NBC Sports Network to Carry Friday's Battle for New Hampshire

Game 14 // Dartmouth (6-5-2) at New Hampshire (6-11-1)

Date: Friday, Jan. 9, 2015 // Time: 7:40 PM // Location: Durham, N.H. // Arena: Whittemore Center
All-Time Series: 19-34-2 // Streak: 0-1-0 // Last Meeting: Jan. 11, 2014 // L, 4-2 (Manchester)

New Hampshire Media

TV: NBC Sports Network // PBP: Dave Goucher // Color: AJ Mleczko
Radio: WFRD 99.3 FM (99Rock) // PBP: Chris Garrett
Live Stats: DartmouthSports.com Twitter: @Dartmouth_MIH
Digital Press Box // Gameday Central
Dartmouth Notes // UNH Preview/Notes // Ticket Information

FRIDAY'S GAME
The Dartmouth men's hockey team heads to unfamiliar territory despite remaining in its own home state as it takes on New Hampshire Friday evening at the Whittemore Center. The game will be shown to a national audience on the NBC Sports Network.

LAST TIME OUT
Dartmouth played to a 1-1 tie with No. 11 Denver and a 3-2 loss against No. 15 Boston College in the 26th Annual Ledyard Classic in Hanover on Jan. 2-3. The Big Green's contest against the Pioneers was one of the most intense and entertaining games in recent memory. Although officially a tie, the game went to a shootout to help the cause of determining a Ledyard champion. In the shootout, three rounds were not enough as Eric Robinson didn't score the winner until the fifth round, while James Kruger made four stops. Brad Schierhorn kept Dartmouth alive with a third-round goal that forced sudden death where the home team eventually won, 2-1. The following night, Brett Patterson and Jack Barre both scored, but a late goal from the Eagles helped the team from Chestnut Hill win their second Ledyard Classic title in the last five years (2010).

vs. Denver Highlights // T, 1-1 (OT)	vs. Boston College Highlights // L, 3-2

SCOUTING NEW HAMPSHIRE
The Wildcats are in the midst of a season that features a 6-11-1 overall record and a 1-5-1 mark in Hockey East play. UNH has just two wins in its last nine games dating back to mid-November (2-6-1). The team opened the second half of 2014-15 with a solid weekend in Omaha against the 12th-ranked Mavericks, falling in overtime, 2-1, and earning a 6-2 win the following day on New Year's Eve. The Nebraska games marked the return of junior defenseman Brett Pesce from injury and the debut of freshman goalie Danny Tirone, who stopped 24 shots in the winning effort after joining the 'Cats during the mid-season break. Sophomore Tyler Kelleher leads the team with 17 points on seven goals and 10 assists, while senior Matt Willows' nine goals are tops among all UNH players in 18 games this season.

LAST TIME AGAINST UNH
A year after playing in Hanover (Dec. 30, 2012), these two teams returned to Manchester and the Verizon Wireless Arena last season for a Jan. 11 meeting. The Wildcats picked up the 4-2 victory as Dalton Speelman scored the game winner with 2:15 left in regulation with Kevin Goumas adding the insurance marker with 36 seconds left. For Dartmouth, Brad Schierhorn scored 1:07 into the game and Charlie Mosey tied things up, 2-2, at 16:40 of the third period only to see the Speelman marker follow 65 seconds later.

IN DURHAM
It will have been more than 15 years since UNH has truly played host to Dartmouth when the puck is dropped on Friday's game. The last time the Wildcats hosted the Big Green in Durham was Jan. 3, 2000, a game in which the home team came away with a 3-2 overtime win. Since that night, the two teams have played 14 times with two in Hanover and 12 in Manchester. Dartmouth is 2-0-0 at Thompson in that time, including a 4-1 win over then No. 2 UNH on Dec. 30, 2012 which helped the Green jump to No. 8 in the national polls, their highest ranking in program history. In the 12 Manchester games since the start of the 2001-02 season, Dartmouth was just 3-8-2 against their cross-state rival.

NEUTRAL VS. DURHAM
Dartmouth and UNH have only played 14 all-time games in Durham against one another. However, the team has played 18 neutral site games, including 12 in Manchester, three in Boston, two in Burlington and one in Detroit during the 1979 Frozen Four.

THAT MAKES NO SENSE!
There are five states with more than one but no more than four Division I men's hockey teams in the country (New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Ohio, Pennsylvania). In those states, no team has a longer stretch of not playing in another's home rink than Dartmouth's 15-year run without playing at UNH. In each of those states, every team has played at every other team's home rink at least once other than the Big Green at the Whittemore Center.

TOP OF HIS GAME
James Kruger continues to impress in his first season as the Big Green's starting goaltender. Through 12 games, Kruger ranks 17th in the nation among qualifying goalies with a .931 save percentage and 14th with a 1.89 save percentage. The junior from Minnetonka, Minnesota, stopped a combined 51 shots against Denver and Boston College, plus an additional four during the five-round shootout with the Pioneers.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
For his play in the Ledyard Classic, Kruger was tabbed to the all-tournament team as the top netminder in the two-day showcase. Joining Kruger on the all-tournament team from Dartmouth was classmate Brett Patterson who had a goal and an assist on the weekend and was arguably the team's best forward in the two-game stretch. Brown's Sam Lafferty, as well as Trevor Moore and Danton Heinen from Denver and BC's Adam Gilmour also earned all-tourney honors, while Eagles forward Teddy Doherty was named the Most Valuable Player for scoring the game winner late against the Big Green.

