In a topsy-turvy weekend, the men’s hockey team blanked Rensselaer 7-0 in Troy, N.Y., this Saturday after losing 4-1 to No. 14 Union just a day earlier. The win snapped a three-game winless streak for the Tigers and was senior goaltender Zane Kalemba’s second shutout of the season.
Princeton (11-13-3 overall, 7-11-2 ECAC Hockey) was looking for revenge against Union (18-8-6, 12-4-4) after a lopsided 7-3 loss earlier in the season. Though the Tigers were able to hang tough in a scoreless opening period, they could not respond to a Union goal just a few minutes into the second period and fell behind 1-0.
“We came out against Union, and we just couldn’t keep up,” senior forward Mark Magnowski said. “We took some penalties, and I figured that we were getting chances, the puck just wasn’t going in the net for us while they seemed to score on their chances and the breaks they got.”
More strong play by the Dutchmen led to a 3-0 deficit for Princeton before midway through the third period when junior forward Kevin Lohry was able to slide the puck past Union’s Keith Kinkaid and give the team a small opening.
Looking to capitalize on whatever chances they had, the Tigers pulled Kalemba in the third period before Union sealed the win with an empty-net goal.
Princeton bounced back quickly the next day in their strong showing against RPI (16-14-3, 9-8-2) and showed no similarities to the team that the Engineers had defeated 4-1 in January. Playing in front of a capacity home crowd, RPI fired 20 shots on goal in the opening period. Kalemba’s play, however, was too sharp for the Engineers, who could not find the back of the net.
Though they were outshot 20-12 in the first session, the Tigers took advantage of their power-play chances and got out to a quick 1-0 lead five minutes, 40 seconds into the game. RPI, on the other hand, was unable to beat Princeton’s penalty kill at five different points throughout the period.
“Last time we played them, they went four-for-eight on the power play,” Magnowski said. “We knew what to expect on the power play. We just put together the penalty kill and had some great goaltending as well.”
The Tigers quickly found their offensive rhythm in the second period. Magnowski capitalized on a bad bounce 3:30 into the period to score his sixth goal of the season and give Princeton a 2-0 lead.
About five minutes later, Magnowski stripped RPI goaltender Bryce Merriam and found sophomore forward Marc Hagel, who slipped the puck into the empty net as Merriam struggled to get back into position. Soon after, sophomore forward Brodie Zuk scored his first collegiate goal off an assist by freshman forward Rob Kleebaum. Kleebaum’s assist was his first collegiate point.
The win over RPI demonstrated the improvement of Princeton’s freshman and sophomore classes over the season.
“Obviously, with the amount of injuries we’ve had this year, the young guys have played a lot,” Magnowski said. “They didn’t really get a chance to ease into the college game, but they’re getting a lot more comfortable with our style and college hockey.”
“Brodie Zuk missed a lot of last year and this year but had a great weekend. Hagel has been playing great the past few weeks. It’s nice when we get a lot of support form the underclassmen,” he added.
Already leading 4-0, the Tigers did not let up. Freshman forward Will MacDonald — who also had an assist on Zuk’s goal — beating Merriam 3:50 into the third period for his second goal of the season. Sophomore defenseman Derrick Pallis and MacDonald finished off Princeton’s high-scoring night late in the final session to secure the team’s 7-0 win.
The game was a particularly good one for Kalemba, who made an impressive 41 saves to register his second shutout. He leads the team with 522 saves this season — a .908 save percentage.
Kalemba’s continued strong play will certainly be key as Princeton finishes its regular season this weekend against Yale and Brown. If the Tigers are able to conjure some of the same magic that they did against RPI, they will be a dangerous team come playoff time.
“Obviously, we’re not where we expected to be at this part of the season. The last couple of weekends, we’ve beaten a few good teams,” Magnowski said. “We do know that if we put together a 60-minute game, we can play with anybody in our league. Hopefully we can take that and make it to Albany.”
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