It was a scene rarely seen in hockey. Football, yes. The gridiron has the 'Bob and Weave' and 'Eatin' at the the Table.' Soccer, yes. It has the 'Blind Plane' and the 'Knee Slide.' But hockey? No one dances a celebration in hockey.
But after freshman defender Matt Maglione netted the winning goal in men's hockey's overtime victory against Vermont on Saturday, center stage was his. Once he lit the lamp, Maglione turned and sprinted to center ice, sat down and made paddling motions with his stick as he slid toward the crowd. Hockey now has 'The Canoe.'
"I was kind of excited," Maglione said. "My whole family was here."
He had more than just that to be excited about. For the second night in a row, a Maglione goal had salvaged points in the Eastern College Athletic Conference standings for the Tigers.
On Friday night, the blueliner notched Princeton's only goal in a 1-1 tie with Dartmouth (12-11-4 overall, 9-7-4 ECAC). The following night, the Tigers eked out a 2-1 overtime win over the Catamounts (11-15-2, 7-11-2), a team now three points behind them in the standings. Maglione had two goals, and Princeton (9-14-4, 8-9-3) now has its first three-point weekend of the season.
"There's a lot of smiles in that locker room right now," head coach Len Quesnelle '88 said after the victory. "It's nice to finally win one of those in overtime."
Two minutes into the overtime period on Saturday, senior right wing Chris Corrinet received a pass on the left side and accelerated around the Catamount defense. He unleashed a quick shot that Vermont goalkeeper Andrew Allen turned away, but Maglione was there to finish the job. Then came 'The Canoe' and a bench-clearing celebration of the walk-off winning goal.
"We kind of have a rule that whenever [Corrinet] gets the puck, we crash the net," Maglione said.
"You know that either he's going to score or you're going to get a rebound."
Corrinet may not have scored that time, but he did net the tying goal early in the third period. Freshman Chris Owen passed from the left boards to Corrinet, who was streaking through the middle. The right wing one-timed the pass past Allen, notching his 14th goal of the season.
"Corrinet stepped his game up, especially in the third period," Quesnelle said. "Big-time players are able to do that."
Princeton, however, would not have been in the position to win without the play of junior netminder Dave Stathos. For the second night in a row, Stathos allowed only one goal, stopping 23 Catamount shots. Perhaps his biggest save of the night came with seven minutes, 17 seconds remaining in the game, when Vermont right wing Chris Hills speeded across the top of Stathos' crease. Hills fielded a pass from the right that was going towards Stathos' glove side. The forward deflected the puck back stick-side around Stathos, catching him moving in the wrong direction. With the open goal, all Hills had to do was put the puck in.
But as Hills backhanded the puck, Stathos dove back across the crease, fully extending to save the goal and the game, with his outstretched stick.
"It was an unconscious reflex, a desperate move," Stathos said. "99 times out of 100 those things are going to go in."
"[Stathos], again, was on top of his game," Quesnelle said. "When he makes a big save, it inspires the team."
Friday night, Stathos was just as good, turning away 34 Big Green shots.
"We'll be as good as our goaltending," Quesnelle said. "Stathos gave a great effort in the net. He's been sharp three weekends in a row."
Princeton's three points this weekend were not good enough to move the team up in the standings, but kept it in the hunt. Currently in eighth place with 19 points, the Tigers have all but assured themselves a playoff spot. In addition, Princeton is only three points behind fifth-place Dartmouth, so the Tigers still have an outside shot at home ice in the playoffs.
"We can't relax," Quesnelle said. "We're treating this like it's playoff mode right now."
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