Huskies blank Tigers 3-0 to finish off regular season in fourth place
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Saint Mary's (16-15-0, 16-15-0) | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|
Dalhousie (7-24-0, 7-24-0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
HALIFAX, NS - Saint Mary's forward Declan McDonnell scored a goal and an assist, and goaltender Jeremy Helvig turned away 27 shots for the shutout, as the Huskies blanked the Dalhousie Tigers 3-0 in the final game of the Atlantic University Sport Men's Hockey regular season on Saturday night at the Halifax Forum.
The game concluded the regular season for both teams, and with the win Saint Mary's (15-14-1-0) clinched fourth in the AUS and will play the sixth-seeded UPEI Panthers (12-14-1-3) in the quarterfinal. Dalhousie (7-21-2-0) did not make the playoffs.
The game started out physical, and each team worked their way into the game, with Ben Boyd (Dartmouth, NS) having the best chance of the period when he hunted down Jackson van de Leest's (Kelowna, BC) turnover at the point and beat the defenceman out wide, but Robbie Forbes (Oakville, ON) stretched out for the pad stop.
Saint Mary's went on the first power play of the game but could not capitalize and during the two minutes gave up a short-handed chance to Barret Kirwin (Barrie, ON) in which the forward cut into the front of the net, but skied the puck over Jeremy Helvig's (Kingston, ON) net.
Dalhousie took a penalty in the last 10 seconds to give an opportunity for the Huskies to score the first goal of the game in the new period.
Saint Mary's couldn't find the back of the net on the powerplay, but 20 seconds passed after the man-advantage when Ben Allison (Halifax, NS) threaded the defencemen to Reid Valade (Caledon, ON) who wired the puck shortside past Forbes.
HUSKIES HIGHLIGHTS ?
— Saint Mary's Huskies (@SMUHuskies) February 11, 2024
Reid Valade scores a powerplay goal to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead early in the second period!
? R. Valade (10)
? D. McDonnell
? B. Allison pic.twitter.com/DFJ57pEMjb
The Dalhousie netminder had his work cut out for him in the second period including when Declan McDonnell's (Buffalo, NY) short side shot bounced off of Forbes' pads out to Liam VanLoon (London, ON), but the goalie recovered to make the stop.
On the same shift Walter Flower III's (Lunenburg, NS) point shot bounced off of a skate in front and Forbes was forced to sprawl out of his crease to keep the puck out of danger.
Dalhousie had a powerplay with less than six minutes remaining in the period, but it was Charlie Dafonseca (Thornhill, ON) who dragged the defenders into the corner and found a trailing Ben Higgins (Truro, NS) all alone, but Forbes also turned that away.
With the lone goal, the Huskies headed into the third with a 1-0 lead.
Early in the new period Joseph Serpa (Cambridge, ON) and Ryan Smith (Bala, ON) went on a two on one where Serpa found Smith for a one timer, but Helvig went from post to post to deny the shot.
With three and a half minutes remaining in the game, Declan McDonnell skated down the ice and netted the dagger for the Saint Mary's win.
HUSKIES HIGHLIGHTS ?
— Saint Mary's Huskies (@SMUHuskies) February 11, 2024
Declan McDonnell scores to put the Huskies ahead 2-0!
? D. McDonnell (12)
? J. MacPherson pic.twitter.com/JLJXOaFeH4
Dafonseca's shot from his own end bounced over the defenceman's stick and went all the way down the ice into the empty net to end the game with a 3-0 Huskies win.
HUSKIES HIGHLIGHTS ?
— Saint Mary's Huskies (@SMUHuskies) February 11, 2024
Charlie Dafonseca scores the empty net goal to finish off the Tigers 3-0!
? C. Dafonseca (8)
? J. MacPherson
? C. Ralph pic.twitter.com/lZIW0bpfpB
Huskies forward Declan McDonnell was named Player of the Game with a goal and an assist.
The Huskies outshot the Tigers 62-27 on the night, with Jeremy Helvig turning away 27 shots for the shutout, while Robbie Forbes stopped 59 shots in defeat.
Recap by: Ethan Hunt / Dalhousie Tigers Athletics
Photos by: Nick Pearce / Dalhousie Tigers Athletics
