Hanover
That strike came during the 10th minute and after several hundred orbs were picked up and play resumed, the hosts continued the business of stretching their unbeaten streak against the Tigers to 8-0-1. Thompson Arena, close to full midway through the first period, was practically empty by the final horn.
Princeton entered Friday having won six of its last seven games after often occupying the ECAC’s basement during past years. However, Dartmouth chased starting goaltender Colton Phinney after the fourth tally and finished with a 35-32 shot advantage.
“We wanted to tap into that really high emotion but play under control,” said Dartmouth coach Bob Gaudet, whose squad hosts No. 15 Quinnipiac tonight. “It’s a big part of this game, but so is discipline. That’s a good team playing good hockey. They beat Quinnipiac back-to-back, beat (No. 10) Bemidji (Minn.) State twice on the road and also beat (No. 19 Minnesota State) Mankato.
“Scoring the first goal should always be a game goal for us, but it doesn’t really guarantee you anything. It’s even bigger in this game, to just get it out of the way.”
Dartmouth (5-6-3, 2-3-2) needs a quick start to the new year, for it began Friday tied with Brown for last place in the 12-team ECAC standings. The Big Green is now eighth and only seven points out of third, but getting too far behind too early jeopardizes any realistic shot at finishing in the top four and earning a first-round playoff bye.
“We’ve got to just chip away and focus on playing hard and winning shifts,” Gaudet said. “We need to pick up some points but I really like our team. We’re tweaking our systems to help us, now that we know our personnel better.”
The main thing Gaudet has realized is that his 11-man freshman class is ready for front-line contributions far sooner than he’d originally suspected. Daniel Warpecha and Cam Strong are tied for the team lead in goals with six each and Doug Graber impressed Friday by moving from center to defense. Fellow rookie Ben DiMaio was a healthy scratch to make room.
“Our young players are playing much more like veterans than I could have predicted,” Gaudet said. “We’re escalating things because we haven’t had the growing pains we thought we might. Our young guys are strong, smart and really tough.”
Graber, from suburban Denver, who scored on a pair of sparkling drives to the net, said Dartmouth’s four seniors and six juniors “have made sure everyone feels welcome. I think that’s a big part of why we’ve been able to come together so quickly. I think that will become even more apparent as season goes along.”
Graber said he last regularly played defense at age 9. Normally a center, he said his defensive responsibilities weren’t that different, but he had to keep remaining himself to stay back as play moved up ice.
“I was taken aback and not quite sure what to expect,” Graber said. “As a center, you’re pretty much a third defenseman in the defensive zone. The main challenges were going back to get pucks and then not getting up in the rush quite as much and not working the puck down low by their goal.”
Dartmouth’s first goal came from Strong, and it carried a 2-0 lead into the first intermission after Corey Kalk notched a power-play goal six minutes before the break. Warpecha and Graber scored during the second period and Graber struck again with seven minutes to play.
“Will’s a big kid with fantastic skills, so I talked to him about going back there on Tuesday this week,” said Gaudet, whose team is missing injured defensemen River Rymsha and Tim Shoup. “I don’t know if it’s going to be a long-term thing. It might be day-by-day, but he’s a great skater with good hands and he can really shoot the puck.
“It was a gamble, but it was calculated and the only way to get him experience there was to play him.”
Devin Buffalo stopped 32 shots for his second career shutout. The first came earlier this season against visiting Colgate.
Notes: Strong is the fourth consecutive freshman to score the “tennis-ball goal,” following Alex Jasiek, Carl Hesler and Grant Opperman the past three seasons. … Princeton dropped to 7-9-1 and 3-7-1. … After starting the season 0-of-43 on the power play, Dartmouth is 6-of-25 during its last eight games. … The Big Green is 4-1-2 at home and 1-5-1 on the road. It is 7-0-1 against Princeton during the teams’ last eight contests in Thompson Arena. … Dartmouth killed off a delay-of-game penalty after the second goal when additional tennis balls were thrown on the ice. … Ticket prices, normally $10 for adults and $5 for children, were increased for this one game to $15 and $8. … A solitary figure spotted walking the concourse during the second period: former Dartmouth quarterback Dalyn Williams. … Dartmouth’s Kevin Neiley was scratched for the fifth time in the last seven games. … Big Green freshman Shane Sellar twice fell during a third-period shift after one of the clear plastic shot guards he wears over his skate boots came loose. The Velcro attachment straps got under the skate blade and caused him to tumble. Such guards are gaining popularity throughout the college game. … Gaudet has recently gotten into a habit of wearing a dark green blazer he bought at the long-defunct Serry’s Men’s Store in downtown Hanover. “It doesn’t seem like it’s shrunk quite like some of my other clothes,” he said with a chuckle. … Princeton scored 32 goals during seven December games. Dartmouth entered Friday with that many tallies all season.