Saturday's Battle for the RiverStone Cup XI Next Up For Big Green

Game 16 - Saturday, Jan. 14, 2012 - 7:00 p.m.
Dartmouth Big Green (7-6-2, 4-4-1 ECAC Hockey) vs.
New Hampshire Wildcats (7-11-2, 5-8-1 Hockey East)
Location: Manchester, N.H. - Verizon Wireless Arena (10,019)
All-Time Series: UNH, 32-18-2
First Meeting: Feb. 19, 1936 - W, 4-1 (Home)
Last Meeting: Jan. 15, 2011 - W, 5-4 (Neutral)
Streak: Dartmouth, 1-0-0
Last Dartmouth Win: Jan. 15, 2011 - W, 5-4 (Neutral)

Broadcast Information
Radio: WFRD 99.3 FM Play-by-Play: Chris Garrett

Dartmouth Notes • New Hampshire Notes • New Hampshire Preview • Live Stats • Live Audio

HANOVER, N.H. - It's been quite the week for the state of New Hampshire. Three years of political campaigning and speculation came to an end Tuesday when the polls closed on the 2012 Primary. Every four years the Granite State seems to draw the attention of the nation as its citizens line up to make their voices heard concerning the next President.

However, on Saturday night, the annual game between the Dartmouth and UNH men's hockey teams will recapture some of that attention. The state's lone Division I programs will square off at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester in the Battle for the RiverStone Cup at 7 p.m. for the 11th straight season.

Last season, Dartmouth snapped a two-game skid to its in-state rival with a 5-4, last-minute win; taking home the Cup for the first time since 2008. Then-junior Doug Jones (Marietta, Ga.) scored with 1:11 left in the third to break the 4-4 deadlock, while classmate James Mello (Rehoboth, Mass.) stopped 34 shots, earning the win in net.

UNH is the home team for this year's contest and will have the benefit of last change on Saturday. But look for the ups and downs of last weekend's split at RPI and Union to serve the Big Green well in terms of motivation. A 4-3 win over the Engineers in a nationally-televised game was followed up by a 7-1 defeat the following night to the No. 14 Dutchmen, providing the team with several highs and lows in a 24-hour window.

The Wildcats are the last remaining non-conference opponent this season for the Big Green, who will play ECAC Hockey foes the rest of the way out in 2011-12.

GAME NOTES

BATTLE FOR THE RIVERSTONE CUP XI
In the 10 games between the two teams played in Manchester over the last decade, Dartmouth is just 3-6-1 against its in-state rivals. The third win came last season when Doug Jones broke a 4-4 tie with just over a minute remaining in regulation. A 5-3 win in 2008 and a wild 9-8 affair in 2005 were the other two Big Green wins in the Queen City.

ALL-TIME AGAINST THE WILDCATS
UNH owns a 32-18-2 all-time advantage in the series with Dartmouth dating back to the first meeting between the two in 1936. The series has been a regular staple for both teams for the better part of five decades. Under head coach Bob Gaudet, the Big Green are 4-7-1 against New Hampshire.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN
Twice this season, Dartmouth has gone out on the road for a two-game weekend against ECAC Hockey foes and both times has come out with a split. In both instances, the Big Green took the Friday night tilt and dropped Saturday's contest. This past weekend, Dartmouth defeated RPI, 4-3, before suffering a 7-1 loss at Union the following night. The first road trip of the season saw Dartmouth beat St. Lawrence, 3-1, in Canton, N.Y., but fall at Clarkson, 4-0, in the second game of the weekend.

FRIDAY NIGHT IS BETTER FOR US...
Dartmouth is 5-1-1 in games played on Friday night, while just 1-4-1 in Saturday contests this season. The lone win on a Saturday was against Princeton on Nov. 5 in the team's fourth contest of the season. The Big Green are 0-3-1 since that last Saturday win.

FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING
Coming into last weekend's game with Union, Dartmouth had been outshot in six games this season, but was 5-0-1 in those contests. The Dutchmen became the first team to register a win when putting more shots on goal than the Big Green as they had 41 to the visitors' 30.

AGAINST RPI
In the first game of the weekend, 10 different Dartmouth players registered points in the win over Rensselaer. Four of those points came from defenders (Goggin, Keenan, Pinkston, Gaudet), while two more came from players listed on the fourth line (Goodship, Lee).

GOOD TIMING
Freshman defenseman Rick Pinkston (Trenton, Mich.) picked a good time to pick up his first-career goal, notching the tally at 14:20 of the second period against the Engineers. Pinkston's blast from the point, off a faceoff in the offensive zone, through traffic proved to be the game winner as it gave the Big Green a 4-1 advantage.

GRANITE STATE PLAYERS
Saturday's game matches the only two Division I hockey programs in the state, but Dartmouth has just one New Hampshire native on its roster: Jim Gaudet (Etna, N.H.). The Wildcats have three Granite Staters on their roster this season, including freshman goalie Casey DeSmith (Rochester, N.H.) who picked up his first-career victory in a 26-save, 1-0 shutout Wednesday at Providence.

THE KEY IS TO HAVE THE LEAD AFTER TWO
Dartmouth has been solid this season when holding a lead after two periods of play. The Big Green are a perfect 5-0 when heading into the locker room after 40 minutes with a lead.

BEAMISH'S PLAY
Freshman forward Jesse Beamish (Mississauga, Ontario) scored the team's lone goal at Union for his fourth of the season. Trailing by seven and killing a five-minute power play, Beamish stole the puck and finished a rush with a backhanded shot. It was his second shorthanded goal of the season, ranking second in ECAC Hockey and tied for fourth in the country. No other Dartmouth player has a shorthanded marker this season.

LINDBLAD'S SCORING STREAK
Sophomore center Matt Lindblad (Winnetka, Ill.) saw his six-game point streak come to an end at Messa Rink when he was held off the scoresheet for the first time since the team was shutout on Nov. 19 at Clarkson (4-0). In that time, Lindblad did not register a goal, but did have eight assists.

NEUTRAL SITE GAMES
UNH marks the first neutral-site game of the season for the Big Green. Despite playing in two regular-season tournaments already, Dartmouth has yet to take on an opponent on neutral ice. The Big Green have hosted both the Ivy Shootout and The Ledyard Classic this season and have played 10 games at Thompson Arena and five road games in 2011-12.

THREE IN A PERIOD
Dartmouth's three second-period goals at RPI marked just the second time this season that the Big Green have lit the lamp three times in one frame. The only other occurrence was on Nov. 4 when the team scored three in the third to come back and defeat Quinnipiac, 5-4, at home.

TEAM LEADERS
Freshman Tyler Sikura (Aurora, Ontario) picked up just an assist on the two-game road swing, but sophomore Eric Robinson's (Foxboro, Mass.) deflection in the slot on the power play against the Engineers moved him into a tie with the first-year winger as both have seven tallies this year. Robinson's 11 points (7g/4a) are also a new career high after recording eight (3g/5a) as a freshman last season.

CENTURY MARK
Jim Gaudet played in his 100th-career game Friday when he suited up against Rensselaer. Gaudet picked up an assist in the contest, starting the play behind his own net that eventually led to junior Alex Goodship (Blackfalds, Alberta) finishing an odd-man rush at the other end for his second of the season. Senior Doug Jones (Marietta, Ga.) is closing in on 100-career points as he has 91 (22g/69a) entering the weekend. He also ranks 14th in assists all-time at Dartmouth.

IN-STATE
Dartmouth has not played a game in New Hampshire other than at Thompson Arena or the Verizon since Jan. 3, 2000 (Whittemore Center - Durham, N.H.)

Schedules