Game recap by Kirk Jessome
(Halifax, NS) – In Saturday night hockey action, the Dalhousie Tigers hosted the UNB Reds at the Halifax Forum. The Reds offense was firing on all cylinders in this one, as they came away with a 6-0 win.
The Reds were quick to find their offensive touch in the first period, as they spent most of the first five minutes in the attacking end before Matt Murphy (Woodstock, NB) hammered a shot from the point that got through a crowd to open the scoring for his team.
Under a minute later the Reds were given a power play opportunity and were able to quickly capitalize on it as Murphy picked up his second point of the night on an assist to Mark Rassell (Calgary, AB) to make it 2-0, just over five minutes into the game.
The Tigers spent much of the first period in their own end, with Connor Hicks (Kanata, ON) having to make 22 stops, while the Tigers were only able to generate 5 shots on goal, most of them coming during a late power play in the period.
With that, the teams went into the first break with the Reds leading 2-0.
The Tigers found their best chance of the game so far early in the second period after applying a quick stint of pressure in the attacking end with Connor Welsh (Halifax, NS) making a perfect pass through the slot for Andrew Shewfelt (Dartmouth, NS) to take a quick wrist shot, but Samuel Harvey (Alma, QC) did a great job to slide across and get a shoulder on it.
On a power play opportunity for the Reds late in the period that Hicks was doing a great job of killing off by making stops, but Kris Bennett stepped up at the faceoff dot and wired a slap shot that was stopped by Hicks, but the rebound dropped to his side for Tyler Boland to clean up on the doorstep to make it 3-0 going into the third period.
After dominating the possession in the third period, a nice faceoff win, the Reds sent a shot on goal that was stopped by Hicks, but the rebound was left in the crease once again, and this time Mark Simpson (Rothesay, NB) was able to tap it home.
The Tigers were given a short 5-on-3 advantage late in the third period, but the Reds penalty kill was solid once again and were able to kill off both penalties while giving up only one shot over the three-minute span.
The Reds claimed their fifth goal on a tough wraparound attempt that saw the puck leak out to the top of the crease for Brady Gilmour (Grafton, ON) to chip over the pad of Hicks to give his team a 5-0 lead.
Just seconds later the Reds were able to find another one as Marcus McIvor (Whitby, ON) wired a slap shot from the half-boards through a screen in front to make it 6-0 to ice the victory for UNB.
Matt Murphy was named the Subway Player of the Game for the Reds, picking up two points in the game, including the game-winning goal.
The Tigers will have some time to regroup as they'll be back on the ice Wednesday, November 6th as they take on StFX on the road, while the Reds will be on the road next Wednesday in Moncton.