Men's Hockey: Offense leads charge after two week rest

The Tigers returned with a vengeance against Connecticut (4-18-3) last Monday, defeating the Huskies 8-1. The lopsided win marked the Tigers’ largest margin of victory in nearly 16 years. Princeton carried its momentum on the road in back-to-back games on Friday and Saturday, as the Tigers bested Harvard, 2-1, and Dartmouth, 5-3. The pair of wins marks the first time this year that Princeton managed to earn an ECAC weekend sweep.

Freshman forward Eric Meland led the way for the Tigers against UConn, netting the team’s second hat trick of the year and adding two assists. Meland’s five-point total was the highest for a Princeton skater since Kevin Westgarth ’07 netted two goals and three assists on Feb. 23, 2007.

The Tigers were also bolstered by the return of senior forward and tri-captain Cam MacIntyre. MacIntyre had not seen action since Princeton’s Dec. 29 matchup against Maine and has played in just nine of the team’s 19 contests.

MacIntyre was able to quickly shake off any rust that may have accumulated during his two-month layoff, scoring a pair of goals and adding an assist. He also added a much-needed physical presence for the Tigers against an overmatched UConn team.

Princeton also got scoring from its blue line in the form of freshman Michael Sdao’s two slapshot goals. Sdao’s two-goal game was the first from a Tiger defenseman since junior Cam Ritchie accomplished the feat on Nov. 24, 2007.

Senior forward Mark Magnowski also contributed a goal, opening the scoring six minutes, 14 seconds into the first period.

Equally encouraging for Princeton was the play of its goaltenders. Senior Zane Kalemba got the win, making nine saves during his one period of work. Freshman Mike Condon took over in the second frame, allowing a lone shorthanded goal and netting seven saves. Junior Alan Reynolds closed the game out for the Tigers, stopping eight pucks.

On Friday night, Princeton took an early 1-0 lead against the Crimson (5-11-3, 5-6-3) when senior forward Dan Bartlett netted his 13th goal of the season midway through the first period. McIntyre, who was sidelined with an injury later in the game, received a pass from Sdao and skated the length of the ice to feed a pass to senior forward Bartlett, whom he found waiting on the doorstep.

Harvard made it 1-1 five minutes into the second frame when Crimson forward Conor Morrison slipped the puck past Kalemba. But Princeton dug deep in the final few minutes of the third period, when freshman forward Will MacDonald and junior forward Kevin Lohry teamed up to find sophomore forward Marc Hagel for a slick shot in front of the net. A strong defensive effort, 13 saves by Kalemba in the final frame, and Hagel’s first goal of the season proved to be enough for the Tigers. Kalemba made a total of 34 saves on the night.

The Tigers turned right around the following afternoon to claim their third win of the past week in defeating the Big Green 5-3. Kalemba had another strong performance between the pipes, making 27 saves. But the key was Princeton’s offense, which generated 35 shots on goal and ensured that the Tigers did not trail throughout the 60 minutes.

Bartlett — who leads the team in scoring by a significant margin — gave the Tigers a 1-0 advantage at 7:19 of the first period after he intercepted a Dartmouth clearing attempt. Dartmouth forward Doug Jones evened the score on a man-advantage chance with just over two minutes remaining.

Princeton responded early in the second period by capitalizing on a power play chance of its own when junior forward Matt Arhontas tipped a shot by junior defenseman Taylor Fedun and Dartmouth goalie Jody O’Neill. Lohry followed up with his second goal of the weekend immediately after, giving the Tigers a comfortable 3-1 lead.

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Special teams opportunities continued to play a crucial role in the game, as Darmouth forward Joe Gaudet netted a power-play goal halfway through the period to decrease the deficit to one, but Hagel tallied his second goal of the weekend to restore the two-goal margin.

The two squads exchanged goals in the third period, as junior forward Mike Kramer added an empty-netter in the final moments.

Hopefully for Princeton, the three-game winning streak will boost its confidence as it heads into another weekend of ECAC competition. The Tigers will host Colgate on Friday at 7 p.m. and Cornell the following night at Baker Rink.

“The three wins this past week were important for us,” Bartlett said. “We just finished exam break and we need to build some momentum over the last part of our schedule so we go into the playoffs playing our best hockey of the year, and I think the past three games have been a good step in the right direction.”