Jeremy Langlois picked up a hat trick with three consecutive goals through the final two periods Saturday afternoon to lead Quinnipiac over Canisius, 7-1.
The Bobcats also tied the school record with four power-play goals.
Eric Hartzell made eight saves in the win, while Dan Morrison stopped 30 in the loss.
The nine shots on goal for the Griffins is the lowest single game shot total in their Division I school history, according to a Canisius spokesperson. Canisius had four shots in the first and second periods and just one in the final 20 minutes.
“That was our first real game of the season,” said Canisius head coach Dave Smith. “I thought we did some good things that don’t show up on the scoreboard. We played an exhibition game, but that was our first real game we’ve played. I think it’s their fourth and you can see those things.”
Quinnipiac jumped on the board first just 1:51 into the opening period. QU’s Zach Davies took a feed at the blue line and on the extended cycle connected with Connor Jones at the right faceoff circle. Jones made a move to the net and then sent a backhand no-look pass into the slot where his twin, Kellen Jones, rang one off the bottom of the right post and in.
Just 2:33 later, the Bobcats extended their lead on a Loren Barron power-play goal. John Dunbar won the faceoff to Connor Jones, who fed Barron at the point. With no defender in front of him, Barron stepped up to the high slot and sniped a shot just inside the right post.
The Bobcats made it 3-0 on another power-play goal two minutes into the second period. After Quinnipiac’s Matthew Peca was tripped up in the slot by Chris Barrea, the Bobcats found themselves on the advantage. Langlois took a pass in the neutral zone from Zach Tolkinen, moved in on the far side and put a shot on net that was sticked away by Morrison. The rebound bounced off of QU’s Scott Zurevinski and into the back of net.
Ben Arnt made it 4-0 on a similar play on the far side at 5:27. Mike Dalhuisen connected with Arnt on the left wing in the neutral zone. Arnt skated in on the far side and wristed a shot five-hole to beat Morrison.
Canisius answered back less than two minutes later on a beautiful centering feed from Mitch McCrank. Ryan Bohrer passed to McCrank in the neutral zone and circled behind the QU net. McCrank then wristed a pass into the slot where Kyle Gibbons went five hole to beat Hartzell.
It didn’t stay 4-1 long as the Bobcats found themselves on the power play again. At the 12:28 mark of the second period, QU got a lucky bounce on a fanned shot from the point by Davies. Davies misfired, but got enough on the shot to trickle the puck to the slot where Zurevinski tipped the puck. The puck eventually found its way to Langlois on left post who beat Morrison.
With just 1:17 left on the clock in middle period, Quinnipiac added a fourth goal on the advantage on another great look from Connor Jones. After two penalties on the Griffins, the Bobcats had 61 seconds of a five-on-three advantage. Jones took control of the puck on the near-side end line. With Zurevinski in front and Langlois on the opposite post, Jones was able to thread the needle through the crease to Langlois, who one timed the puck past Morrison.
“We finished our chances (tonight),” Quinnipiac head coach Rand Pecknold said. “We’ve had a lot of chances this season and we had a lot last year, but we didn’t finish as well. We are seeing the same amount of chances, but now we’re just burying the puck.”
With 3:41 remaining in regulation, Pecknold was able to get Jake Whiting his first collegiate minutes between the pipes. Whiting played the final minutes of the first period in QU’s exhibition game against Acadia earlier this season.
“He works pretty hard in practice,” Zurevinski said of Whiting. “He has to do a lot of the things in practice that goalies don’t want to do, so it’s good to see his hard work pay off.”
At 16:36 of the third period, Langlois topped off his afternoon with his third consecutive goal of the game, taking a centering pass from Peca and tipping it past Morrison for the hat trick.
“My line – me, Zurvy, Peca – did a pretty good job out there,” Langlois said. “Pecs is pretty fast out there, which really helps me and Zurvy out.”
A quick turnaround has these two teams back at it Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.
