Men's Hockey: Bartlett’s hat trick spurs Tigers

The men’s hockey team capped a successful winter break with a thrilling overtime 4-3 victory over conference-leading Quinnipiac at Baker Rink last night.

The home victory saw the Tigers (6-8-2 overall, 3-6-1 ECAC Hockey) blow a pair of two-goal leads, only to the seal the game two minutes, 45 seconds into overtime on a goal from senior forward Dan Bartlett. Now unbeaten in its last four games — all against talented opponents — Princeton is establishing momentum for a strong second half of the season, momentum that it desperately needs.

In the game against Quinnipiac (13-5-1, 7-4-0), neither team was able to score in the first period, but the second period saw an explosion of goals. Bartlett opened the scoring 4:09 into the period, then scored again just over two minutes later on a power play. The Bobcats were quick to answer, with forward D’Arcy Oakes closing the gap to 2-1 just 37 seconds later.

Junior forward Mike Kramer extended Princeton's lead to 3-1 with his sixth goal of the season later in the period. Oakes scored again with only 42 seconds remaining in the frame to close the gap again.

In the third period, Quinnipiac forward Scott Zurevinski scored his ninth goal of the season, knotting the game at three. But in overtime, Bartlett capped his hat trick, the Tigers’ first since senior forward Cam MacIntyre’s against Yale on Oct. 26, 2007.

Junior goalie Alan Reynolds made 22 saves and earned his fourth win of the year, while Quinnipiac's Dan Clarke made 30 saves in the loss.

Last week, the Tigers played in the Florida College Classic, where they took on Maine and Cornell, the second-place team in the ECAC Hockey standings. Against Maine, the Tigers fell into a deep hole early on before scrambling back to secure a 6-6- tie. The Black Bears scored two power-play goals before Princeton responded with a man-advantage tally of its own from the stick of junior forward Taylor Fedun. But Maine responded with two goals and extended its lead to 4-1.

The Tigers scored three straight goals to even the score, but Maine responded with its fifth goal late in the second period and a sixth early in the third. The Tigers countered with two more, evening the score at six, and the teams played to a stalemate in overtime.

The next day, Princeton pulled out an impressive 3-2 win over Cornell (8-4-2, 6-2-1) after peppering goalie Ben Scrivens with 39 shots. Cornell took the lead late in the first period, but the Tigers evened the score late in the second on a goal from sophomore defenseman Derrick Pallis. Cornell regained the lead just 17 seconds into the third, but the Tigers quickly countered with a power-play goal from Bartlett. Princeton iced the game with a shorthanded goal three minutes later from forward Mike Kramer.