Weekend in NY Capital District Ahead for 16th-Ranked Big Green

GAME 21
No. 16 Dartmouth (11-7-2, 7-5-1 ECAC) vs.
No. 18 Union (13-8-4, 6-4-3 ECAC)
▶ Friday, Feb. 1, 2013 ▶ 7:30 PM ▶ Schenectady, N.Y.
▶ Messa Rink (2,225)
▶ All-Time Series: Dartmouth, 24-17-6 (48th Meeting)
▶ Last Meeting: Nov. 10, 2012 (Hanover) - W, 3-2
▶ Streak: 1-0-0

GAME 22
No. 16 Dartmouth (11-7-2, 7-5-1 ECAC) vs.
Rensselaer (8-11-5, 3-6-3 ECAC)
▶ Saturday, Feb. 2, 2013 ▶ 7 PM ▶ Troy, N.Y.
▶ Houston Field House (5,217)
▶ All-Time Series: RPI, 41-32-5 (79th Meeting)
▶ Last Meeting: Nov 9, 2012 (Hanover) - W, 4-0
▶ Streak: 1-0-0

MEDIA CENTER
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FOR COMPLETE WEEKEND COVERAGE: 2012-13 GAME DAY CENTRAL

THIS WEEKEND
The Big Green head back out on the road for the first of two straight weekends away from Hanover. Dartmouth will travel to the New York Capital District for dates with No. 18 Union and Rensselaer. Friday's game with the Dutchmen will be broadcast nationally on the NBC Sports Network.

LAST TIME OUT
Dartmouth is coming off another 1-1 weekend following a home split with St. Lawrence and Clarkson. The Saints used a three-goal third period to hand the Big Green just their second home loss of the season and the first against an ECAC Hockey opponent. Dartmouth flipped the script the following night with a four-goal third period of its own to knock off Clarkson, 5-1, Saturday evening.

WHERE WE RANK
The split dropped the Big Green from No. 12 to No. 16 in the latest USCHO poll and outside the top-15 of the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine after being No. 13 a week ago. It's the first time outside the top-15 in either poll since making their season debut in the rankings the second week of November.

SCOUTING UNION
The Dutchmen will play just the one game this weekend after having already hosted Harvard this season. Union climbed up one spot in the polls to No. 18 after knocking off RPI, 3-2, in the Mayor's Cup last weekend in Albany. The two teams are currently tied for third in league standings as each have 15 points. Three players have over 20 points this season with senior Wayne Simpson leading the way with 28 on a team-best 12 goals. Junior Troy Grosenick has played in 20 games and boasts a .921 save percentage and a goals-against average of 2.22 in earning nine wins this season.

LAST TIME AGAINST UNION
The Big Green knocked off the visiting Dutchmen, 3-2, back on Nov. 10 in Hanover. After jumping out to a 3-0 lead through 40 minutes on goals from Brandon McNally, Eric Robinson and Matt Lindblad, Dartmouth would have to hold on in the third after the Dutchmen scored twice in the opening minutes to make it a one-goal game. Cab Morris finished with 28 saves on the night, handing Union its first ECAC Hockey loss of the season and its first since Feb. 24 of last season (8 total games).

SCOUTING RENSSELAER
The Engineers will host Dartmouth Saturday in the team's 36th annual 'Big Red Freakout' at Houston Field House. RPI will play Harvard Friday night in Troy before hosting the Green the following evening. Most recently, a late goal last Saturday in Albany cost the team a shot at beating its closest rival as Union took the contest played in the Times Union Center, 3-2. Despite a below .500 record, the Engineers have been very strong at home with a 6-2-2 record in their own building. Sophomore Ryan Haggerty leads the team with 10 goals and 18 points, while freshman goaltender Jason Kasdorf (4-2-2, .935%, 1.75 GAA) has come on recently to earn the nod as the team's No. 1 netminder.

