By: M.J. Baird
BOSTON, MA – Arguably the biggest question mark surrounding the Quinnipiac men’s ice hockey team coming into the 2017-18 season was who the Bobcats could rely on to net goals when they needed it most.
Five games into the season, and the answer is already pretty clear: Alex Whelan.
The sophomore forward has exploded onto the scene to begin the year, notching four goals in the first five games. Three of his goals were the first goal scored in their respective games, however his goal on Saturday night was the last.
Whelan netted the game winning goal in overtime, giving the Bobcats a 3-2 win over the Northeastern Huskies in game two of the series at Matthews Arena.
“I thought it was a great effort tonight,” Quinnipiac head coach Rand Pecknold said. “We stayed within our structure, and we had great jump. I thought we made plays, we had confidence and we executed.”
A night ago, Northeastern outshot Quinnipiac 41-15. For a team that typically outshoots its opponents, six Quinnipiac goals on 15 shots was essentially sneaking away with a win. However Saturday was completely different as the Bobcats got back to their old ways.
Pecknold’s team matched its shot total from all of last game in the first period alone, and finished with 46 total shots on net. Another glaring difference between the two games was that 60 minutes was not enough to settle the score between the Bobcats and the Huskies on Saturday.
Quinnipiac came into the game with three overtime contests to its name already this season featuring a win, a loss and a tie. Northeastern had one tie on its schedule, but hadn’t experienced a win or loss in the extra frame.
Perhaps the pressure got to the Huskies, as a failed defensive zone clearance late in the overtime period left the puck on the stick of Whelan with a lane to the net.
“I think someone turned it over in front, it was a great play by them and it just kind of popped out to me,” Whelan said. “So I was thinking ‘shoot’ because I knew there was only a minute left. Good things usually happen when you put pucks to the net, and I was lucky enough to have the rebound bounce right back to me.”
Two goals on the weekend certainly didn’t fly under the radar of the coaching staff either.
“He is a warrior,” Pecknold said. “He competes, he battles, hunts the puck so well. He has really developed as a player for us in a short time. He has worked himself onto the power play he is getting penalty kill time as he deserves and he was rewarded tonight for his hard work.”
Pecknold stresses that when his players buy in to the ‘Quinnipiac Identity,’ good things will happen. The Bobcats head coach said that Saturday’s action was a great example of the way his team plays its best hockey.
“Our structure was really good,” Pecknold said. “I thought our neutral zone was excellent, our forecheck was much better and d-zone cover. We certainly want our guys to play hockey and make plays, and they did that. But we have a system that we need to play to and I thought we adhered to it very well tonight.”
In addition to the Bobcats’ earning their third win of the season, one senior etched his name in the record books.
Landon Smith became the 39th player in Quinnipiac hockey history to record 100 career points.
With the Bobcats on the power play and down 1-0 in the second period, Smith found himself with the puck on his stick and traffic in front of the net. The senior fired a shot high and hard to the far post looking to beat Northeastern goalie Ryan Ruck high blocker side, but Ruck got a shoulder on the puck and made the save. However Ruck was unable to corral the rebound, and Odeen Tufto shoveled the puck to the wide open Chase Priskie who easily tucked the rubber into the twine for the Bobcats first goal of the game.
Smith earned the secondary assist, the 61st assist of his career, combined with his 39 goals for 100 points.
“Obviously the 100th point is awesome but more importantly we got the win,” Smith said. “It feels great to get a sweep of the weekend and that’s really all I’m thinking about. It’s huge for our confidence and it’s huge for the new guys coming in. We got 10 freshman and to win right off the bat like that is big.”
Smith’s head coach was proud of the accomplishment, and has seen Smith grow in his four years in Hamden.
“He is a goal scorer,” Pecknold said. “He finds a way whether it is goals or assists or what-have-you. He has been a great player for us for four years, has had huge impact. He had a great summer and came back in really good shape and has picked up a step in his skating. (We are) really happy with his level of play so far.”
With the win, Quinnipiac wrapped up its five game non-conference schedule at 3-1-1. The Bobcats have next weekend off, but open Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference play on Nov. 3 against Cornell at home.
“We have a tough schedule here out of the gate, and I thought we have done pretty well in it,” Pecknold said. “It’s not just Hockey East teams but top 20 teams with excellent hockey players. I was really proud of our guys tonight. They battled and they bought in. If we are going to have that kind of buy-in, we are going to win a lot of games this year.”
