"Make Hobey Proud!" proclaims the huge banner hanging at one end of Baker Memorial Rink, and the quality of play in Friday night's contest between Princeton (5-10-1 ECAC, 5-17-1 overall) and Brown (12-3-1, 14-5-4) surely must have had Hobey smiling.
Although the Bears finished the evening with a 5-2 victory, the level of intensity and parity between the teams, particularly in the first two periods, was exemplary of competition at its best.
The Tigers, currently ranked 11th in the ECAC, surprised both their fans and their opponents in the early stages of the game by abandoning their slow-starting habits and beginning strong. At the first drop of the puck, Princeton was matching the Bears' play, making decisive passes, and skating just as well as No. 1 ranked Brown.
"I think a lot of the guys were pretty jonesed to play against them," sophomore goaltender Eric Leroux said of Princeton's strong start. "Before the game we had our dander up and we were full of gumption."
Weathering the storm
Indeed the first period highlighted the strength of the Tiger's defense with Brown's offense working hard to create opportunities, taking every possible shot. The Bears' hard work produced 19 shots on goal. However, smart defensive play led by senior defenders Matt Maglione and Steve Slaton neutralized all but the last shot in which a Brown forward put away his own last minute rebound.
"I thought our first period was pretty good despite the shot advantage for them, and I was really happy with the effort," head coach Len Quesnelle '88 said.
The second period saw a switch as Princeton's offensive efforts highlighted the strength of Brown's defense, which is cemented by goaltender Yann Danis.
Hockey circles have been abuzz with Danis's exploits. With a .951 save percentage, he is a strong contender for this year's Hobey Baker Award, college hockey's premier individual honor.
Yet in spite of this veritable brick wall, the Tiger's good passing and quality shooting kept the game close. Two minutes into the second period, Brown got a quick goal for a 2-0 lead. Princeton answered back three minutes later as freshman forward Max Cousins rocketed a shot from the point that beat Danis, starting the Tigers' offensive momentum.
Momentum
Keeping up the quality of play by capitalizing on a great pass from Maglione, senior forward Dan Hursh banged one in up high, tying up the game at 16:18.
"Hurshey's shot was unbelievable," Leroux said. "Hursh normally likes to shoot it low-blocker and I thought it was pretty cool of him to go top-shelf on Danis."
Indeed the second period was an impressive showing all-around for Princeton. Out-shooting the Bears 15 to 12, the Tigers headed into the second intermission with a hard-earned 2-2 tie.
Unfortunately, that momentum could not be sustained in the third period as the Bears picked up the pace again, claiming a 4-2 lead at 6:15. The play resumed back and forth, but the Tigers could not find the back of the net. Finally, at 19:11, Brown sealed the win with an empty net goal.
"We couldn't get the puck in deep," Quesnelle said, "and the times we did, we got caught in too deep, and Brown would just chip it out of the zone."
Despite the end result, the first two stanzas of the game showed just how far the Tigers have come from last season and their potential for a few more conference wins before the ECAC playoffs.
"If I look at the game overall," Quesnelle said, "I think this game is a step in the right direction if the goal is to be playing our best hockey."
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