One of the most surprising outcomes of the regular season is the fact that Quinnipiac finished the regular season with a losing record for the first time since 1995-96 — back when the Bobcats were a Division 2 team under second-year coach Rand Pecknold.
It’s been a quick descent for a program that earned NCAA tournament berths for five consecutive seasons (2012-16) and played in the national championship game as recently as 2016. The downward trend started last season for Quinnipiac, but even then, the Bobcats won 23 games and made a trip to the ECAC Hockey tournament semifinals.
This season, Quinnipiac (14-16-4, 9-11-2) finished the ECAC Hockey regular season in ninth place and was forced to play a first-round series in the conference tournament on the road.
As is occasionally the case with a program’s somewhat quick dropoff, it’s probably not as bad as it seems for the Bobcats. Luck has played a factor, as Quinnipiac still ranks fifth in the nation in shots on goal behind Penn State, Minnesota State, Boston University and Michigan Tech. However, the Bobcats have the lowest shot percentage of those five teams by a significant margin. They convert on just 8.2 percent of their shots. While the numbers could be twisted in Quinnipiac’s favor to explain a disappointing record, Pecknold (Bedford, N.H.) isn’t ready to attribute the low shot percentage entirely to bad luck.
"We haven’t been consistent in all areas, whether it’s goaltending, our defensive core, or finishing our chances," Pecknold said. "That’s been a big issue. We sail pucks a lot. We don’t hit the net a lot. We need to finish better and hit the net more."
Quinnipiac also has struggled to get on a hot streak this season. The Bobcats have posted only one winning streak of more than two games, and that came in October. Since November, they have seemingly struggled a game or two under .500, as they’ve searched for ways to establish momentum heading into the postseason.
A Dec. 9 loss to Maine seems to be representative of Quinnipiac’s struggles on the season. That night, the Bobcats jumped out to a 3-0 lead over a top-25 team in the country, only to get outscored 7-1 over the final 50 minutes.
"At key points in the game, we’ve struggled to handle adversity," Pecknold said. "If we make it a point, we tend to do well. If we spend all of our time coaching that, we can’t coach other things. Going into every game, we discuss things about the opponent, what we need to tweak, and what they do. There are things you have to do well to stay true to your identity. Overcoming adversity has to be one of them."
Quinnipiac also has struggled to get consistent goaltending on the season. Only 13 NCAA Division 1 teams have a lower save percentage than the Bobcats. Contrary to the stretch from 2012 to 2016 when Quinnipiac was making NCAA tournaments each season, Pecknold has been unable to settle on a clear No. 1 goaltender, as Andrew Shortridge and Keith Petruzzelli (Wilbraham, Mass.) have split duties. Petruzzelli entered the season with great promise after becoming the second-highest player drafted in Quinnipiac history when the Detroit Red Wings selected him with the 88th overall pick in the 2017 NHL draft. The former 2016-17 USHL All-Rookie Team selection has struggled to take control of the starting job and has even ceded playing time to Shortridge in the second half. Petruzzelli has a 3-4-2 record with a 2.97 GAA and .897 save percentage on the season.
"There’s been some unexpected bumps for sure," Petruzzelli said. "Balancing everything has been tougher than I expected. Being a student-athlete is insane; it’s a lot of work with not much down time. I struggled to balance that in the first semester. That hurt us a little bit. I have it sorted out now."
There is certainly reason for optimism as Quinnipiac prepares for the postseason. For one, the goaltending has been better. Shortridge was 5-8-2 with a .903 save percentage and 2.49 GAA before Christmas. He is 5-3-0 with a .912 save percentage and 2.09 GAA since. Petruzzelli has made similar strides, improving his numbers from 1-2-0, .860 save percentage and 3.95 GAA before Christmas to 2-2-2, .919 save percentage and 2.35 GAA since.
The youth of the team is also promising; Quinnipiac freshman Odeen Tufto currently leads all NCAA Division 1 freshmen in production with 28 assists and 36 points.
And the Bobcats have given Pecknold confidence that they can beat anyone on any given night. They proved as much on Feb. 2, when they posted a 4-1 win over Clarkson — then the No. 3 ranked team in the country.
"I’m optimistic that in a one-game format, we can beat any team in the country," Pecknold said. "We can be good if we’re healthy and consistent. I’ve been saying that all season, and I’m optimistic it can happen."
