Bulldogs Drop 4-1 Game at Top Ranked QU

HAMDEN, CT – The nation's longest winning streak has ended at eight games on the last day of the regular season. That special run got the No. 7 Bulldogs a No. 2 seed in the ECAC Hockey Tournament and a piece of the Ivy League Championship. The streak ran out of steam against the No. 1 team in the country, as Quinnipiac took a 4-1 game before a packed High Point Solutions Arena.

This one was close until the Bobcats (25-2-7) made it a two-goal margin at 13:33 of the third. Yale (19-6-4, 14-5-3 ECAC) was playing great defense and coming very close to breaking through at the other end. The Eli penalty-kill kept Quinnipiac off the board on nine minutes of advantage and allowed just six accurate shots.

But one goal is not going to beat many top-ranked teams. The Blue went scoreless on four power plays and got outshot overall, 35-27.

Dan O'Keefe and the Bulldogs thought they had scored the game's first goal less than two minutes into the game when the junior defenseman fired a shot from the point. The referee pointed at the net to signal a goal and then went to take a look at the video. He stunned most people in the building when he came out a few minutes later, waved his arms and dropped the puck outside the blueline.

That really could have changed this contest.

"I didn't like our game tonight," said Keith Allain '80, Yale's Malcolm G. Chace Head Coach. "The game [for both teams] was disjointed and sloppy at times."

Yale, which found itself down a goal after both teams put eight shots on target in the first, had multiple grade-A chances. None was better than John Hayden's one-timer from the slot off a perfect Joe Snively pass. That power-play shot had the misfortune of landing in the Bobcat goalie's glove as he fell to the ice.

Lyon also needed a few quality saves to keep it a one-goal game heading into the opening intermission.

Both squads found the net in the middle frame, but the visitors appeared to have more quality opportunities. The best one landed in the cage off the stick of Chris Izmirlian, who had three assists last night.

Mike Doherty moved the puck along the boards behind the net to Ted Hart, who pulled it out and brought the goalie to his side. The freshman forward then slid it across for the Izmirlian one-timer to even things at 1-1.

The ones that didn't end up in the bright, white nets were products of some great Yale passing. On one of them, Snively grabbed the puck along the boards in the Eli end, spun around without looking to see where the puck was headed and put it on Hayden's stick. The two connected again on a nifty pass from rookie to junior. Both times a glove save brought whistles.

Mitch Witek, the Yale captain, also had an excellent chance to get another tally. He tried to go five-hole while a Quinnipiac stick was being jammed upward between his legs from behind.

The Blue came out buzzing in the third and immediately generated great chances. On one shift by the Snively-Stu Wilson-Hayden line, the Elis produced three straight grade-A near misses at even strength.

Meanwhile, the Yale special teams were still very effective.

"Our first power play wasn't good, but it got better and better," said Allain.

However, with the momentum going their way, Doherty was called for a major penalty on the very next shift. Yale's vaunted penalty-kill squashed the powerful Bobcat power play, one that had scored 37 goals this winter.

"I really thought we'd get great momentum from the penalty-kill," said Allain. "But it actually drained us."

The Elis pulled Lyon with two minutes left and put a few good shots on the Quinnipiac net before the home team smacked the puck into the empty net.

BULLDOG BITES

The Elis have now gone 10 straight games without allowing a power-play goal… Yale's 50 shots on goal Friday night at Princeton were a season high… Tickets are available for the March 11-13 ECAC Quarterfinal Series at the Whale; call 203.432.1400 to order. Yale's opponent for the series will be determined next weekend in the first round.

Filed by Steve Conn,  Yale Associate AD & Sports Publicity Director… steven.conn@yale.edu

Bill O'Brien image of Izmirlian Goal