Saints register OT tie
DENVER — Senior goaltender Kain Tisi made 37 saves as St. Lawrence University and the University of Nebraska-Omaha men's hockey teams skated to a 2-2 tie in game three of the Wells Fargo Denver Cup on Saturday at the University of Denver.
The Saints battled back from a 2-1 deficit to tie the game midway through the third period and it stayed tied through the rest of regulation and a five-minute overtime period. Nebraska-Omaha won a shootout 1-0 for tournament positioning, but the game is officially a tie as the Saints went 1-0-1 for the weekend and will take a 9-7-3 overall mark into their final two nonleague games of the season at Niagara next weekend.
Kyle Flanagan provided a goal and an assist for SLU, while Derek Keller netted a power-play goal, and Mike McKenzie notched a pair of assists for the Saints.
"We knew Nebraska-Omaha was going to come out hard and fast after a disappointing night for them last night, and Kain kept us in there in the first period," said Saints coach Joe Marsh. "Both goaltenders played very well, and we came on quite a bit as the game went along."
The Saints gained the tie at 9:28 of the third period on their first power play goal of the weekend, an admittedly strange goal. Flanagan and McKenzie worked the puck down low in front of UNO goalie John Faulkner and Flanagan sent it back to the deep center slot where senior defenseman Derek Keller uncorked a hard shot along the ice. Faulkner got a stick on the shot, but the puck sailed high in the air, came down and hit the goalie in the back, bouncing into the net for the tying goal and Keller's sixth of the year.
It stayed 2-2 the rest of the way, although both teams had their chances to break the deadlock, only to be denied by solid goaltending.
The first period was a busy one for Tisi, who made 21 saves in the first 20 minutes as the Mavericks had a 22-5 edge in shots on goal, but came out of the period leading just 1-0 thanks to Tisi's heroics.
The lone goal of the period came on a power play as senior captain Mark Bernier scored his second of the year at the 14:24 mark, midway through UNO's third power play of the first period.
St. Lawrence had a much better second period offensively, but came out of it still down a goal as a second Maverick power play goal late in the period made it 2-1 after two.
Flanagan tied the game with his fifth goal of the season, his first since the end of October.
The Mavericks regained the lead when junior wing Matt Ambroz collected a rebound on a power play in the Saint crease and snapped a backhander under the crossbar in a scramble with 1:57 to go in the second.
The Mavericks' John Kemp was the only player to score in a three-round shootout as the Saints came up empty on bids by McKenzie, Flanagan and Cunningham.
