Austin Connelly, For MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – In a carbon copy of Friday's first game of the weekend against the Briercrest Clippers, the MacEwan Griffins started fast again, scoring three goals in the first three minutes, en route to an 11-3 win on Saturday afternoon.
This time, their offence struck on their first three shots.
"We stressed the importance of having a good start tonight and our guys responded well," said interim head coach Sean Ringrose. "We were fortunate the first couple went in for us – that really set the pace for the game and we continued to roll from there."
Bryan Arneson recorded a hat trick, while Jordan Taupert (2g, 2a) and Austin Yaremchuk (1g, 3a) both had four-point nights and nine other Griffins registered multi-point games.
The win comes a day after the Griffins pounded the Clippers 15-3 and pushes their record to 5-3-0-0 on the campaign. Briercrest falls to 3-3-1-1.
Taupert got into the action first using his blazing speed to score a beautiful wrap-around goal as he outwaited Clippers goalie Dan Dekoning to open the scoring just 1:46 into the first frame.
Just a minute and six seconds later, the Griffins would double their lead when Arneson came streaking down the left wing after a beautiful feed from Cam Gotaas and he made no mistake, putting the puck through the goalie's legs.
On the Griffins' third shot of the period Chase Miller patiently waited on the right-wing and his centring pass luckily bounced off the defender and into the back of the net to give the Griffins their second straight 3-0 lead just 3:36 in.
Rookie goaltender Thomas Davis got the first start of his ACAC career, but quickly got an unlucky break 9:44 into the first, when a turnover in the defensive zone gave Josh Boelema a chance all alone on the right side. He put a nice move on Davis and roofed the puck under the bar to cut the Griffins lead to 3-1.
"I was a bit nervous coming in, but I thought I played good, there was a couple of late ones I wish I could have back, but overall I can't be too upset," said Thomas Davis on his first career ACAC win after a 32-save effort.
Although the score was lopsided, the Clippers made a real push to get back into the game late in the first, but Davis stood tall and shut the door.
One of the best sequences for the rookie goaltender came late in the first period when a knuckling puck from the point bounced unexpectedly, but Davis' quick reflexes allowed him to make a shoulder save and he quickly pushed across the net to rob the Clippers on the rebound.
"I thought Tommy was really good tonight, he made some big saves for us when counted upon and we are really confident with him in the net," said Ringrose.
The Griffins' trend of scoring in bunches continued when the potted three goals in 33 seconds just over five minutes into the second period. Arneson started it off with his second of the night on the powerplay, followed by Ryan McKinnon netting his sixth goal of the season before Brett Smythe capped it off with his fourth of the year to make it 6-1.
The Griffins get a bye next weekend before heading off to Calgary to face SAIT on Nov. 15.