KEEP ON SCORING
Senior Eric Neiley and junior Jack Barre continued their scoring touch after the mid-season break. On Friday against Denver, Neiley netted his fifth of the season and fourth in a three-game stretch that went back to games against Sacred Heart and Princeton. Barre scored the second Dartmouth goal Saturday night against Boston College after also netting a pair against Sacred Heart in the first-half finale on Dec. 14.

ON NBCSN
Friday marks Dartmouth's first televised game since the 2012-13 season. The Big Green last played on the NBC Sports Network on Feb. 1, 2013 at Union in a game that ended in a 2-2 tie. The contest at UNH will mark the fifth appearance on the network for the Green since the 2011-12 season, posting a 2-1-1 record in the four previous contests against RPI, Vermont, Yale and Union.

POINT STREAKS!
With his goal vs. Denver and his assist against BC, Neiley currently has a four-game point streak (4-2-6). Linemate Brett Patterson also has a four-game stretch of points (2-4-6) in that same span. Only Tyler Sikura's five-game stretch in the final contests of the first half are longer than the ones Neiley and Patterson currently have strung together.

IN THE LINEUP, ON THE SCORESHEET
After playing in only three games in the first half, Kyle Nickerson made an immediate impact upon his return to the lineup this past weekend at the Ledyard. Playing wing on a line with Neiley and Patterson, Nickerson had assists against both the Pioneers and Eagles, giving him points in consecutive games for the first time in his career.

STRONG UPPER CLASSES
Dartmouth's eight seniors are leading the team this season in many ways, not the least of which is on the scoresheet. The Big Green's senior core accounts for 3.77 points per game, trailing only Mercyhurst's seniors and their 5.06 points per game. The junior (2.62/14th) and senior (3.77/2nd) classes have combined to average 6.38 points per contest, the fifth-best total among all upper classes in the 59-team Division I.

ANYONE BUT No. 15…
Dartmouth is 2-2-1 this season against teams ranked in the top-20 nationally by USCHO at the time of the game. The only two defeats in those five contests have come to teams ranked No. 15 and both times by just a goal. Dartmouth dropped a 2-1 OT game in Hamden to then-No. 15 Quinnipiac on Dec. 5 and a 3-2 decision this past weekend to No. 15 Boston College. The Big Green are a perfect 2-0-0 against teams in the top-10, defeating No. 8 Union, 4-3, in overtime and shutting out No. 1 Boston University, 2-0, with both games coming in November. They also have the 1-1 tie with No. 11 Denver, while taking the five-round shootout, 2-1.

IN THE SECOND
All three of Dartmouth's goals in the Ledyard Classic came in the second period with one against Denver and both tallies against BC coming in the second frame. The middle period has been where the Green have been successful all year as 44.1% of all the team's point production have come in that 20-minute window. The team has 29 points in the first, 26 in the third, two in OT and 45 in the second. The 3.46 points per second period is the ninth-best figure in the nation.

INJURIES
ECAC Hockey's team most affected by injuries in 2013-14 was Dartmouth with 120 man-games lost to injury in a 34-game schedule. That has not been the case to this point this season as the Big Green have only been hit with 25 man-game lost to injury. Of that figure, 11 belong to sophomore Troy Crema who missed the first half of the season with an ankle ailment. The remaining 14 games were spread out over five players with Charles Grant's six games the only number close to Crema's figure.

KEEP ON SHOOTING
The Big Green are outshooting opponents by 6.46 shots on goal per game this season, the seventh-best figure in the nation to this point. Through 13 games played in 2013-14, Dartmouth was being outshot by an average of 0.77 per game, while posting a 2-11-0 mark in that time.

ONLY ONE AWAY FROM HOME
This weekend marks the final two non-conference games of the season. Of the seven non-ECAC Hockey games this season that the Big Green are allowed to play by the Ivy League, six are in Thompson Arena. The only exception to that is Friday's game against UNH of Hockey East in Durham.

MASCOTS DON'T MATTER…
The Big Green are 4-3-0 this season against teams with animal nicknames, including 1-1-0 vs. teams with cat-themed names (Quinnipiac Bobcats and Princeton Tigers). They are 2-1-1 against people/professions (Union Dutchmen, RPI Engineers, Sacred Heart Pioneers and Denver Pioneers) and 0-1-1 against colors (Harvard Crimson).

FOLLOW ALONG
Fans who cannot watch the game on the NBC Sports Network can follow along with live stats on DartmouthSports.com or UNHWildcats.com. Fans are also encouraged to follow the team's official Twitter account for all in-game updates and insights: @Dartmouth_MIH. Those driving in their cars during the game can listen to Chris Garrett's call on 99Rock (99.3FM WFRD) or online through WFRD.com.

WHAT'S AHEAD?
Following Friday's game with the Wildcats, the Big Green will be back in action at home on Sunday afternoon against regional rival and 12th-ranked Vermont in a 4 p.m. matinee at Thompson Arena. Sunday's game will be carried live in HD on the Ivy League Digital Network. Tickets can be purchased on DartmouthSports.com or by calling 603-626-2466.

Game 15 // Jan. 11 vs. VERMONT (4 PM)	Game 16 // Jan. 16 vs. SLU (7 PM)	Game 17 // Jan. 17 vs. CLARKSON (7 PM)

GAME NOTES

Schedules