KINGSTON, Ont. (October 10th, 2018) – The No.6 Queen's Gaels (2-0-0) defeated the RMC Paladins (1-1-0) 4 -0 in the Gaels home opener on Wednesday night in OUA men's hockey action.
GAME FLOW
It was high-energy opening few minutes of the game, with lots of physical play and few clean passes from either team.
The first man-advantage of the game came for RMC at the 4:41 mark of the first period, on a Gaels tripping penalty. Queen's went another man down only thirty seconds later - this time for goaltender interference. Despite having to kill off almost 1:30 down two men, the Gaels kept the Paladins off the score sheet and used the momentum to begin controlling the play.
At the 12:31 mark of the first, third-year forward
Eric Margo's terrific stick handling created a chance which also drew an RMC penalty for crosschecking. The Gaels pressed towards the end of the period, looking to take the lead into the first intermission, but could only produce a chance or two as at the end of 20 minutes the game was still scoreless.
After a penalty kill to begin the second period, the Gaels got on the board with a goal from forward
Caleb Warren (1:36). Warren split the lackadaisical RMC defenders and broke in alone on goal, scoring on a Bobby Orr style diving deke.
The Gaels added to the advantage just minutes later, this time with a goal from defenceman
Patrick Sanvido (5:16), Sanvido stepped into the top of the hash marks from his point position and wired a wrist shot about 18 inches off the ice just inside the far post.
Midway through the second period, the Paladins suffered injuries to two of their most important players: forward Rhett Wilcox and defenceman David Savery. These injuries occurred on two apparent high sticks from the Gaels, much to the displeasure of RMC head coach Richard Lim. Similar to the end of the first period, the Gaels took a penalty with under 1:00 left in the second, but the Gaels were able to survive on the PK and took a 2-0 lead to the second intermission.
After killing off the remainder of the RMC power play to begin the third period, the Gaels put the game out of reach with goals from
Liam Dunda and
Eric Margo. Dunda scored on the backhand off his own rebound chance (1:47) and Margo made a deft deflection in between his own legs (7:14) making the score 4-0 in favour of the Gaels.
The Gaels salted away the last ten minutes, dominating puck possession and looking the more likely team to score. The Gaels best chance to make it 5-0 came with just under four minutes remaining in the 3rd, although the Gaels were thwarted on a two-on-one by a beautiful stacked-pad save from RMC netminder Brad Van Shubert.
The game would end 4-0, earning the Gaels their first home win of the season and a perfect 2-0-0 record to sit atop the OUA East standings.
ATTACK OF THE FOG
The officials had to blow the game down on two separate occasions to clear the fog from the ice at Kingston Memorial Centre, asking the players to skate laps in an attempt to clear the foggy conditions.
ROOKIE FIRSTS
There were some firsts in the Gaels win for a few Gaels players. Both Warren and Dunda picked up their first career U SPORTS goals while Gaels goaltender Flinn got his first career win and shutout in his first start.
FINAL SAY
After the game, head coach
Brett Gibson commented on his team's undisciplined play: "The one thing we talked about before the game was that we wanted to play five on five against RMC, we didn't want to take penalties. The good thing about it is that our PK has been real sharp to start the season - we've had lots of practice at it."
MUST-SEE MOMENTS
BY THE NUMBERS
18 – The Gaels served eighteen minutes in penalties on the night.
2 – Two assists from Gaels defenceman (and captain)
Spencer Abraham.
100% - The Gaels have killed off all 9 power plays they've faced so far this season (6 tonight).
150 - Career regular season wins for head coach
Brett Gibson
UP NEXT
The Gaels travel to Oshawa this Friday to take on the UOIT Ridgebacks at 11:30 AM in a special school day game. Watch the action live on OUA TV.
