Quinnipiac Men’s Ice Hockey Gifts AIC an 8-3 Blowout

Photo: Liz Flynn

Steven Pappas
December 26, 2020

Highlights (Tom Krosnowski)

Film Room (Patrick Flatley)

Story by Steven Pappas

They say Christmas is the time for giving and 24 hours after Christmas day, the Quinnipiac men’s ice hockey team gave the American International College Yellow Jackets an 8-3 beat down in Hamden.

The damage Saturday was done on the power play. Five of the Bobcats’ goals came on the man advantage, bumping their power play numbers from 21.2% (7-33) before the game to an astounding 30% (12-30) after a 5-for-7 performance.

The Usual Suspects

Odeen Tufto

In a night that saw the Bobcats captain reach 100 career assists, Tufto also notched three of his four assists on the power play. Ever since Tufto stepped foot onto the Quinnipiac campus he has been an incredible facilitator of the puck, and when on the man advantage, his ability to sling the puck around the zone on the tapes of players’ sticks is magnified.

Peter DiLiberatore

The Vegas Golden Knights draft pick notched his first goal of the season Saturday just three seconds into a Bobcats power play that was a long time coming for DiLiberatore.

He has had one of the highest shot totals on the team for the last two seasons and many of those chances come on the power play. Seven of DiLiberatore’s 10 goals in his Quinnipiac career have come on the man advantage and he made his presence felt tonight in that situation.

Zach Metsa

More known for setting players up on the power play, Metsa recorded his first career power play goal in a Bobcats uniform tonight. Since the start of 2020, Metsa has been one of the best two-way defensemen in all of college hockey, which made it surprising to see that the junior from Wisconsin had yet to record a power play goal in his career.

The Unusual Suspects

Ethan de Jong

The junior winger from British Columbia has been part of a dangerous Bobcats power play unit for the better part of three seasons now, but the offense has never run through him until this season.

A power play goal and two power play assists tonight for de Jong now marks four straight games with a goal on the man advantage for him alone.

If Wyatt Bongiovanni, who left with a scary contact injury, has to miss a significant amount of time, de Jong is going to need to fill a huge role on the power play that he has been already succeeding in so far.

Skyler Brind’Amour

Being one of the best face-off men in the country will usually find you a spot on the power play.

In the case of Brind’Amour, that has been on the Bobcats second power play unit for the first two years he’s been a part of the program.

With less attention given to the second power play unit and with zero career power play goals before tonight, Brind’Amour was able to shake off a rather slow start to the season (just one point in six games) by adding a pair of points (one goal and one assist) tonight.