In a season in which men's hockey has already pleasantly surprised its fans and caused the opposition to stop and take notice, each remaining game provides an opportunity for the Princeton players to demonstrate how much they have improved.
This weekend, as the Tigers (3-7-0 overall, 3-5-0 Eastern College Athletic Conference) travel to New York to face the only two ECAC teams with seven overall wins, their challenge is to prove that the energy and effort displayed thus far are not isolated flukes. Both Union (7-3-3, 2-1-1), which they face on Friday, and Rensselaer (7-4-2, 2-1-1), their Saturday opponent, are formidable foes. Although the Tigers currently hold the No. 6 rank in the ECAC — the Dutchmen and the Engineers share the No. 8 position — Princeton knows that it will be their ability to maintain a high level of consistent intensity for the entire game rather than their higher rank that will give them a chance to win.
"Our main focus is playing three solid periods of hockey," sophomore forward Patrick Neundorfer said. "We came out kind of soft in the first period at Yale, and our goal against Union and RPI is to come out and get results early. I think we've shown that we can play pretty well. We just need to maintain that effort throughout the entire game."
Although the Tigers were swept in their two meetings with Union last year, they have one major propitious indication going for them in this year's first matchup: they play on a Friday. Princeton is 2-2-0 on Fridays, and both of the two losses have come in overtime periods.
In order to prolong this Friday success, the Tigers will need to find a way to solve the Dutchmen's impressive defense and steadfast goalie. With a .915 save percentage in the 11 games he has played this season, Union goalie Kris Mayotte has impressed his teammates with his continuous ability to keep them in the game.
This reliance on strong goaltending is one of the only similarities that the Dutchmen and Princeton share. While the Tigers have traditionally come out a little lethargic in the first frame, it is the strongest period for Union as it enjoys a plus-9 advantage over its opponents. Also, while Princeton's goals have been primarily products of rushing the net and redirecting rebounds, the Dutchmen prefer to develop their scoring chances on set plays and rocket shots from the outside.
Last season, the Tigers experienced more success against Rensselaer than they did against any other team. They were undefeated when facing the Engineers, accumulating two of their three total wins in the process.
However, Rensselaer has also experienced a dramatic turnaround this year. Led by sophomores Kevin Croxton and Kirk MacDonald and senior Ben Barr, the Engineers recently swept No. 5 St. Cloud State, a team against which Princeton suffered two close losses earlier this season. To generate another impressive series this year, the Tigers must shut down the dangerous Engineer offense. Although sophomore goalie Eric Leroux's ability to prevent goals has been almost a given, the Princeton defense must not become complacent and rely entirely on his skills.
One major improvement that the Tigers have enjoyed this year is the depth in their lineup. Last year, the team suffered immeasurably from their inability to find the back of the net. The team averaged only two goals per game, and almost a third of those goals came from two players. Although they have the same goals per game average this year, they have many more offensive options.
"So far this year we're not just relying on one goto-guy," Neundorfer said. "It's nice to know that any player in the lineup can score a goal or two. We all definitely view that depth as our main strength. It gives us more confidence coming into games."
Another factor that has to please Princeton is its newfound ability to capitalize on the power play.
After an extremely slow start in which they went one-for-22 on the extra-man advantage, the Tigers have scored six power-play goals in their last four games.
"We've been practicing our power play and penalty kill," Neundorfer said, "and we finally seem to be having some success with the goalscoring part. Even though our numbers aren't there quite yet on the penalty kill, we're hoping to pick it up for this weekend."
Princeton must establish their physical play and defensive stops early in order to continue their impressive play and capture their elusive fourth win.
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