Men's Hockey Skates to 2-2 Tie with Union on Senior Night; Pick Up Extra Point in Shootout

Saturday, February 19

Providence, R.I.

7 p.m.

Brown University

6-17-3, 6-11-3

Union

10-17-4, 7-11-2

OT 1

OT 2

Union

Brown

Photo by: David Silverman Photography

Men's Hockey Skates to 2-2 Tie with Union on Senior Night; Pick Up Extra Point in Shootout

2/19/2022 10:54:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey

Box Score

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Seniors Tristan Crozier and Michael Maloney scored second period goals as the Brown Bears (6-17-3, 6-11-3 ECAC) captured the extra league point with a shootout win over the Union Dutchmen (10-17-4, 7-11-2 ECAC) after a 2-2 tie Saturday night at Meehan Auditorium.

The Brown men's hockey program recognized its six seniors and one graduate student prior to the start of tonight's game. Brown University also recognized the more than 130 generous supporters who made the $7.5 million renovations of Meehan Auditorium a reality, including the state-of-the art Brown Hockey Legacy Suite, and the Classes of 1980-1990 Skybox at Davis Lounge.

"I don't think we had a particularly crisp first period, I thought we were much better last night despite the loss," said head coach Brendan Whittet '94. "We did get better as the game went on and I was proud of the guys coming back after an average period to play really good hockey the rest of the game. We found a way to win the shootout for the first time this season and great to pick up the extra point."

Union opened the scoring 9:40 into the first period as Brandon Estes wheeled around Brown's net and found Ville Immonen with a pass across the slot for the backdoor goal to beat Brown goaltender Mathieu Caron (32 saves).

Nathan Plessis tied the game, albeit momentarily, 14:55 into the opening frame, finishing a feed from Luke Krys at the bottom of the right circle. Union head coach John Ronan challenged the play for offsides and a video review confirmed the Bears entered the zone early, wiping the goal.

Crozier tied the game 5:35 into the second period with his fifth of the season on Brown's first power play. The captain picked up a pass at the blue line from Brett Bliss and wired a shot from the top of the slot to beat Union goaltender Jack Watson (27 saves). Krys picked up the secondary assist on the goal.

Samuli Niinisaari nearly gave the Bears a 2-1 lead 12:30 into the second, but his wrist shot from the top of the right circle clanged off the post and play continued.

Caron made a pair of stellar saves on Union's second power play chance of the game late in the second period to keep the game tied at 1-1.

Just 35 seconds after Brown's penalty expired, Maloney put the Bears up 2-1 at 18:51 of the second, finishing the rebound off an initial shot from Jake Harris for his eighth goal of the season and second in as many nights.

Justin Jallen nearly made it 3-1 Bears a minute into the third on Brown's second power play chance of the night. The Minnesotan fired a one-timer from the bottom of the right circle from a Crozier feed, but Watson kicked his left leg to keep the puck in play to keep the score within one.

Immonen scored his second of the game 4:47 into the third to bring the score back to even at 2-2. Josh Kosack attempted a wraparound on the left post, which was saved by Caron, but the rebound deflected to Immonen at the right post, who caught the puck, dropped it, and beat a sliding Caron.

James Crossman fired a shot on goal with just over a minute remaining in regulation with Watson making the initial save. Jonny Russell crashed the net for the rebound, and his shot on goal glided along the goal line before a Union defenseman swatted it to safety.

Chances came at both ends of the ice in the 3-on-3 overtime period. Brown finished the five-minute extra frame with a 4-3 edge in shots.

In the shootout, Union's Gabriel Seger could not finish his move on Caron, losing the puck at the front of the crease. Jordan Tonelli followed for Brown, swinging to his left before rifling a shot five-hole on Watson.

Union's Collin Graf was second to shoot for the Dutchmen, and his cut-back deke didn't fool Caron, who stayed with him to make the save. After Krys' glove-side shot was stopped by Watson, Union's Michael Hodge had the game on his stick but Caron stayed with Hodge until the skater ran out of room, giving the Bears the 1-0 shootout win.

GAME NOTES

Krys and Tonelli both finished the night with a career-high six shots on goal. Plessis matched a career-high, set last night against Rensselaer, with four shots on goal.
Union finished the game with a 34-29 edge in shots on goal, a 12-11 edge in blocked shots, and a 34-31 edge in faceoffs won.
On special teams, Brown finished 1-for-3 with the Dutchmen finishing 0-for-2.

Brown closes the regular season on the road next weekend, taking on the St. Lawrence Saints (8-16-6, 6-10-4 ECAC) Friday at Appleton Arena before finishing the campaign at 15th-ranked Clarkson (18-8-6, 13-3-4 ECAC) Saturday at Cheel Arena.

Both games are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. and will stream on ESPN+ in the United States and on Stretch Internet internationally.

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