Big Green Back on the Road to Start 2020, Play at Princeton and Quinnipiac

Friday, January 3

Princeton, N.J.

7 PM

Dartmouth College

Princeton

Dartmouth vs. Princeton

Photo by: John and Matt Risley

Big Green Back on the Road to Start 2020, Play at Princeton and Quinnipiac

1/2/2020 10:04:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey

Dartmouth on the road with ECAC Hockey points on the line.

By: Pat Salvas

GAME 13
Dartmouth | 6-4-2, 4-2-1
Princeton | 2-10-3, 0-6-2
Date: Friday, 1.3.20 — 7 p.m.
Location: Hobey Baker Rink | Princeton, N.J.
Watch: ESPN+ | Stretch (international)
Listen: DartmouthSports.com | Rob Kennedy (PxP)
Follow Along: Live Stats

GAME 14
Dartmouth | 6-4-2, 4-2-1
Quinnipiac | 9-7-1, 4-3-1
Date: Saturday, 1.4.20 — 7 p.m.
Location: TD Sports Center | Hamden, Conn.
Watch: ESPN+ | Stretch (international)
Listen: DartmouthSports.com | Rob Kennedy (PxP)
Follow Along: Live Stats

Game Notes

THIS WEEKEND
• The Dartmouth men’s hockey team begins 2020 on the road this weekend against Princeton and Quinnipiac.
• It marks the first ECAC Hockey games for the Big Green since a Dec. 7 win against No. 2 Cornell and the first on the road since a 4-1 victory at Brown on Nov. 16.

LAST TIME OUT
• Dartmouth won the 31st Ledyard Classic with a pair of victories over the weekend.
• The Green and White defeated Colorado College, 5-2, in the opener on Saturday night before moving on to defeat UConn, 4-3, in the title game.
• The Huskies took a 3-1 lead in the third period thanks to a pair of goals just 42 seconds apart, but were the victims of three-straight Dartmouth tallies to end the game.

AWARD SEASON
• Ledyard Classic Tournament MVP: Quin Foreman. The junior winger had three goals on the weekend, including two in the title game. His second of the game against the Huskies came with under four minutes to play and capped the comeback, finishing off a rush that started with him stealing the puck in the defensive zone and burying the winner on a 2-on-1 the other way.
• ECAC Hockey Player of the Week: Drew O’Connor. The sophomore made the switch from wing to center with Will Graber out of the lineup and all he did was lead the league in scoring (3-2-5) and goals (3). He scored twice against CC and started the third-period comeback with the second Dartmouth goal of the game vs. UConn. This was his second ECAC top-player nod this season after also earning it back in mid-November.
• ECAC Hockey Goalie of the Week: Adrian Clark. The senior netminder turned aside 70-of-75 shots over the two days, earning wins in both games to garner top goalie recognition for both the Ledyard as well as the league. He started the weekend with 29 stops against the Tigers before posting a season-high 41 versus the Huskies to secure the title. Seventeen (17) of those saves came in the final frame when the intensity for both teams ramped up.

ONE G FOR COACH G
• Koenig Family Head Coach Bob Gaudet ’81 joins a select group of individuals when he steps behind the bench on Friday night in Princeton.
• Gaudet becomes just the seventh coach in NCAA hockey history to reach 1,000 games coached within one conference and the first in the ranks of ECAC Hockey to reach the milestone figure.
• Gaudet is set to hit this milestone after nine years behind the bench at Brown and the last 23 at his alma mater in Hanover.
• Already the all-time leader for men’s coaches, Gaudet is the leader amongst all coaches as Marsh had been on the bench for 939 games at St. Lawrence and 27 as the interim head coach in 2017-18 with the Big Green women’s program for a combined 966 over 27 seasons.
• Only Wisconsin’s Jeff Sauer (1,244 in WCHA), Ron Mason (1,233 between Lake State, Bowling Green and Michigan State in CCHA), BU’s Jack Parker (1,146 in Hockey East), Michigan’s Red Berenson (1,221 in CCHA), UNH’s Dick Umile (1,083 in Hockey East) and recent Hockey Hall of Fame inductee Jerry York of Boston College (1,016 in Hockey East) have coached more games in one conference than Gaudet.
• Associate head coach David Lassonde will not be in attendance on Friday night as he is in the Czech Republic with the American team at the World Junior Championships, but has the distinction of working with three of the above coaches, serving on the staffs of Sauer, Umile and now Gaudet during his career.

AGAINST THE OPPOSITION ALREADY
• Dartmouth defeated Princeton, 3-1, in the earlier meeting this season in Hanover.
• The first win of the year for the Big Green, it was sparked by a two-goal performance from Will Graber, including the winner with 6:10 left in regulation. Daniel Warpecha added the insurance marker just 50 seconds later, while Clark kicked in 27 saves between the pipes.
• Warpecha also scored the previous night in an eventual 2-2 tie with the Bobcats. Quinnipiac held a 2-1 lead past the mid-way point of the third period, but an all-rookie goal from Tyler Campbell — his first career score — with assists going to Mark Gallant and Tanner Palocsik helped the home team earn a league point.

