For Quinnipiac’s first three games, freshman Kellen Jones showed glimpses of the offensive prowess that caught the eye of the Edmonton Oilers in the 2010 NHL Draft. But he had yet to score a goal.
That all changed Saturday at the TD Bank Sports Center in Quinnipiac’s 3-1 victory over Holy Cross on Saturday. Jones scored two goals in the third period, breaking a 1-1 tie and sending the Bobcats and its crowd of 3,891 home with a 3-1 win.
The crowd was the largest to attend a non-conference game at the TD Bank Sports Center since 2008 when Quinnipiac (3-1-0) faced the University of Connecticut. Jones was the first Bobcat freshman since D’Arcy Oakes to score twice in a game.
The deciding goal came just 29 seconds into the third period. Defenseman Mike Glaicar passed the puck to Connor Jones, Kellen’s twin brother, who fired a shot at Holy Cross (2-3-0) goalie Thomas Tysowsky. Kellen rebounded the shot and knocked the puck into the net to give Quinnipiac a 2-1 lead. The goal was the first of Kellen’s collegiate career.
“The game-winning goal is pretty special especially in front of a crowd like that,” Kellen said. “There was great work by Connor finding me and I got a lucky bounce there and it was definitely nice to get the first one out of the way.”
Nine minutes later, Kellen struck again, adding an insurance goal for the Bobcats and giving them a 3-1 lead. Sophomore Zack Davies found junior Scott Zurevinski behind the net, who passed the puck to Kellen in front of the net, setting up his second goal of the game.
“They made a couple plays tonight that were fantastic,” Quinnipiac head coach Rand Pecknold said. “Kellen, Connor, and [Zurevinski], that line really took over in the third period and I thought they played great.”
The Bobcats got on the scoreboard first as Spencer Heichman scored his second goal of the season for a 1-0 lead.
The Crusaders tied the game at one apiece with 3:51 remaining in the first period on a power-play goal by Mark Znutas. They took that momentum into the second period where they outshot Quinnipiac 23-13.
“We’re battling with immaturity a little bit as a team,” Pecknold said. “First period I thought we were good as a team, second period we really struggled, and the third period we were great. We were just struggling to string 60 minutes together.”
Quinnipiac finished its opening homestand winning three of four and now prepare to go on a six-game road trip which will start against No. 14 St. Cloud on Oct. 29.
