After some struggles over the past month, Princeton men’s ice hockey (14–9–1 overall, 10–6 ECAC) looked to bounce back on a two-game homestand against fellow Ivy League rivals Yale (7–17, 6–10) and Brown (4–19–1, 3–10–1). Although both contests brought their respective challenges, the Tigers were able to get the job done at Hobey Baker Rink to get back on track as they head into the final stretch of the regular season.
On a cold and snowy Friday night, the Princeton Tigers took on a struggling Yale on home ice, bringing home a 3–1 win. The very next day, the Tigers battled a vengeful Brown team, but were able to hold off the Bears with a 5–3 victory.
Princeton stifles Yale on Friday night
Princeton came into the weekend in the midst of a 1–5–1 skid, despite a strong start to the season. As they came down to the last 8 games of the regular season, the Tigers needed to get their offense rolling again to finish strong.
“We keep trying to get to our identity every game, and that was the message, how quick can we be consistent,” head coach Ben Syer told The Daily Princetonian.
The game started off close and contested, with Yale seeming to have the advantage, putting 5 more shots on goal than the Tigers, though not converting on any.
“We stayed with it and grinded, then we went to work,” Syer told the ‘Prince’ postgame.
And went to work they did, as the second period was when the Tiger offense came to life. Sophomore forward Julian Facchinelli’s shot hit the post, but ricocheted into the back of the net to put the Tigers up 1–0 within the first minute of the period.
Minutes later, however, the Bulldogs scored on a power play to bring the game back to even at 1–1.
The Tigers did not allow the momentum to shift in the Bulldogs’ favor, as junior forward Kai Daniells knocked in his 14th goal of the season to bring the Tigers back into the lead with a score of 2–1. Despite some shots back and forth for the last minutes of the period, the Tigers held their one goal advantage heading into the second intermission.
“When we stick to our gameplan for 3 periods, no one can keep up with us,” Daniells told the ‘Prince’ after the game.
This sentiment proved to be true on Friday, as Princeton dominated the third period.
The Tigers stayed in their offensive zone, significantly out performed the Bulldogs in face-offs, and shelled the opposing goalie with 34 shots on goal to Yale's eight. The period was physical, with players from both teams slamming into the boards.
Daniells took two big shots in the final minutes of the game, finishing with a triumphant empty-netter to seal the game 3–1.
“It all starts with our systems and work-ethic…we did a good job of that tonight,” Daniells told the ‘Prince.’
Princeton completes the weekend sweep with a high scoring victory over Brown
After having completed a critical victory in a must-win scenario, Princeton turned its sights to another home matchup, this time against the Brown Bears. Although the Bears have struggled all year to consistently find themselves in the win column, the lone matchup between the two sides in late December ended in a nail-biting overtime win for Princeton.
With the Orange and Black coming off of a huge win against their New Haven rivals and the Bears having just lost 9–1 against No. 5 Quinnipiac, the Tigers needed to ensure they didn’t overlook their opponent on Saturday night. And, although they didn’t deliver a second straight blow-out loss to Brown, Princeton played solid hockey and came out on top at home.
Brown began the contest on the territorial frontfoot. The Bears were able to take plenty of faceoffs and fire several attempts at junior goaltender Arthur Smith. However, after having fended off these early attempts from Brown, the rest of the first period belonged to the Tigers.
In the span of just one minute, the Orange and Black fired four shots towards the Brown net, with the fifth finding its way home to put Princeton on the board. Sophomore forward Luc Pelletier fired a shot past the Brown goaltender for his fifth goal of the year to put the Tigers up 1–0.
After Princeton drew first blood, the contest turned chippy. In just three minutes, Princeton committed a penalty and Brown was penalized a whopping four times, including a five-minute major for hitting from behind and a 10-minute misconduct. And, with an extra player on the ice, Princeton took advantage. With only ten seconds left in the opening frame, senior forward Jaxson Ezman converted on a power play goal to put Princeton up 2–0 heading into the first intermission.
Beginning the second period, Princeton maintained most of the offensive momentum until the Bears scored an early unassisted goal. And, after killing a Princeton penalty, the Bears once again converted on an unassisted shot to tie the game at 2–2 exactly halfway into the game. However, as they’ve done all season, the Tigers found a response. Having created a lot of pressure on yet another power play, sophomore forward Jake Manfre squeezed the puck over the goaltender in a scrum in front of the net, assisted by Pelletier and sophomore defenseman Kai Greaves.
Although Brown closed the period with eight shot attempts, Arthur Smith’s stellar goaltending maintained Princeton’s 3–2 lead heading into the third period. The final twenty minutes of gameplay were very even among both teams, with Brown slightly outshooting the Tigers on goal 9–8. However, up until the final minute of play, the only big goal-scoring opportunity was when senior forward Brendan Gorman’s shot hit the pipe early in the period.
As Princeton looked like they would be able to hold the 3–2 victory to complete the weekend sweep, the Tigers added insult to injury in the final moments of the contest. With Brown desperate to find the tying goal, senior forward David Jacobs scored on an empty net goal. And, while Brown immediately responded with ten seconds left in the contest to bring it back to 4–3 on a man-up goal, Princeton yet again scored with an empty net through Brendan Gorman to seal the 5–3 victory on Saturday night.
The Tigers are now on a two-game winning streak heading into what will be a very difficult upcoming weekend, as they’ll face Quinnipiac on Saturday and Sunday.
Lucas Nor is an associate Sports editor for the ‘Prince.’
Zeke Arnold is a Sports contributor for the ‘Prince.’
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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