KINGSTON, Ont. (January 19, 2018) – The Queen's Gaels (14-5-3) held on in the final moments to preserve a 4-3 win over the Nipissing Lakers (8-11-2) on Friday night. The Lakers mounted a furious rally in the final minutes of the game, but the Gaels did just enough to hold on and skate away with a valuable two points.
Slater Doggett (Oakville, Ont.) set a new career high in assists with four to lead the Gaels attack while also tying his career best for points in a game also at four. The Gaels outshot the Lakers heavily in the game but were never able to put the game out of reach, despite having three two-goal leads.
Prior to puck drop, Gaels forward
Darcy Greenaway (Wilton, Ont.) was honoured as this year's Murray Douglas Scholarship Recipient. For more information
click here.
GAME FLOW
The Gaels came out extremely strong in the first period, controlling play from the opening whistle. After multiple high-danger scoring opportunities, Queen's was finally able to open the scoring at the 14:10 mark when
Luke Edwards (Kingston, Ont.) buried a rebound past Lakers goalie Brent Moran on a delayed penalty. The Gaels would continue their dominance in the period, outshooting the Lakers 15-4 overall. They would head to the intermission leading 1-0.
After a dominant first period, the Gaels once again came out strong in the second frame.
Ryan Bloom (Calgary, Alta.) stretched the Gaels lead to two with his seventh of the season at 6:56 after a nice rush up the ice led by Doggett and himself. Nipissing would respond just under seven minutes later off of a bad Queen's turnover just inside their own blue line. The Lakers took advantage and cut the Gaels lead to one.
Eric Ming (Williamstown, Ont.) would respond shortly after that with his fifth of the campaign just as a Gaels five on three power play expired. Bloom made a nifty move to beat a Lakers defender before dishing the puck to Doggett, who found Ming in front of the net to finish the beautiful play off. The Lakers would again respond, cutting the Gaels lead to 3-2 with less than a minute left in the period.
Queen's would strike first in the third period, stretching their lead to 4-2 on a one-timer scored by defenceman
Warren Steele (Williamsburg, Ont.) on a setup by Doggett, his fourth primary assist of the evening. Nipissing would add a late goal with 2:32 remaining to make things interesting, but the Gaels held off the Lakers' final push to get the 4-3 victory.
Jacob Brennan secured his seventh win of the season in net for the Gaels, making 21 saves while Moran took the loss in net for the Lakers.
BY THE NUMBERS
4 -
Slater Doggett recorded four primary assists tonight to set a career high in assists in a game and tie his career high for points in a game
97 - Career points for
Eric Ming after scoring a goal and adding an assist tonight. He has averaged exactly a point per game with 97 career games played
3 - Gaels players with multi-point games
2/6 - Powerplay efficiency for the Gaels
UP NEXT
Queen's is back on the ice tomorrow night when they welcome the Laurentian Voyageurs to the Memorial Centre in Kingston. Puck drop is set for 7:30 pm and can be seen live on OUA.tv.
