Junior Kyle Hayton kept Quinnipiac off the scoreboard for the second time this season and the third time in the last four meetings, as he made 37 saves to help the No. 19 St. Lawrence men’s hockey team to a 0-0 tie against No. 3/4 Quinnipiac for a key point in the ECAC Hockey standings in the Friendship Four semifinal in Belfast, Northern Ireland on Friday night.
The Saints took three of four possible points from the Bobcats in the regular season series. Though the game is officially a tie, Quinnipiac advances to the final of the Friendship Four tournament with a 1-0 advantage in the shootout on a goal by Nick Jermain – who was the second of the three shooters for the Bobcats.
All three St. Lawrence shots off the sticks of Drew Smolcynski, Gavin Bayreuther and Mike Marnell were saved by the Bobcats netminder Chris Truehl.
With the tie, the Saints are now 8-4-3 and 5-0-2 in conference play, while Quinnipiac is 9-3-2 and 5-1-1 against league opponents.
In the final minutes of the first period the Saints had two of their better scoring opportunities of the game, as Drew Smolcynski redirected a shot from Gavin Bayreuther at the side of the net down into the pads of Truehl. Just moments later, Bayreuther rang the post with a shot from just inside the point.
The Saints’ Ryan Lough had a chance to win it early in the overtime period with back-to-back backhand shots. The first was saved by Truehl, while the second hit the crossbar and popped over the net to keep the game scoreless.
Nolan Gluchowski also ripped a pair of dangerous slapshots from the top of the right circle in the extra frame, but sent them just wide of the cage.
The Saints were 6-for-6 on the penalty kill and successfully killed off a major penalty to Joe Sullivan with under 10 minutes remaining in the third period to keep the game knotted at zero. Hayton made three saves in the overtime, while Truehl stopped both shots he face to finish with 32 saves for the Bobcats in the tie.
The Saints will face Massachusetts in the third-place game on Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. local time in Belfast, 11 a.m. Eastern.
