Opperman's Hat Trick Helps Dartmouth to 5-4 Win at Brown

Friday, February 17

Providence, R.I.

7:00 PM

Dartmouth College

10-13-3, 7-10-2

Brown

4-20-2, 3-15-1

Dartmouth

Brown

Opperman's Hat Trick Helps Dartmouth to 5-4 Win at Brown

2/17/2017 9:21:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey

Box Score Brad Schierhorn Grant Opperman Corey Kalk Troy Crema Devin Buffalo Alex Jasiek Box Score - Dartmouth 5, Brown 4

By: Dartmouth

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Senior Grant Opperman scored his first career hat trick and the Dartmouth men's hockey team erased an early two-goal deficit to defeat Brown, 5-4, Friday night at Meehan Auditorium.

Opperman's first three-goal night came after the Bears (4-20-2, 3-15-1 ECAC Hockey) scored twice in the opening 3:21 from Tyler Bird and Sam Lafferty. The senior from Wayzata, Minnesota, followed with two goals in the first period and another in the second.

For just the third time in his career, Opperman found the back of net two or more times in a game and for the second instance, it came at the expense of the Bears (Nov. 15, 2014 / 2-2-4). His hat trick was the first by a Big Green (10-13-3, 7-10-2 ECAC) player this season and the first since Brad Schierhorn '16 scored all three in an overtime Game 1 win against Colgate in last season's first round.

“It's pretty awesome to score three, especially when your teammates make them as easy as those three,” Opperman said. “Alex Jasiek dropped an absolute thread on my stick to get things going.”

“The win is the more important thing, though, especially at this time of the season when we're fighting for home ice,” Opperman added. “It was discouraging to give up those two at the end. When there's two weeks left in the season, you have to look at these situations when you can put a team away as dress rehearsals for the playoffs. We didn't do that, but it's something we can learn from."

Junior Corey Kalk and senior Troy Crema added the other two tallies. Crema's power-play goal with 10:47 remaining gave Dartmouth a 5-2 lead, but proved to be the game winner as the Bears' Brent Beaudoin scored twice in the final minutes to being the home team to within one.

However, timely saves from junior Devin Buffalo and a puck that hit the crossbar and ricocheted out as time expired helped Dartmouth to a season split with Brown as each picked up one-goal victories on the road in 2016-17.

Crema and Kalk both finished the night with a goal and an assist, while nine skaters wearing green and white earned a point in the game.

In all, Dartmouth outshot Brown, 44-28, posting double-digits in shots on goal each period.

Brown's Gavin Nieto turned aside 23 shots in just over 32 minutes of action, before giving way to Tim Ernst who made 16 and allowed just the one Crema core. Buffalo turned aside 24 in the win.

For Dartmouth, the victory was the 10th of the season and gives the team 17 straight years of double-digit wins.

The Big Green are on the road Saturday night at Yale's Ingalls Rink for a 7 p.m. puck drop. It's the first game in New Haven since last season's ECAC Hockey Quarterfinals sweep of the Bulldogs.