Gillies, Welman lead Providence to Frozen Four

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Less than 24 hours after giving up five goals to Miami, Providence goaltender Jon Gillies was back on his game.

Gillies, a third-round pick (No. 75) by the Calgary Flames in the 2012 NHL Draft, made 23 saves Sunday to lead the Friars to a 4-1 victory against Denver in the NCAA East Regional final, sending Providence to the Frozen Four for the first time in 30 years. Providence will face Nebraska-Omaha in one of two national semifinal games.

Gillies, a junior, leads all Hockey East goaltenders with a .929 save percentage and a 2.01 goals-against average. He had no trouble shaking off the wild ending to the semifinal game against Miami, in which the RedHawks nearly overcame a four-goal deficit in the third period.

“I just kind of flushed it, I mean, it was a high-scoring game,” he said of the Friars’ 7-5 victory in a game they led 6-2 before allowing three sixth-attacker goals. “It was kind of a weird game because there were a lot of weird kinds of bad bounces on both sides of the puck, for us and for their goaltender and for our team.

“Once we won that, it was over and on to today, and we remembered the feeling that we had after we lost to Union [College] last year, and we didn’t want to let that happen again.”

Gillies looked sharp from the opening faceoff Sunday, making three big saves before the game was three minutes old. His ability to anticipate a play and his aptitude for reading screens was very apparent. The Pioneers pestered him with long shots through traffic, but Gillies defused the threats with well-placed -- if not always controlled -- rebounds, and intelligent positioning. At 6-foot-5 and 215 pounds, Gillies moves swiftly and takes up a lot of net.

“[The Friars] make it hard on you, and then when we did get through, you know Gillies is there to make the save,” Denver coach Jim Montgomery said. “He wasn’t giving up rebounds today, so that was the biggest key.”

The one goal Gillies allowed came from a fluky shot on the power play. Joey LaLeggia, a defenseman taken by the Edmonton Oilers in the fifth round (No. 123) in 2012, took a shot that hit the end boards and fluttered back in front of the net.

“What I saw was a bunch of eyes in front of me, going, looking up, straight up, and I fell backwards, but I think I hit the puck into the net by accident,” Gillies said. “That’s kind of what I saw. It was an unlucky bounce, but the boys battled back, and had my back, and we were able to get it done.”

Two NHL defense prospects were involved in huge turning points.

LaLeggia scored Denver’s goal, but the senior was assessed a major penalty and a game misconduct at 10:37 for contact to the head, leaving the Pioneers down a man for five minutes.

Montgomery defended his ace defenseman after the game.

“It cost us a five-minute major, but I don’t know, I guess you’re supposed to back off and let a guy come attack you instead of angling that puck like I’ve taught them,” Montgomery said of LaLeggia, who finished the season with 15 goals and 40 points. “Joey LaLeggia did everything I asked of him on that play, and unfortunately it was head contact.”

Providence scored in the last minute of LaLeggia’s major when freshman defenseman Jake Walman, a third-round pick (No. 82) in the 2014 NHL Draft by the St. Louis Blues prospect, set up Tom Parisi’s go-ahead goal at 14:59 with a perfect pass to the point.

Walman shone all night, assisting on three goals.

“He’s a transition defenseman,” Providence coach Nate Leaman said of the 19-year-old Toronto native. “You know he’s got a terrific stick, his first step can really blow by just about anybody … He’s always got his head up, I thought he was gonna win it there and their guy made a great block on the power play. He can make plays.”

At 6-foot-1, 193 pounds, Walman was able to establish himself as a top-pair defenseman for Providence in his first season of college hockey. He has one goal and 14 assists in 39 games.

On April 9, Gillies will try to get Providence into the NCAA title game and Walman will look to continue impressing on college hockey’s biggest stage.