Men’s Hockey Ends Weekend with 6-2 Victory over Rensselaer

Saturday, January 20

Hanover, N.H.

7:00 PM

Dartmouth College

5-7-6, 3-4-4

Rensselaer

7-15-1, 4-8-0

Rensselaer

Dartmouth

Photo by: Ryan Yong

Men’s Hockey Ends Weekend with 6-2 Victory over Rensselaer

1/20/2024 10:12:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey

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The Big Green scored three power-play goals

By: Nick Romei

HANOVER, N.H. – Braiden Dorfman and Luke Haymes each scored two goals to lead the Dartmouth men's hockey team to a 6-2 victory over Rensselaer in ECAC Hockey action on Saturday evening at Thompson Arena. Special teams was key as the Big Green scored three times on the power play while Joey Musa and Haymes each finished with three points.

The Big Green improve to 5-7-6, 3-4-4 while the Engineers fall to 7-15-1, 4-8-0.

"PK was really good all the way throughout," said Koenig Family Head Coach of Dartmouth Men's Hockey Reid Cashman. "Power-play put the work in, and it was nice to see the reward. That was the difference tonight. We had three. Troy Thibodeau has put a ton of work in from the coaching standpoint and those players really executed at a high level."

Dartmouth wasted no time opening the scoring for the night, grabbing its first goal less than five minutes into the game. The puck was loose in front of goal and Dorfman made no mistake from close range, smashing it into the back of the net for his third goal of the year.

Cooper Flinton tallied the first Big Green power-play goal of the night midway through the opening period to push the lead to two. Nikita Nikora's shot from the right faceoff circle was saved by Rensselaer goaltender Brett Miller, but Flinton crashed the net to tap home the rebound for his second goal in as many nights.

The Engineers had a goal waved off shortly after, but then scored their first of the night at the 14:41 mark through John Beaton.

The Big Green scored another two goals during the second period. Luke Haymes tallied the first one, coming on the power play midway through the frame. Ian Pierce created an opening near the blue line before playing the puck towards goal. Musa was able to control it and make the backwards pass to Haymes on the other side of the net for the wide-open tap in.

What a pass from Musa in front of goal to Haymes!

It's the second power-play goal of the night for the Big Green!@ESPNPlus | https://t.co/lLdHusTySX pic.twitter.com/sV1vA6RfEz
— Dartmouth Men's Hockey (@Dartmouth_MIH) January 21, 2024

Dorfman tallied his second goal late in the second when Musa's initial shot was saved, but the puck went behind Miller for an easy finish from close range.

Nikita Nikora scored his scored goal of the year midway through the final period. The Big Green forced a turnover near the RPI net, Haymes got his stick on it and it fell perfectly for Nikora to fire into the back of the net.

After the Engineers scored their second of the night, Haymes tallied his second goal of the evening on the power play. RPI was going to be called for another penalty, so Dartmouth pulled Black for the extra attacker to try and take advantage. The Big Green struck moments later when Haymes scored from close range.

Dartmouth outshot RPI, 47-19, and held the edge in faceoffs, 31-25.

Speaking about the special teams play in the win, Dorfman said, "Power-play was great tonight. We've been struggling the last handful of games with that, so it was good to finally see a few go in. PK was great tonight too."

Dartmouth returns to action next weekend for a pair of ECAC Hockey matchups at Thompson Arena against Colgate and Cornell. Both games are scheduled for 7 p.m. and will be available to stream nationally on ESPN+ and internationally on Stretch Internet. Tickets for the contests are available for purchase through the Dartmouth Athletics ticket office.