BOSTON — Quinnipiac men’s hockey head coach Rand Pecknold summed up his night in just three words in his postgame press conference: “I’ve been better.”
It was an emotional up-and-down hockey game, but in the end, the Bobcats played their way to a 3-3 tie against Northeastern Saturday night.
“I thought tonight we were just OK,” Pecknold said. “We need to find a way to do better.”
This was a game the Bobcats felt they won, as a rocket from senior defenseman Cooper Moore found the back of the net late in the third period. What would have been Moore’s second goal of the evening gave the visitors a brief 4-3 lead.
That is until the Huskies challenged for a goaltender’s interference. Then mayhem ensued.
“Anytime that you’re going to challenge a goaltender interference … it’s 50/50,” Northeastern head coach Jerry Keefe said. “I thought he was clearly in the crease … Obviously, that’s going to affect your goaltending.”
A net-front bump — or in Pecknold’s eyes, nothing at all — led to Keefe’s challenge. A few minutes later, the officials came out and overruled the original call on the ice.
“It’s a goal,” Pecknold said. “My player does not touch the goalie at all … he gets pushed in there.”
On the other side of the rink, Pecknold and assistant head coach Joe Dumais were hot, yelling and pointing at the officiating crew. After more stoppage time, the officials went back to the video monitor. The Bobcats had challenged the challenge.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever done that before,” Pecknold said. “I’m like, ‘You need to look at it again’ … It’s an interpretation that we’ll resolve on Monday.”
The call stood, the Bobcats’ goal had been nullified and the third period ended in a deadlock.
It didn’t need to be that close though. As Pecknold said postgame, Quinnipiac did not play up to its standard. Moore’s early goal — his first as a Bobcat — gave the visitors a lead before Northeastern sophomore defenseman Vinny Borgesi snuck the puck into the net to even it up.
“(Moore’s) been playing really well,” Pecknold said. “Both goals he wired, he’s good.”
In the second period, goals from sophomore forward Victor Czerneckianair and sophomore defenseman Charles Alexis Legault gave Quinnipiac the lead. Throw in a Husky goal from sophomore forward Jack Williams and the Bobcats led by just one after 40 minutes.
Freshman forward Dylan Hryckowian made his biggest contribution of the night halfway through the third. After flying down the boards on the penalty kill, he snuck the puck past Quinnipiac senior goaltender Vinny Duplessis and sent Matthews Arena into a frenzy.
“(Hryckowian’s) been playing well for us,” Keefe said. “When you’re playing a really good team and it’s going to be tough to score … the best players always make a big play.”
The game goes down as a tie for both sides, yet the night ended in a shootout. Thing is, the extra hockey meant nothing, as the out-of-conference matchup meant no points were at stake.
“I’m not sure everyone in the building realized it was a tie,” Keefe said. “You obviously want to win the shootout if you’re going to be in it.”
The Bobcats prevailed in the shootouts, getting goals from senior forward Travis Treloar and sophomore forward Sam Lipkin before Duplessis slammed the door shut to end it.
“Give Northeastern credit,” Pecknold said. “I thought they did a lot of good things.”
Having their four-game win streak snapped, the Bobcats have a week off before suiting up against Princeton in a home-and-home series on Jan. 12 and 13. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. in both contests.
