HAMDEN — After being shut out through the first 54 minutes of play, Quinnipiac women’s ice hockey pulled off a wild 2-2 tie against Minnesota Duluth Saturday to stay undefeated at home.

Eighteen hours earlier, in the first game of their home-stand series against the No. 6 Bulldogs, the No. 8 Bobcats eked out a come-from-behind win despite being outshot 37-15. 

The Bobcats racked up 15 shot blocks in that game — the second-most all season — and Turner called it “the toughest that we’ve played defensively all year.” 

Then again, Quinnipiac also put on its worst offensive performance of the season in that game and relied on graduate student goaltender Logan Angers’ 36-save showing to keep the Bobcats in it.

But all that changed on Saturday.

“I think the best part about the weekend is how we got better,” Turner said, noting that Quinnipiac improved at both ends of the ice. “I thought we played a lot better than we did yesterday.”

Quinnipiac’s defense recorded a season-high 18 shot blocks in its second bout with the Bulldogs. The Bobcats blocked 10 of the Bulldogs’ 20 attempted shots in the first period alone, recording more shot blocks than the Bulldogs recorded shots on goal (eight).

The Bobcats’ offense, meanwhile, put more shots on goal in the first two periods (18) than it did all game Friday (15).

“I think they were excited when we got a little bit more possession time,” Turner said. “I thought we took care of the puck a lot better.”

And yet, at the end of those first two periods, not one of Quinnipiac’s shots had made it past Bulldogs freshman goaltender Ève Gascon.

“We faced a good goalie, and it’s hard to score on good goalies,” Turner said of Gascon, who didn’t play in Friday’s matchup.

The Bulldogs’ offense had been more successful up to that point.

Redshirt sophomore forward Mary Kate O’Brien had put the Bulldogs on the board less than three minutes into the first period, and junior defender Hanna Baskin extended Minnesota Duluth’s lead to two at the end of the second period.

With the Bobcats trailing by two at the start of the third period, the atmosphere in M&T Bank Arena was tense. The fans had quieted down, their cheering growing less enthusiastic by the minute.

But to the Bobcats’ credit, they’ve proven time and time again that they’re a third-period team.

“One of the things I’ve been so impressed with with our team is just their ability to find ways to win,” Turner said after Quinnipiac’s rally on Friday.

With less than six minutes remaining in regulation, senior defender Maddy Samoskevich racked a shot top shelf to cut the deficit in half.

Then, with a little over three minutes to play, the Bobcats pulled Angers from between the pipes and put an extra attacker on the ice. Eighteen seconds later, graduate student forward Sadie Peart one-timered the puck behind Gascon to tie up the game they had been shut out in until just three minutes prior.

The end of regulation came and went, as did the end of overtime. And just like that, the game the Bobcats seemed doomed to lose ended in a tie.

“To come back like that in the third was outstanding,” Turner said. “To get a win and a tie against a very strong team was outstanding.”

But while Quinnipiac’s performance shifted drastically between Friday and Saturday, the intense physicality of Friday’s game — and the corresponding lack of penalty calls — was no less prevalent on Saturday.

Case in point, amid a scuffle in front of the Minnesota Duluth net, Bobcats freshman forward Kahlen Lamarche took a punch to the face after the whistle. This was just one of the night’s many non-calls.

And earlier, when the referees had called a penalty on the Bulldogs for interference, the entire Bobcats bench started cheering. It wasn’t entirely clear whether they were cheering for senior defender Kendall Cooper — who had been on the receiving end of the penalty — or for the referees themselves.

But Turner said she appreciated the physicality, noting that Quinnipiac “thrives in that environment.”

Saturday’s game marked the end of non-conference play for the 19-3-1 Bobcats, who are slated to play another 11 conference games before the end of the regular season. 

Quinnipiac will kick off this stretch of ECAC Hockey matches with a game at Harvard on Jan. 12. Puck drop is set for 6 p.m.

“It’s ECAC play — there’s nothing better,” Turner said. “We want big things, and we’re going to need to dial in and be ready for Harvard on Friday.”