Final Weekend of Regular Season Carries Postseason Implications

Game 28 // Dartmouth (13-10-4, 10-8-2) vs. Princeton (4-19-3, 2-16-2)				Game 28 // Dartmouth (13-10-4, 10-8-2) vs. No. 10 Quinnipiac (20-8-4, 15-2-3)

Date: Friday, Feb. 27, 2015 // Time: 7:05 PM Location: Hanover, N.H. // Arena: Thompson Arena All-Time Series: 97-85-16 // Streak: 2-0-0 Last Meeting: Dec. 6, 2014 // W, 4-2 (Princeton)				Date: Saturday, Feb. 28, 2015 // Time: 7:05 PM Location: Hanover, N.H. // Arena: Thompson Arena All-Time Series: 7-15-1 // Streak: 0-6-0 Last Meeting: Dec. 5, 2014 // L, 2-1/OT (Hamden)
Princeton Media				Quinnipiac Media
TV: None // Radio: WFRD 99.3 FM (99Rock) PBP: Chris Garrett Color: Michael Kaiser Online: Ivy League Digital Network Live Stats: DartmouthSports.com Twitter: @Dartmouth_MIH Digital Press Box Dartmouth Notes // Princeton Preview Ticket Information				TV: None // Radio: WFRD 99.3 FM (99Rock) PBP: Chris Garrett Color: Michael Kaiser Online: Ivy League Digital Network Live Stats: DartmouthSports.com Twitter: @Dartmouth_MIH Digital Press Box Dartmouth Notes // QU Preview Ticket Information

THIS WEEKEND
The Dartmouth men's hockey team wraps up the 2014-15 regular season with a home weekend against Princeton and Quinnipiac at Thompson Arena.

TICKET INFORMATION
Friday's game will feature a different policy for those looking to buy day-of-game tickets. All ticket sales will end at 7:30 p.m. or when a sellout is reached, whichever happens first. Be sure to buy your tickets in advance and arrive early. As always, student seats are limited. The first 850 Dartmouth students will be admitted free of charge, so they are encouraged to get there early. No ticket sales or student admission will be allowed after 7:30 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT
The Big Green are coming off a 1-1-0 weekend in the North Country in which they beat Clarkson, 3-2, in overtime on Friday night before dropping their final road game of the regular season Saturday at St. Lawrence, 6-3. Eric Neiley scored his fifth game-winning goal of the season just 1:06 into OT at Cheel Arena to sink the Golden Knights. The following night, Rick Pinkston set a new career high with a pair of goals against the Saints, coming full circle inside Appleton Arena after suffering a season-ending broken arm in the rink as a freshman in 2011-12.

SCOUTING PRINCETON
The Tigers know they will be the No. 12 seed in the upcoming ECAC Hockey Championship. Losses to Brown (4-1) and Yale (6-2) last weekend pushed Princeton's conference mark to 2-16-2, while 4-19-3 overall. So far this season, the Tigers have yet to win a game away from the friendly confines of Hobey Baker Rink, going 0-9-1 in true road games and 0-1-1 in neutral-site contests. Junior Jonathan Liau leads the team in scoring (14) and assists (4), while his four goals share the top spot with sophomore Ben Foster. Sophomore Colton Phinney has been the netminder of record in all but one game this season, posting a 4-18-3 mark in 24 starts and 25 appearances.

SCOUTING QUINNIPIAC
The Bobcats have clinched the top spot and at least a share of the regular season title, though they have already been awarded the trophy in an on-ice ceremony following last Saturday's 2-2 tie with Brown. If the Bobcats were to lose both games on this road trip to Harvard and Hanover and St. Lawrence were to win both of its games at Union and RPI, the two teams would share the title with Quinnipiac still holding the No. 1 seed in the postseason. The Bobcats are 15-2-3 this season against ECAC Hockey competition and 5-8-4 overall. Sophomore Sam Anas leads the team in both goals (17) and points (33), while senior captain Matthew Peca's 25 assists are the most of any QU player this season by nine. Michael Garteig is 19-6-3 between the pipes with a 1.94 goals against average and a .918 save percentage.

AGAINST THESE TEAMS THIS YEAR
Dartmouth made the trip to play these two teams the first weekend in December and came away with a 1-1-0 record. It began with a 2-1 overtime loss in Hamden on Dec. 5 before bouncing back the following night for the 4-2 win at Princeton thanks to a two-goal night from Tyler Sikura.

