Men's Hockey: Unbeaten Dutchmen come to town today

After going through a mid-season funk that saw the men’s hockey team lose six straight games on the road, Princeton (6-8-1 overall, 3-6-1 ECAC Hockey) appears to have found its groove. The Tigers have gone undefeated in their past four games and all three of the team’s wins have come against top-10 opponents.

Princeton hosts Union (10-4-5, 4-0-3) tonight and Rensselaer (10-10-1, 3-4-0) on Sunday at Hobey Baker Rink. The Tigers need a strong showing to continue their climb up the ECAC Hockey standings.

“This is a really important weekend. We still have plenty of time to move up in the standings,” senior forward Dan Bartlett said. “We really need to play well this weekend and get a few points. After exams, hopefully we’ll be able to keep it going again.”

Last season, Princeton reached the ECAC Tournament semifinals by defeating a pesky Union team 2-1 in a back-and-forth series. When the two teams meet on Friday night, fans should expect a similarly intense and aggressive game.

“Union has a really good team again this year,” Bartlett said. “We played them in the playoffs last year and it was a tough series. When we’ve played them in the past, it’s been a hard-hitting battle and a tight game.”

Union is led by forward Mario Valery-Trabucco, who is currently tied for third in the conference with 23 points. Joining Valery-Trabucco in the offensive zone is Jason Walters, who leads his team with 11 goals.

Princeton will need an offensive performance similar to its last game against Quinnipiac to come away with the win Friday night. In its last game, Princeton returned to the fast-paced and tenacious play that has been its trademark in past seasons, notching 34 shots against the best team in the conference.

Princeton will count on Bartlett — the team leader with 11 goals — and junior forward Mike Kramer to lead the offense. The line of Kramer, junior forward Matt Arhontas and senior forward Mark Magnowski has been playing well of late and will look to continue the trend this weekend.

“Overall, we’re just starting to do the little things that we’ve done over the past few years,” Bartlett said. “We’ve been a little better defensively, and we’ve worked hard to create as many scoring opportunities as possible. That means taking shots and going to the net to put pressure on the goalie.”

On Sunday afternoon, the Tigers face Rensselaer before going on a 15-day break for exams. Princeton will look to go into that break on a high note as it tries to return to the form that brought the team to the NCAA Tournament the past two seasons.

With a chance to run its unbeaten streak to six games, it’s a safe bet that Princeton will come prepared to play.