Men's Hockey: Tigers take three from Quinnipiac

“They did the hard things very well right from the start,” head coach Guy Gadowsky said. “They blocked shots and took hits to make plays, and I think that was the difference between the start we had against Mercyhurst and the start we had tonight.”

Sophomore forward Kevin Lohry got Princeton (10-2, 7-1) going less than six minutes into the first period when he gave his team a 1-0 lead on an assist from senior forward and captain Brandan Kushniruk. Though the Tigers outshot the Bobcats 16-9 in the first frame, they couldn’t find the net again before the buzzer sounded.

Quinnipiac’s Zach Hansen leveled the score on a man-advantage goal three minutes, 16 seconds into the second on the first of the Bobcats’ three second-period power plays, firing a shot from the point that sailed above junior goalie Zane Kalemba’s shoulder. Kalemba finished the game with 23 saves.

The equalizer must have lit a flame under the Kramer-Magnowski-Arhontas line, as sophomore forward Mike Kramer, junior forward Mark Magnowski and sophomore forward Matt Arhontas caught fire in the middle of the second period. The trio combined for three goals in less than nine minutes.

Kramer converted first at 9:11 when he lifted his stick to catch the puck in midair, sending the eventual game-winner over the shoulder of Bobcat goalkeeper Bud Fisher. Arhontas followed suit five minutes later on the power play. Quinnipiac left Fisher hanging out to dry on a line change as Magnowski collected the puck from Kramer and sent it to Arhontas, who rushed to the doorstep for the conversion, lifting the Tigers to a 3-1 lead.

Magnowski cashed in with 2:05 remaining in the second period on assists from his linemates to score his sixth goal of the season, putting the game out of reach for the Bobcats before the third period had begun.

“We complement each other well,” Kramer said. “We were just sticking to our game plan of getting pucks to net, making strong plays and going to net hard, and that’s what got us all of those goals.”

But the Tigers’ impressive victory can’t be attributed solely to goal scoring, as spectacular as it was. Last night, the Tigers did the tough things — shot-blocking, penalty kills, fore-checking — especially well. Their hard work even showed in the 10 penalties they took.

“[The penalties] weren’t lack-of-discipline calls,” Gadowsky said. “Actually, all of them were pretty hardworking penalties. They weren’t retaliation, they weren’t lazy penalties, they weren’t bad discipline, they were just hardworking penalties, and sometimes that happens.”

Junior defenseman Brad Schroeder led the defensive effort. While the Tigers missed some shot-blocking opportunities in the second, they rebounded in the third, amassing 11 blocked shots on the period. Princeton also improved on man-down situations over the same stretch.

“In the third when we had to kill [penalties], we did a very good job and learned from the mistakes we made in the second. Overall, we did a good job, but we still gave up the one goal that we shouldn’t have,” Gadowsky said.

The win restored the confidence the Tigers might have lost last weekend, but it won’t lend them any momentum, as the team won’t see the ice in competition again until Dec. 29. Gadowsky is unsure how the 26-day break will affect his team’s play but looks forward to the return of several injured players and the opportunity for others to take a well-deserved rest.

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“[The break] is a double-edged sword because we’re playing pretty well right now, but at the same time, it’d be nice to have some depth in our lineup,” Gadowsky said.

His players share his feelings.

“It’s always nice to go home and see friends and family to get a little break from everything,” Kramer said. “Then again, it’s also hard to have 26 days off when we’re on a little roll ... It’s a little bittersweet.”