HAMDEN, Conn. – Junior forward Collin Graf returned to the lineup for Quinnipiac men’s hockey Friday night after a four game absence. The Bobcats fed off his contributions to defeat Brown 5-1 Friday.
The return of Graf to quarterback the offense helped the power play score both opportunities that they were given.
“You need a quarterback, whether it’s on top or on the flank, and every great unit has one. (Graf’s) our guy,” head coach Rand Pecknold said. “When he’s not there we’re still putting five other players on the ice but we just don’t have that guy to kind of take over for us.”
Graf was responsible for three of the goals, having one goal and two assists. The Lincoln, Massachusetts native, thought that he started slow because of the missed time.
“I thought I had a slow start obviously, not in game shape, just based off these two weeks, not really practicing a lot, that’s going to be part of it,” Graf said.
The Bobcats had freshman goaltender Matej Marinov take over between the pipes for the first time since Oct. 27. Marinov made 13 saves on 14 shots and didn’t show any rust coming back.
“He’s a great goalie. Obviously, we all love them here. So for him to go in and he showed up really well today,” sophomore forward Alex Power said. “So that’s great for us to have two goalies that are going so it’s definitely a big confidence booster for us.”
Quinnipiac started out fast with four shots on goal in the first three minutes and finished the period with 15 shots on goal to Brown’s five. The Bobcats struck gold on their first power play after Graf found junior forward Jacob Quillan at the back post.
Less than two minutes after Quillan scored, Brown sophomore forward Ryan St. Louis found the top corner above the right shoulder of Marinov on a 3-on-1 to tie the game at one.
It didn’t take the Bobcats long into the second period to retake the lead. 39 seconds into the period Graf found Quillan again right in front of the net to regain the lead 2-1.
After freshman forward Max Scott went to the box with a holding minor, Quinnipiac once again converted on the power play as sophomore forward Sam Lipkin fired the puck past sophomore goaltender Tyler Shea to increase the Bobcats lead to 3-1.
The fourth line consisting of Power, sophomore forward Anthony Cipollone and freshman forward Matthew McGroarty was all over the ice during the game forechecking, getting pucks in deep and getting into the offensive zone. The fourth line got their goal for their work as Power rung one off the post and in for his first collegiate goal to stretch the lead to three.
“Big thing that they’re doing is they’re just playing simple, hard hockey. They’re getting pucks out. They’re getting pucks in every time,” Pecknold said. “So for the majority of their shifts, they’re playing in the o-zone, they’re managing the puck better really than the other three lines.”
After only playing one game last year Power knew that he had to work hard in the summer to get more playing time.
“So over the summer, I knew there’s a good chance for me to play so I’ve probably worked the hardest I ever have,” Power said. “Just to try to come in here and get some ice time and it’s going on alright so far so definitely a great feeling.”
Quinnipiac added a fifth after senior defensemanIvari Räsänen ripped one from the blue line that was tipped in front by Graf to give the Bobcats their final goal.
Quinnipiac is back in action on Saturday for the Battle of Whitney Ave. as they take on Yale. The Bobcats will don their camouflage uniforms in support of Veterans Day.