LAST TIME AGAINST RPI
These two teams met back on Nov. 9 in Hanover with the Big Green putting on one of its most dominating displays of the season in routing the Engineers, 4-0. The shutout was the first of Morris' collegiate career as he turned aside the 18 shots that made their way on the Dartmouth goal. Robinson, Tyler Sikura, Eric Neiley and Brad Schierhorn all scored in the winning effort.

NBC IN NY
Friday marks the fourth time the Green and White will have played a game on the NBC Sports Network since the channel was reincarnated last winter. The first college hockey game under the network's new name was Dartmouth at RPI on Jan. 6. The Green won, 4-3.

ON TV
Dartmouth is 1-1-1 in televised games this season. The Big Green tied Cornell (Time Warner), defeated Vermont (NBC Sports Network) and lost in OT at Quinnipiac (NESN) in those three tilts.

2ND CHANCE FOR EVERYTHING
Dartmouth's top three goals scorers this season have been Robinson (10) as well as Lindblad (9) and Sikura (9). But for just the second time this season, all three scored a goal in the same game Saturday night against Clarkson. The only other time all three have found the back of the net in the same game came back on Nov. 2 when all three recorded two markers in a 7-4 win over visiting Yale.

SO LONG JANUARY
The Big Green's 3-4-0 record in January is the only month this season in which the team has failed to post a winning record.

PLAY IT LIKE THE FIRST 40
Of the 12 ECAC Hockey teams, no other program has performed better offensively in the first two periods than Dartmouth (2.15 goals per game). However, despite the recent third-period success of the Clarkson game, the Green average just 1.05 goals per game in the third period or overtime this season, the sixth-best total in conference.

SHOT BLOCKED
Dartmouth and Union are tied for second among league teams with 295 blocked shots this season. Only Harvard's 318 blocks rank higher than those of Friday's opponents. The Big Green average 14.75 blocks per game, while the Dutchmen average 11.8.

STRONG STANZA
The four goals in the third period against the Golden Knights was the best offensive frame all season for the Green. Three times previously Dartmouth had managed to score three in a period, including twice against Yale (1st and 2nd) on Nov. 2.

VOTE FOR HOBEY
Fan voting recently opened for the 2013 Hobey Baker Award, given annually to college hockey's best player. Dartmouth has two nominees on this season's fan ballot as both Lindblad and Sikura make their first appearances.

MAKES NO SENSE
This season's scoring output during weekend games is not reflected in the win-loss record for corresponding days.

Day                 Goals/Game                W-L-T
Friday              3.57                             3-3-1
Saturday          2.90                             6-3-1

AGAINST THE TOP-10
Against team's ranked in the top-10 in the most current USCHO poll, Dartmouth is 2-3-1 this season. It is 1-1-1 against No. 8 Yale, 1-0-0 against No. 3 UNH, 0-1-0 vs. No. 5 Boston College and 0-1-0 against No. 2 Quinnipiac (teams meet once more on March 2 in Hanover).

SNAPPED
Sikura's streak of 10 straight games with a point came to an end against St. Lawrence. In that time, the sophomore registered 15 points on five goals and 10 assists. All three figures were team highs in the stretch. Sikura has points in 18 of the team's 20 games in 2012-13.

NO SLOUCH HIMSELF
Lindblad has been one of the most consistent players all season. In 19 games played, the junior from Winnetka, Ill., has registered points in all but four contests. The only game since Nov. 17 in which Lindblad has failed to score a point came at Yale on Jan. 19 (11-of-12).

DOUBLED UP
Senior Dustin Walsh followed on a goal Friday against SLU with an empty-netter the following night against the Golden Knights. Walsh also added the second assist on Robinson's breakaway marker and finished the weekend with a team-best three points (2g/1a).

VETERAN PRESENCE
Seniors Alex Goodship and Jason Bourgea made their 2012-13 season debuts against Clarkson. Goodship put the exclamation point on the night with his first tally since Jan. 31, 2012 (at Harvard) when he netted the fifth and final Dartmouth goal at 19:24. Bourgea picked up a helper on the play as well.

10 GUYS
Ten of the 12 forwards suited up for the Big Green against the Golden Knights registered points in the five-goal outing. Only freshmen linemates Nick Bligh and Jack Barre were held off the scoresheet.

