Box Score Yale Win Streak Goes to 6
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Bulldog with the hardest shot – who was also happened to be voted by his teammates to be the fastest player on the team – used both attributes to get his team an ECAC Hockey victory that clinched a first-round playoff bye. Ryan Obuchowski's goal with 1:03 left in the third period gave No. 8 Yale its sixth straight win, a 4-3 decision over No. 18 St. Lawrence before another Ingalls Rink sellout crowd.
The Bulldogs (17-5-4, 12-4-3 ECAC), whose win streak has included five nationally ranked squads, saw the Saints get the tying goal with 12:42 left in the third. Yale never allowed a hot SLU team to seize the momentum.
A little more than six minutes later, John Hayden, who had a goal and two points, grabbed the puck in his end and looked up to see Joe Snively open by the visitor's blueline. Hayden fired a long pass that was slightly tipped by a Saint before arriving on the freshman's stick. Snively took a few strides in from the blueline on the right side and then spotted his defenseman sprinting in on the rush.
Snively's pass hit Obuchowski in the left circle and the senior held it until he got south of the dot before blistering a snapshot under the crossbar. The puck caught the underside of the upper netting and then shot out almost as hard as it entered the cage.
"I saw an opening and decided to jump in on the rush," said Obuchowski, who notched his third goal of the year and first since Nov. 21. "I bobbled it a little. I knew it was a smaller goalie, and I knew I had to get the shot up."
The other Yale goal came from senior All-America defenseman Rob O'Gara, who was back after sitting out both games last weekend. He helped the Elis remain in second place with three games left in the regular season.
Both teams had one-goal leads that were erased, but the Elis dominated the shot chart, 34-19. The Blue put so much pressure on the SLU defense that Alex Lyon did not get much (16 saves) work. When he got action, it required quality stops and big saves in huge moments.
"Alex is the best goalie in the country. Our guys knew he'd be there when he was needed the most," said Keith Allain '80, Yale's Malcolm G. Chace Head Coach.
The Saints got on the board first, but the Bulldogs, while outshooting the visitors 13-5, evened things before intermission.
Frankie DiChiara won a sprint to the puck in the SLU end and then fired a shot off target. The Saints gained possession behind the net and tried to pass it out, but Hayden's pressure deflected the pass out to the left circle. DiChiara grabbed it went toward the net and then flipped it over to his linemate. Hayden held as Kyle Hayton dove to try and block his path and then wrapped a shot around the goalie at 15:54.
The home team came close on an advantage late in the first, but the teams went into the first intermission at 1-1.
SLU, protecting its six-game unbeaten streak, found the net early in the second. Once again, the Elis dominated the action with pucks flying at Hayton to the tune of 15-6 shots for Yale.
The Bulldogs capitalized on a flurry of penalties on both sides midway through the middle frame to draw even again. In about a minute span, the Blue went from down 5-on-3, to down 4-on-3, to up a man (4-on-3). O'Gara's one-timer from the right circle was the power-play goal equalizer in the second.
Snively, who had two points, skated with the puck across the point and took a sudden turn toward the high slot before sending a firm pass to the right dot. The puck stayed flat as O'Gara brought his stick back in anticipation of the cylinder's arrival. It was perfect timing on both ends. The blast off No. 4's stick got the water bottle on the top of the net, just before Hayton could slide over and close the small opening on the right side.
Yale had an amazing 13 shots on five advantages through 40 minutes while holding the Saints to just two on three chances in the second. The home team fore-check, not to mention some great passing and puck protection, was responsible for the great disparity in shots.
But winning the shots battle doesn't get you points, or goals. However, Yale's 29th accurate shot did. It was a pretty, backhanded flick by a guy playing his first game since Jan. 22. Izmirlian, who had missed the last five games with an injury, gave the Elis their first lead of the night with a nifty shot that hit Hayton's glove before striking the back of the net at 3:35 of the third. Mike Doherty and Obuchowski picked up assists on that play.
That goal probably should have been another equalizer. A few minutes earlier in the other end, Lyon made the save of the night. Tangled among socks of different colors, while trying to get up off the ice, the junior goalie raised his glove to catch a rising, short-range slapshot from SLU's top scorer Gavin Bayreuther. It was clearly on a flight for the top shelf.
"It was a scramble. I saw it all the way and stuck my glove up," said Lyon. "I don't know if I'd call it save, he shot it into my glove. I struggled tonight and didn't play well. I can't say enough about my teammates, they really gutted out this win."
That highlight save didn't stop the Saints from getting their third tally, and the contest was even for a third time… until Hayden, Snively and Obuchowski made the most famous connection of the 2015-16 season.
"That was an awfully entertaining game," said Allain. "They are a good team and made us work for everything. We had to keep fighting back and really showed great resiliency."
BULLDOG BITES
The Elis, who can finish anywhere from first to fourth in the ECAC, will host a conference playoff series on March 11-13... Yale moved to No. 7 in the Pairwise after the game, but there were still some games to be played around the country… The Blue remained in second place in the Ivy League, two points behind a Harvard team that completed its Ancient Eight slate with a 2-2 tie at home vs. Cornell. If Yale beats Princeton next Friday night it would gain a share of that title… Cody Learned's goal scoring streak ended at five games... The Elis host No. 20 Clarkson Saturday night at 7 and there are a limited number of SRO tickets remaining… Mark Arcobello '10 has scored three goals and had four points in three games since being called up by the Toronto Maple Leafs.
By Steve Conn, Yale Associate AD & Sports Publicity Director – steven.conn@yale.edu
Ivy League Digital Network Highlights:
Steve Musco image of Hayden's goal
