PITTSBURGH -- What a first period of hockey. The Yale Bulldogs and Quinnipiac Bobcats are scoreless after 20 minutes in the national championship game after putting together a period that had just a little bit of everything.
You can certainly tell that these rivals have a particular disdain for one another, with physical play sprinkled throughout the first period. One hit in particular sent Quinnipiac defenseman Zach Tolkinen briefly to the locker room after he was buried into the end boards, but Tolkinen came back to the bench after about five minutes.
Both teams have created chances and have looked dangerous at times, but Yale's been stronger on the forecheck and has carried play a bit more the Quinnipiac. Eric Hartzell made nine saves for the Bobcats in the first period while Jeff Malcolm made 11 stops for the Bulldogs.
Yale and QU each had two power play opportunities in the first, but the PK units were up to the task on all four chances.