THESE TEAMS THIS WEEK…
• Dartmouth (4-2-1) and Quinnipiac (4-3-1) are tied for fifth in the standings with nine points each. The Green have a game in hand with the Bobcats, so a win on Saturday would prove all the more important as the second half gets rolling.
• Princeton (0-6-2) sits in 12th right now with just two points thanks to a pair of ties and no wins.
• In regard to the battle for an Ivy League title, Dartmouth is tied for first with Harvard and Cornell as each are 4-1-0 with losses coming to one another. The Tigers have played the fewest Ivy games thus far, posting an 0-3-0 mark in those contests, including losses to both of this weekend’s opponents.
• Quinnipiac Leaders:
o Points | Odeen Tufto (17)
o Goals | Wyatt Bongiovanni (8)
o Assists | Odeen Tufto (15)
o Goaltending | Keith Petruzelli: 9-6-1, 2.26, .914
• Princeton Leaders:
o Points | Corey Andonovski (13)
o Goals | Corey Andonovski (6)
o Assists | Jackson Cressey (12)
o Goaltending | Ryan Ferland: 1-6-2, 3.23, .894

SAMMY’S ROLLIN’
• Sophomore Sam Hesler scored the first two goals of his career in the games right before the break and was named the ECAC Hockey Player of the Week for his efforts.
• Additionally, Hesler posted an assist in those games, finishing the weekend with four points.
• He returned from break and made an impact in just the second game of the second half, scoring the tying goal against UConn. After an on-ice referee-initiated review, it was determined that Hesler’s rebound bid completely crossed the line and pulled the Big Green even with UConn, 3-3, for his third goal in the last four games played.

RUTTS IS ROLLIN’ TOO!
• After what can only be described as a frustrating start to the season with no points in nine games, junior Collin Rutherford got back on track in the Ledyard Classic.
• The Western New York native had assists in both games for not only his first two points of the season, but also… a point streak!

HAN’S SOLO
• Senior defender Clay Han kicked off the scoring against Colorado College just 1:23 into the game with his first goal and point of the season.
• Known more for his defensive play, the score early against the Tigers snapped a 35-game goal-scoring drought dating back to the 2018-19 season opener, a 7-6 OT home win against Harvard.

PLAYERS WITH POINTS
• With Han and Rutherford getting on the scoresheet for the first time this season, Dartmouth now has 20 players with at least one point in 2019-20.
• Only Rensselaer (24 in 17 games), Clarkson (21 in 17), Colgate (21 in 20), Union (21 in 19) and Cornell (21 in 11).
• All of those teams with the exception of Cornell have played more games than the Big Green.

WHOA… THAT’S WEIRD!
• Dartmouth is averaging 3.17 goals per game this season, good for 13th in the nation and third in ECAC Hockey behind only Harvard (4.08) and Cornell (3.82).
• The team is also averaging 3.17 goals against per game this year, a figure that ranks 42nd in the country and just slightly better than Friday’s opponent Princeton (3.20).
• Dartmouth has scored 38 goals this season and allowed 38. The team has scored 19 on the road and another 19 at home after nine last weekend.
• At home, Dartmouth has allowed 16 goals for a plus-three rating in seven games, while on the road and in just five games, the team has surrendered 22 tallies.

SPECIAL TEAMS
• The Big Green’s power-play unit is operating at 23.7% (9-38), just outside the top-10 in the nation at 11th.
• Both Princeton (84.7%, 19th) and Quinnipiac (81.1%, 31st) have PK units over 80 percent this season and pose a formidable challenge.
• The penalty kill unit performed admirably in the Ledyard, allowing one goal in nine chances. The season total is 77.8% (42-54), a figure that stands 48th in Division I.
• The Green and White were on the PK more than any other team in December as the opposition went 7-for-32 with the man-advantage.
• Part of that was an average of 14.33 PIMs per game, 10th in the nation in the final month of the decade.

HOME COOKIN’
• Dartmouth played five games at home in the month of December, tied with Ohio State and AIC for most in the final month of the decade.
• In that stretch, the team went 3-1-1 (.700).
• O’Connor led the way with six points (4-2-6) in those games.
• Dartmouth’s power play was 6-for-21 (28.6), with the six PPGs tied for the most with AIC.
• January poses a bit of a different story as the team is on the road six times in nine total games.

ESPN+
• All of Dartmouth home games will be carried this season on ESPN+ with Tyler Murray providing play-by-play throughout the home schedule in 2019-20.
• In addition to games played in Hanover, ECAC Hockey road games at each school besides Rensselaer will also be carried on the network, making ESPN+ your home for 21-of-22 conference games and 26 regular season games total.
• Postseason games will also be carried on ESPN+ in 2019-20 and will not need subscribers to pay any additional fees to watch the league’s postseason.

ON THE AIR
• Once again, Rob Kennedy will be the Voice of the Big Green on the radio.
• Kennedy begins his third season with the team and will broadcast all 29 regular season games via an audio link through DartmouthSports.com.

WHAT’S AHEAD?
• Dartmouth will continue its road swing Friday night the following evening, traveling up I-89 to take on former ECAC Hockey rival and travel partner Vermont.
• The Green return home to face Boston University the following night at Thompson Arena with a special 8 p.m. start time.