In what was destined to be a low-scoring game, No.14 Quinnipiac men’s ice hockey’s (5-0-0) offense scripted a different story, tallying five goals, including a pair from senior Travis St. Denis to beat undefeated No. 9 St. Cloud State (4-1-0) 5-2 at the High Point Solutions Arena in Hamden on Friday.

Entering the night, the Bobcats would be tasked to put points on the board against St. Cloud State goalie Charlie Lindgren – who hadn’t allowed a goal all year.

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Quinnipiac head coach Rand Pecknold did not foresee a high scoring affair.

“I didn’t think we’d score five goals tonight, but we’ll take it,” Pecknold said. “We did a good job of creating some chaos in front of him.”

If the Lindgren assignment was not enough already, the Bobcats found themselves down 2-0 early in the second period after St. Cloud State’s Judd Peterson struck two pucks passed the glove of Garteig, who compiled 30 saves on 32 chances in the win.

Quinnipiac’s Andrew Taverner was the first Bobcat to solve Lindgren, sneaking one past the Huskies’ goalie for his first goal of year.

“That was the biggest goal of the game,” Pecknold said.

With 7:03 left in the second period, Quinnipiac senior Travis St. Denis struck one over Lindgren’s head and into nylon to knot the score 2-2.

St. Denis would add another, on a five-on-four advantage to give Quinnipiac a 3-2 lead. On the night, Quinnipiac converted one for three on the power play, recording its ninth goal on the man advantage.  

“Once we got that first goal, it kind of opened the floodgates for us,” St. Denis said.

With two members of the Bobcats managing to show Lindgren’s mortality, freshman Scott Davidson joined the club tapping one in front of the net, earning his first goal of his career.

St. Cloud could not answer in the third, but Quinnipiac showed no signs of stopping.

On a two-on-one, Quinnipiac’s K.J. Tiefenwerth snuck one by Lindgren to give the Bobcats a 5-2 lead, marking the third time in five games that Quinnipiac has scored five goals.

Pecknold said he was proud his team’s performance, particularly the offense and thinks this fashion of winning will make any deficit seem within reach.  

“I thought our push back after being down 2-0 was outstanding,” Pecknold said. “I thought we showed our resilience tonight. It’s a big win tonight. Anytime we’re down two goals, we’ll know we can comeback.”

Last year, both teams earned a split in the season series. Quinnipiac will go for the sweep with St. Cloud State tomorrow evening at the High Point Solutions Arena.

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