Okay, so the title is slightly cheesy and some may not get the association but this past weekend recent Devils' acquisition David McIntyre had a pair of solid games for Colgate University. His performance and tendencies over the weekend brought one former Devil name to mind: Jeff Friesen.
On Friday, Colgate played host to the #10 team in the nation, Princeton. The game was going to be a tall order for the Raiders, regardless of the home venue. Colgate was 7-14-5 heading into the game against a 15-5 Tigers team, but who had dropped 3 of its previous 5 games, all in league play, so there was a glimmer of hope.
Just past the midway point of the 3rd period, the Raiders found themselves trailing by a goal, 2-1, needing a spark offensively. On a delayed penalty, Colgate controlled play and after some good cycling, McIntyre fired a shot that banged off the post and in for his 14th of the year and the equalizer.
Their luck would come to end, however, late in overtime while on the penalty kill. Princeton had scored what appeared to be the game winning goal, but the referees had blown the play dead, saying Colgate's goaltender Charles Long had covered the puck. On the ensuing faceoff, Princeton defenseman Cam Ritchie fired a drive from the right point, beating Long for his first of the year and the game winner.
Saturday night brought Quinnipiac into Starr Rink. With the score 2-1, but this time in the 2nd period, McIntyre found himself the center of the heroics. While in the penalty kill, the Bobcats' goalie went to play a dump in by Colgate. His outlet pass, however, never reached its destination as McIntyre picked it off and quickly fired the puck into the vacant net, much to the disbelief of the keeper. It was McIntyre's 2nd shorthanded goal of the season, and 15th goal overall.
In overtime, McIntyre was mere fractions of an inch away from netting the winner, but instead, line mate Peter Bogdanich put home the rebound, giving McIntyre his 3rd point of the game, and giving the Raiders a 3-2 victory over a conference opponent.
The heroics of McIntyre this past weekend brought back memories of the 2003 Eastern Conference finals between the Devils and Senators. Late in Game 7 with the score leveled, Friesen found his way to the front of Ottawa's net and deked Patrick Lalime, giving the Devils a 3-2 lead with 2 minutes left that they never relinquished.
In the Stanley Cup finals, Friesen again worked his magic, most prominently again in game 7 as he netted two goals to help seal the Devils' victory, and their 3rd Stanley Cup in 8 years.
Now sure, Friesen’s heroics came in the spotlight of the biggest games of his life, and McIntyre’s came in the middle of a long college hockey season, but their innate abilities for stepping up in clutch situations are very similar on a cosmetic level. Will McIntyre be able to carry this rare skill with him when he joins the professional ranks over a year from now is a question that will remain unanswered. But it is still nice to see that in the Devils’ system, there lies a prospect who could be as clutch as a playoff hero from the past.
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