In the fifth minute of the first period, Jeremy Langlois went for a poke check in a scrum along the far side boards in the Princeton zone. Langlois corralled the puck, before skating to the slot and putting home the 52nd goal of his NCAA career, tying Bemidji State’s Jordan George, the active leader coming into the game.
Later, with 39 seconds remaining in regulation, Langlois ripped a shot from the defensive zone into the empty net to seal the 3-1 Quinnipiac victory, taking the active lead in goals among active players with 53.
“It’s pretty cool to have your name up there with those other great guys,” Langlois said. “It comes from the team, if you got a good team, most likely you’ll score a lot of goals.”
The Bobcats defeated the Tigers Friday evening by a final score of 3-1; their seventh straight ECAC win. Defense was key for No. 13 Quinnipiac, holding Princeton to only 11 shots-on-goal, including just one in the second period.
“We’re not blowing teams out, but we’re comfortable with those close games this year,” captain Zack Currie said. “We know we’ve got the guys to do it, obviously we would like to score a little more when we get the chance, every bit of our success has to be with the defense right now.”
In addition to Langlois’ two scores, Russell Goodman chimed in with a goal of his own at 19:02 in the first period. Clay Harvey skated around the net, before connecting with Goodman in the slot. Goodman hit the open right side to give the Bobcats a 2-0 advantage going into the first intermission.
Princeton’s lone goal of the night came via a redirect late in the second period. Tom Kroshus lined up at the right side of the point, as Eric Carlson stationed himself in traffic. Carlson then tipped Kroshus’ shot past Hartzell to put the Tigers on the board.
Princeton goaltender Mike Condon saved 24-of-26 shots on the day. The Tigers also successfully killed off seven Bobcat power plays.
“I thought our power play was just terrible tonight,” Quinnipiac head coach Rand Pecknold said. “It was out of sync, guys were frustrated. Our power play’s not been great all year; we’ve had composure when we get our chances. Tonight, it wasn’t very good.”
Quinnipiac finishes their home-and-home series with Princeton Dec. 8 at 4 p.m. at Hobey Baker Rink in Princeton, N.J.