DOUBLE UP TANDEM
Defensive partners Mike Keenan and Ryan Bullock each posted two assists in the 5-1 win. For Keenan, the two helpers were one short of his career high and tied his season high in both assists and points. Bullock had just one assist and two total points coming into the game in his short career. Three of the four assists between the two came in the third.

WHAT THEY WEAR
Dartmouth has three sets of jerseys this season with the recent introduction of the vintage white third sweater. Here is a breakdown of how they play in each:

Home Whites: 8-1-1 (one neutral-site game)
Road Greens: 2-5-1
Third Jerseys: 1-1-0

SOLID IN GOAL
Morris has been a constant this season, twice being named the ECAC Hockey Goaltender of the Week. His .708 winning percentage (8-3-1) ranks as the sixth best among all Division I goalies this season and trails just Quinnipiac's Eric Hartzell for the best figure by an ECAC Hockey netminder.

PLAY THEM ALL AGAINST THE SAINTS
Sophomore defenseman Andy Simpson has two career goals to his credit with both coming at the expense of SLU goalie Matt Weninger. In the most recent meeting, Simpson's no-look, last-second shot from the halfboards through a screen found space and redirected off the Saints' goalie with just 1.4 seconds remaining in the first period. Simpson's only other goal came in Game 2 of last season's first-round match-up between the two teams on March 3, 2012.

SPECIAL TEAMS STANDOUTS
Union boasts the best power play (26.3%; 31-118) and the second best penalty kill (91.2%; 93-102) in the nation coming into Friday night's match-up. This marks the second time this season that the Big Green have squared off with a team that had the top PP unit at the time. Bentley was leading the nation with the man-advantage when the two played on Dec. 1, but was held to an 0-for-6 showing that night in Hanover.

BG PK
Dartmouth's PK has been above 90.0% all season and currently ranks fourth in the country at 90.5% (67-74). The Union-Dartmouth match-up is one of three between teams currently ranked in the top-10 in PK this weekend as Miami (6th) and Alaska (8th) square off as well as Notre Dame (9th) and Ohio State (10th).

LOVEJOY = WINS
Junior Nick Lovejoy was reinserted back into the team's defensive rotation for the Clarkson game, his 10th appearance of the season. Dartmouth is 6-2-2 when Lovejoy plays, a winning percentage of .700, the highest figure for any one player (other than Morris) with at least five games played. He has yet to record a point in any of his appearances, but provides a physical presence in the defensive zone.

TONS OF SHOTS
The 49 shots on goal Saturday night against Clarkson were 12 more than the next highest total in a single game this season (37 vs. Yale - Nov. 2). The last time the Big Green had more than 40 SOG in a contest came at Cornell in Game 1 of last season's quarterfinals when they also posted 49 shots on goal in 77:40 of action (2OT).

GOOD LUCK CHARM
Since joining the team, Dartmouth is 1-0-0 with Caleb Nelson in the building. The Team IMPACT addition to the Big Green's roster was on-hand for the 5-1 win over visiting Clarkson.

NHL UPDATE
In the very young season, no other ECAC Hockey school has seen more former players suit up for NHL teams than Dartmouth's six with the recent call-up of Nick Johnson '08 to the Phoenix Coyotes.
-       David Jones - Colorado Avalanche (5GP - 1-0-1)
-       Tanner Glass - Pittsburgh Penguins (6GP - 0-0-0)
-       Ben Lovejoy - Pittsburgh Penguins (3 GP - 0-0-0)
-       TJ Galiardi - San Jose Sharks (5 GP - 0-2-2)
-       Lee Stempniak - Calgary Flames (5GP - 3-2-5)
-       Nick Johnson - Phoenix Coyotes (2GP - 1-1-2)
* - All stats are as of Tuesday, Jan. 29

WHAT'S NEXT?
After the weekend at Union and RPI, Dartmouth will take on Harvard in Cambridge on Saturday, Feb. 9 at the Bright Hockey Center. It will be the lone game of the weekend for the Green.

Schedules