Men's Hockey: Last year’s losses must be left in the past

Last season, the Tigers’ hot start was abruptly halted by St. Lawrence and Clarkson. The pair of losses jumpstarted a stretch in which Princeton lost eight of 10 games. This weekend, on the heels of a four-game winning streak, the No. 8 Tigers (5-1-0 overall, 4-1-0 ECAC Hockey) are looking to avoid a similar fate on the road against the Saints and Golden Eagles.

“We’re coming off of the two most complete games we have played all season,” head coach Guy Gadowsky said of the Tigers’ play last weekend when Princeton took a pair of 4-1 wins over RPI and Union. “Hopefully, we can build off of that success, both offensively and defensively.”

St. Lawrence (4-4-1, 1-2-1) has struggled in the early parts of this season — the Saints are winless in their last three conference games — but the program is historically strong, especially against the Tigers.

“[The Saints] are always a test for us, especially in their home building,” Gadowsky said. “We know that it is going to take our best performance to get points out of that game.”

St. Lawrence senior forward Brock McBride is currently second in the ECAC in points, and fellow forwards Mike McKenzie and Aaron Bogosian will pose a formidable threat to a Princeton defense that is giving up fewer than one goal a game. The Saints currently lead the ECAC in goals, with 25, and goals per game, with 2.78.

“They scariest thing about St. Lawrence is not just that they score a lot, but that they score in bunches,” Gadowsky said. “When you are playing a team with that offensive capability, you never know when those bunches are going to come.”

Following tonight’s contest, the Tigers will travel to Postdam, N.Y., for a 4 p.m. Saturday showdown against Clarkson (2-4-2, 1-3-0). Picked to finish second in the conference and a preseason top-20 selection, the Golden Eagles have had a very inconsistent first eight games. After tying No. 1 Colorado College on consecutive nights, Clarkson has struggled in ECAC play, but the Tigers know better than to overlook the Golden Knights.

“We are expecting that team that tied Colorado College,” Gadowsky said. “They’ve had some injuries, but man-to-man Clarkson has some of the best talent in the league.”

That corps of talent starts with senior forward Shea Guthrie, junior forward Matt Beca and senior defenseman Tyrell Mason, a trio of NHL-caliber skaters on whom Clarkson relies on to lead an otherwise young squad. If the Golden Knights have a weakness, it is freshman goalie Paul Karpowich, whose introduction to the ECAC has been harsh. Karpowich has the lowest save percentage in the conference and is next to last in goals-against average.

Karpowich’s numbers are stark in contrast with Princeton’s junior goaltender Zane Kalemba, who is currently second in the nation in both save percentage and goals-against average. Kalemba is also tied for the ECAC lead in wins, with four. Junior forward Mark Magnowski’s three goals currently lead the Tigers, and sophomore defenseman Sam Sabky paces Princeton with four assists. The team scored four goals in both games last weekend, but neither game featured a Tiger with multiple points, a signal that Princeton has parity on its four offensive lines and the skill to score with any combination of skaters on the ice.

Though Gadowsky is happy with the team’s play so far this season, he acknowledges that there is always room for improvement, especially on the power play, where Princeton has converted just 11.6 percent of its man-advantages.

“The power-play unit has been improving over the last few games, and we need to keep that going,” said Gadowsky. “I like the way we are moving the puck. I like the chances we are generating, but we just have not been converting. Hopefully, that will change this weekend.”

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Tigers were a cumulative 0-4 against St. Lawrence and Clarkson last season, but Gadowsky insists that his team is not preoccupied with those games.

“The coaching staff is aware [of those losses], and I am sure some of the players remember, but it is nothing that we are talking about,” he said. “These games are just a matter of our preparation and our having the best possible game in the areas that we can control.”

If Princeton controls those areas, this could be a very successful weekend. Banishing old ghosts with two wins would solidify the Tigers’ spot atop the ECAC and deliver a powerful message to the rest of the conference that Princeton is looking no further — or further back — than the current game.