WHAT'S AT STAKE: ECAC HOCKEY
With the win at Clarkson on Friday night, Dartmouth secured itself at least one home playoff series. Harvard and Colgate are tied for the fourth and final first-round bye as each has 23 points, one more than the Big Green. A four-point weekend could go a long way in helping Dartmouth earn one of those two remaining unclinched spots, but Yale's 25 points and current spot at No. 3 look to put the Bulldogs in good shape to finish behind the Bobcats and Saints. Cornell is one-point back of the Green with 21 and is also playing for an outside shot of skipping the first weekend of the league's postseason tournament with games at Yale and Brown this weekend. (Tiebreaker procedures)

WHAT'S AT STAKE: THE IVY LEAGUE
Here is where things are more clear-cut. Yale jumped Dartmouth in the Ivy standings with its 6-2 win at Princeton last weekend and has just a Saturday night game with Cornell remaining in its Ancient Eight schedule. If the Big Green were to defeat Princeton on Friday and the Bulldogs are dropped by the Big Red, Dartmouth would win the Ivy title outright. A loss to the Tigers would give Yale the championship automatically, while a tie to Princeton and a Bulldogs' loss to Cornell would mean the teams from Hanover and New Haven would share the title for the second time in eight seasons.

THE CLASS OF 2015
Following Saturday's game with Quinnipiac, Dartmouth will recognize Andy Simpson, Jesse Beamish, alternate captain Eric Neiley, captain Tyler Sikura, alternate captain Eric Robinson, Rick Pinkston, Brandon McNally and Charlie Mosey for their four-year contributions to the men's hockey program during the team's annual Senior Night. With one more appearance in the lineup for McNally, this year's senior class will have all eight players in the 100-games played club, the most by any singular group of seniors in Dartmouth's 109-year history.

CLUBHOUSE LEADER ALL OVER THE PLACE
Thanks to a minor penalty in the St. Lawrence game assessed to McNally, the elder Neiley is one penalty minute shy of being the only player in the nation to lead his team in goals (13), assists (13), points (26), game-winners (5) and PIM (32). Pinkston's minor penalty pushed him to 33 PIM this year, one more than his classmate.

TOP LINE SCORING
Dartmouth's top line of Brad Schierhorn, Sikura and Robinson was held without a point during the roadtrip to the North Country. It was the first time since the Ledyard Classic against Denver and Boston College that the trio was held scoreless in a two-game weekend.

BLOCK PARTY
Quietly going about his business, Andy Simpson has made himself into one of the top defensive-defensemen in ECAC Hockey. That fact has become evident in Simpson's ability to block shots in 2014-15. His 70 total blocks and 2.59 per game both lead all conference players this season. That total figure is the fifth best in the nation, while his per game average ranks second among all Division I players. Simpson also leads in conference games as he has helped prevent 54 (2.70 per game) shots from reaching goal in 20 outings entering the weekend.

SENIOR STATS
- After goals from Jesse Beamish and Eric Neiley at Clarkson and two from Rick Pinkston at St. Lawrence, Dartmouth's seniors have put themselves near the top of the national leaderboard as a class. The Big Green seniors' 1.59 goals per game is the third-best figure in the nation with one weekend left, trailing only Mercyhurst (1.97) and Minnesota (1.67), while slightly better than North Dakota's seniors (1.58).
- Down the middle, Dartmouth's seniors have won more faceoffs than any other group of last-year players in the nation with 679. Their collective .537 win percentage on the draw ranks 10th nationally.
- Amongst ECAC Hockey teams, the Big Green's Class of 2015 leads in goals (43), assists (62), points (105), game-winning goals (6), shots on goal (399), blocks (165), and PIM (137).

THE BEST AGAINST FIVE OTHERS
As the final weekend of Ivy League play comes around, Dartmouth's Eric Neiley has made a case as the best player in games against other league opponents. With one game left, Neiley leads in points (13), goals (6) and game-winners (3), while he shares the assists lead (7) with Cornell's Jake Weidner. In terms of total scoring, Neiley has a three-point lead over teammate Grant Opperman (4-6-10) as well as Cornell's Cole Bardreau and Jimmy Vesey of Harvard.

SCORING THREE USUALLY MEANS A 'W'
The loss at St. Lawrence was the first this season for the Big Green when they scored at least three goals in a game. Dartmouth had been 11-0-1 coming into the contest with 11 straight wins when scoring at least three (it opened the season with a 3-3 tie at Harvard).

IN THE LAST 10
Dartmouth's 7-2-1 mark in the last 10 games and subsequent .750 winning percentage are both the second best among the 12 ECAC Hockey programs. The 24 goals and 3.40 goals per game also rank second. In all four instances, St. Lawrence leads the conference.

350
The victory at Clarkson was the 350th head coaching win for Bob Gaudet '81 in his 27-year career between Dartmouth (257) and Brown (93).

Eric Neiley's OT goal gives Bob Gaudet his 350th career win. pic.twitter.com/MoDh8zsZSW
— Dartmouth Hockey (@Dartmouth_MIH) February 21, 2015

FOLLOW ALONG
Both games this weekend will be carried live in HD on the Ivy League Digital Network for subscribers. The game can also be heard live on 99.3 FM WFRD or online using the iHeart radio app or online. For in-game updates and information, please follow the team's official Twitter account: @Dartmouth_MIH.

WHAT'S AHEAD?
Dartmouth will either be home for the first round (Mar. 6-8) or for the quarterfinals (Mar. 13-15). Please check back with DartmouthSports.com for updates regarding the Big Green's postseason schedule as well as ticket and broadcast information.

ECAC Hockey Championship

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