in three of the last five games.
Cukste also recorded a pair of assists to give him 13 on the season and 51 in his career, making him the 13^th defensemen in program history with at least 50 assists
Cukste also has 17 points this season, just three away from tying his career-high from last season.
Metsa tallied an assist for the second straight night and third time in the last four games.
Fällström also picked up an assist for his 15^th of the season and now has helpers in nine of his last 14 games.
Leyh recorded points in both games this weekend as he added an assist Saturday night to give him points in back-to-back games for the second time in his career.
O'Connor recorded points for the second straight weekend as he assist van Nes' goal late in the third period for his fifth point of the season.

NEXT GAME

Quinnipiac hits the road for the final road weekend of the regular season as the Bobcats will take on Rensselaer Friday night at 7 p.m. at Houston Field House before traveling to Union Saturday night at Messa Rink for another 7 p.m. puck drop.
For more information on Quinnipiac men's ice hockey, visit gobobcats.com/mih and follow the Bobcats on Twitter and Instagram, @QU_MIH.