D3 Gold Picks Up 3 of 4 Points Against Oakland Grizzlies

The #6 ranked D3 Gold team took on #1 ranked Oakland University in a home at home series January 16th and 17th.

The Bulldogs travelled to the Detroit Skate Club on Saturday afternoon to take on the Grizzlies. After a dramatic journey, the Bulldogs got onto the ice with cold legs, arriving after warm ups after the bus got a flat tire. The Grizzlies struck first on the powerplay 45 seconds into the game after Adrian’s Jack Clary was sent to the box for elbowing, his first penalty of the season. Oakland would put the Bulldogs down by two in the second before Myles Maltz would cut the lead to two at the 12:07 mark of the second. Nick Bordeaux grabbed the lone assist on Maltz’s goal. Tyler Grimshaw would tie the game two and a half minutes later with Eddie Schaeffer and Ryan Betz getting the assists. Maltz would strike one again at the 17:40 mark to give the visiting Bulldogs a one goal advantage. The Grizzlies would tie the game five minutes into the third but Adrian’s Alex Egan would send home the game winner 9:45 into the third period. With the victory, the Bulldogs became the first team in the ACHA to beat the Oakland University Grizzlies this season, handing them their first loss.

The Bulldogs were back at Arrington after nearly two months without a home game on Sunday afternoon. The Grizzlies once again struck first in the second game of the series at the 6:33 mark of the first. Eddie Schaeffer would head to the box at the 12:31 mark on a high sticking call, sending the Bulldogs to the penalty kill. Captain Dan Hudson would tie the game while shorthanded, winning the puck battle on the blue line after the Grizzlies defenseman lost his stick, sending Hudson on a breakaway to tie the game at one. The Bulldogs would head to the box once again at the 13:29 mark of the first when Scotty Millen was sent to the box for slashing. The Grizzlies would go up by one once again, scoring on the powerplay at the 14:41 mark of the first. The Bulldogs were down 2-1 after one and were narrowly outshot 11-13.

The Bulldogs would go on the powerplay for the first time in the game at the 1:38 mark of the first, however, would not capitalize on their first powerplay of the afternoon. Myles Maltz would send a pass through the neutral zone to linemate Jack Clary, who would send a shot past Oakland goaltender Kyle Gagnon glove side to tie the game at two.

Neither team would find the back of the net in the rest of the second or the entire third period so the game would go to overtime, but after 5 minutes of 4-on-4 overtime, the score would remained deadlocked and the game would end in a 2-2 tie. With the Saturday afternoon victory and a Sunday afternoon tie, the Bulldogs are the only team in the ACHA that has beaten Oakland University and the only team the Grizzlies has faced that they have not beaten.

"I thought both teams played very well and battled hard. On our side we were strong both games, the boys stepped up and everyone did their job and I was proud of every guy’s effort,” said Bulldogs head coach Max Gavin, who earned his tenth career coaching victory on Saturday, “I believe we showed the rest of the ACHA that we are true contenders this year, and as a group are excited about the opportunities the rest of the way"

The Bulldogs finish the game with 32 shots on goal and goaltender Justin Lindgren would turn away 33 of the 35 shots he faced. The D3 Gold team is back in action on Thursday night when they face off against the University of Michigan Flint at 7pm.

***Carly’s 3 Stars of the Games***

*Justin Lindgren: Sophomore Justin Lindgren turned away 85 of the 90 shots he faced over a two game span. Lindgren stood on his head both games, keeping the Bulldogs in the game on multiple occasions.

**Jack Clary: Clary picked up an assist at Oakland on on Saturday afternoon and scored the game tying goal Sunday afternoon, a beautiful shot that snuck past Kyle Gagnon glove save off of a pass from Myles Maltz.

***Dan Hudson: Captain Dan Hudson tied the game at one while shorthanded in the first period. Hudson has been a crucial part of the Bulldogs’ powerplay all season, playing on the point as a forward with a rocket shot and the ability to play both forward and defense.