Big Green Tie No. 11 Denver at Ledyard Classic; Win Shootout

Friday, January 2

Hanover, N.H.

7:00 PM

Dartmouth College

DENVER

Big Green Tie No. 11 Denver at Ledyard Classic; Win Shootout

1/2/2015 10:23:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey

By: Dartmouth

HANOVER, N.H. – Officially, Friday's game with No. 11 Denver at Thompson Arena will go down in the record books as a 1-1 tie. However, the Dartmouth men's hockey team did best the visiting Pioneers, 2-1, in the shootout in the second game of the 26th Annual Ledyard Classic.

“It was a hard-fought game with great goaltending on both sides. They had some chances and we had some chances and the shootout was a treat for the fans and fun for the kids,” head coach Bob Gaudet '81 said. “There was a lot of energy with the building full and it was great hockey.”

James Kruger made numerous acrobatic saves as part of his 24 stops, while Denver's Evan Crowley was also up to the task in the draw, turning aside 43.

Kruger's biggest stop of the night came in opening minute of the 2nd period, when he stoned Quentin Shore all along in the slot. Shore made two moves with the puck from a stationary position, but Kruger wildly threw his right pad out to make the save.

Where Kruger was flashy, Cowley was wildly consistent as Dartmouth outshot Denver, 44-25. Cowley had 11 saves in both the first and third periods, 16 in the second and five in OT to earn the tie.

Eric Neiley scored the lone goal of regulation for the Big Green (6-4-2), netting his fifth of the season at 9:58 of the second period to cap a 2-on-1 rush with linemate Brett Patterson. Sophomore Kyle Nickerson also picked up a helper on the play, starting the rush from the team's defensive end.

The Pioneers (10-5-1) tied things up at 9:06 of the third as Danton Heinen was the only player to solve Kruger in 65 minutes of play, beating the Dartmouth netminder under the crossbar on the power play.

The 65 minutes of play solved nothing for the tournament's championship format, so the first shootout since an Oct. 26, 2012 game against Yale in the Ivy Shootout was needed for the Big Green.

Brad Schierhorn and Eric Robinson scored goals in the shootout and Kruger made four saves, including the winning stop on Trevor Moore in the fifth round as the Big Green earned the Ledyard Classic point with the 2-1 shootout victory.

Dartmouth will face No. 15 Boston College Saturday at 7 p.m. in the second Ledyard Classic game of the day, following the Brown-Denver tilt set for 4 p.m. The Eagles bested the Bears, 4-1, in the early game Friday afternoon.