Men's Hockey: Showdown with No. 4 Northeastern looming

Ranked No. 7 nationally and sitting alone atop the ECAC Hockey standings, the Tigers (7-1-0 overall, 6-1-0 ECAC Hockey) will host conference rival Quinnipiac (6-4-1, 4-2-1) tonight and participate in the 58th Annual Rensselaer Tournament over the weekend.

“We go on the road Thursday afternoon, so we won’t have to spend time alone on campus,” senior forward Brett Wilson joked. “We will be spending Thanksgiving together in the hotel rooms.”

Princeton beat Quinnipiac 2-0 on the road earlier this season, but the Bobcats are unbeaten since that Nov. 11 meeting, boasting a four-game win streak that includes impressive wins over Clarkson and St. Lawrence.

“When we played [Quinnipiac] the first time, they were having trouble scoring goals,” Wilson said. “But we know that they have plenty of offensive power. They have been playing much better recently, and we are expecting a tough game.”

The Bobcats are in the middle of the ECAC standings, but their high-powered offense will test the Tiger defense. Forward Bryan Leitch leads the ECAC in points, with 17, and fellow forward David Marshall tied for second with 10. Quinnipiac defenseman Zach Hansen currently leads all ECAC defensemen in points, penalty minutes and plus-minus ratio.

Tonight at Baker Rink the Tigers can expect a physical game, as the Bobcats lead the league in penalty minutes. Quinnipiac has scored more power-play goals than any other team in the ECAC, so staying out of the penalty box will be imperative.

“Last time we played them, we took nine penalties, and they ended up with 25 shots on the power play,” Wilson said. “They have an excellent power-play unit, and fortunately that night [junior goaltender] Zane [Kalemba] played really well. We cannot give them that many opportunities, so we are going to need to stay disciplined and convert the power-play chances that we are given.”

This weekend the Tigers head up to Troy, N.Y., to participate in the Rensselaer Tournament, an annual event that features host RPI and three other teams from the northeast. The Tigers last played in the tournament in the 2002-03 season. Princeton suffered an ugly 7-0 loss to Wayne State in the opening round that year and will face a similarly difficult opponent this year.

The Tigers will take on No. 4 Northeastern (9-2-2) on Friday at 4 p.m. for a chance to play in the tournament’s final on Saturday. Princeton has a number of difficult games on its season schedule — two against No. 12 Cornell, one against No. 10 Minnesota State and one against No. 16 Nebraska-Omaha — but none should be tougher than this weekend’s showdown with the Huskies.

“It is always exciting to get to play some different teams,” Wilson said. “We want to represent our conference, and [Northeastern is] ranked fourth in the country right now, so we know it is going to be a big test. Hopefully, it will give us a chance to prove and establish where we are in our season.”

In first place in the highly competitive Hockey East conference, Northeastern will challenge the Tigers on both ends of the ice. Huskies forward Ryan Ginand is eighth in the nation with eight goals, and veteran netminder Brad Thiessen boasts an impressive .940 save percentage and 1.899 goals-against average. The Huskies are scoring more than three goals a game while allowing only two and lead Hockey East in penalty killing and shorthanded goals.

“They have a solid goalie and some talented offensive forwards that can score some goals,” Wilson said of the Huskies. “Honestly, though, we are focusing on tonight right now and will address Northeastern after the Quinnipiac game.”

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If Princeton wins, it will play the winner of the matchup between RPI and Mercyhurst at 7 p.m. Saturday. If the Tigers lose to Northeastern, they will play in the 4 p.m. consolation game against the other game’s loser.

Princeton has reasons to be optimistic, as the team has given up the fewest goals in the nation after ECAC rival Cornell, and junior goaltender Zane Kalemba is ranked third in the country in both save percentage, .957, and goals-against average, 1.00.

Senior forward and captain Brandan Kushniruk was recently named ECAC Player of the Week for his game-winning goals against St. Lawrence and Clarkson this past weekend, while senior forward Mark Magnowski — who won the award earlier this season — leads the team with seven points. Sophomore defenseman Matt Godlewski leads Princeton blueliners with five points.

“Our success starts with our goalie,” Wilson said. “Zane is only giving up one goal a game, and it certainly makes things easier when you only need to score two goals to win … A lot of different guys have been stepping up for us, which is the sign of a good team.”

Despite a loss to their only ranked opponent, the Tigers are garnering a lot of national attention early in the season. This week’s games will give the team a chance to solidify its lead in the ECAC, but, more importantly, they will give Princeton an opportunity to prove that those early-season accolades are deserved.