Photo courtesy Quinnipiac Athletics
Michael Garteig pulls off back-to-back shutouts, the power play converts half of the man advantages, and the penalty kill is still a perfect 13-for-13. It’s no wonder the Maine Black Bears looked overwhelmed in a 4-0 loss on Tuesday night.
“It felt to me like we had more jump,” said Quinnipiac head coach Rand Pecknold. “It felt to me like we were going… I think our legs were a little bit better tonight.”
But for a four game win streak with only five goals given up doesn’t mean games have been picture-perfect for the Bobcats.
“I’m happy in a lot of ways, but there’s things we need to get better at. We had some struggles again tonight,” Pecknold said. “With our penalty kill, we blew some backchecks, we got fortunate Maine didn’t capitalize on them. We blew probably five or six backchecks tonight, which is not typical.”
The Class of 2019 has been active in all zones on the ice and on the score sheet, with a freshman player putting up at least a point in each of the games this season. Tonight, defenseman Chase Priskie scored his first collegiate goal to continue the streak.
“They were caught on a change and my D partner, Derek Smith, just called quick up,” Priskie said. “I got my head up, got the puck and found an open lane so I decided to take the shot on net.”
Pecknold thought Priskie’s goal, the ultimate game winner, was key for the team midway through the opening stanza.
“I thought the first goal was big, I thought the first goal was gonna be big tonight. It just gave us a lot of confidence. I think any first goal, but definitely tonight, felt like that got us over the hump a little bit.”
The Bobcats continue their home stand as St. Cloud State comes to town for a double header Friday and Saturday. The Huskies are also 4-0-0 on the year, with a number nine ranking in the USCHO.com poll and a single first place vote.
