Tyler Dufour notched his first career two-goal game, and goaltender Jamie Holden stopped 42 shots to earn his second shutout of the season, helping Quinnipiac to a 3-0 win over American International on Friday night at the Northford Ice Pavilion.
The win snapped a five-game losing skid for Quinnipiac, which improved to 8-10-1, 6-4-1 in the MAAC. AIC fell to 6-9, 5-8.
Dufour opened the scoring at 7:06 of the first period off a beautiful feed from Brian Herbert. On a 2-on-2 rush, Herbert drew both AIC defenders towards him before flipping a pass to Dufour, who deked out AIC goalie Chad Davis and backhanded a shot into the goal.
The game stayed that way until midway through the second period. Wade Winkler’s shot from the point was blocked, but Ryan Morton deposited the rebound home for a 2-0 lead. Neil Breen also assisted on the goal to move to within nine points of 100 for his career.
The goal was Morton’s ninth of the year and sixth in five games. Meanwhile, Holden kept the game at 2-0 with several stellar saves, including a pair of breakaways. He made 23 saves in a furious third period surge by the Yellow Jackets, but emerged with another shutout. It was the second time this season that Holden has stopped 40 or more shots in a game.
Quinnipiac tacked on an empty-net goal in the final minute, with Dufour sliding a shot home past an AIC defender.
The two teams will finish up the weekend set tomorrow in West Springfield, Mass. Game time is seven p.m.
