Blase Helps Bulldogs Even Series
_Photos/Yale/Billy_Blase.gif?max_width=360)
PRINCETON, NJ -- Billy Blase made 32 saves and Tom Dignard had a goal and two assists as the Yale men's hockey team evened its best-of-three ECAC Hockey playoff series with Princeton by coming from behind to win 4-3 before 1,556 at Baker Rink.
Blase outplayed Tigers' goalie Zane Kalemba (22 saves), who had stopped all 30 shots the night before in a 3-0 win. Yale (16-13-4) erased a 2-0 deficit with four straight goals to stun the sophomore netminder.
Princeton went 2-for-8 with the man-advantage and outshot Yale 35-26. The Blue scored on one of four chances and registered their first playoff victory in regulation time since 2003 against Brown at Ingalls Rink. It was also Yale's first win over the Tigers this season in five tries.
"The story of this game was that we were down 2-0 and were facing elimination. Our guys responded by playing even harder. That was the most impressive thing to me," said Keith Allain '80, Yale's Malcolm G. Chace Head Coach of Hockey.
The Bulldogs started going to the penalty box early in the first period and got burned with a pair of Princeton power-play goals.
Matt Arhontas (7th goal), in the low slot, one-timed a Mark Magnowski feed past Blase on the ice at 6:31 before Cam MacIntyre (10th) converted the Tigers' second opportunity 46 seconds later.
After some early chances turned into near misses, the No. 7 seeded Elis could have packed it in, figuring they were in for the same bad luck as the night before. Two goals in just over two minutes changed their outlook.
Mark Arcobello won a key faceoff with 15 seconds left on a two-man advantage. When the puck came around low to the opposite side, Broc Little sent a pass to the point for Tom Dignard (4th). The sophomore defenseman paused and then fired a rising slapshot that went past Kalemba's glove to make it 2-1 at 9:28.
"This was a new game," said Dignard when asked what it was like to finally break through on the scoreboard. "I forgot about last night. You have to have a short memory in the playoffs."
The Bulldogs continued to push in the home end and got the equalizer by crashing the net and finding a rebound. Dignard carried the puck to the net on a three-on-two rush and bounced a shot off Kalemba. The puck came out to Jean-Francois Boucher who quickly banged it inside the near post and past the Tiger goalie's stick. It was the senior forward's first goal since Nov. 3 and his third of the year.
Blase, who had 11 saves, had to make a few acrobatic stops on the penalty-kill to keep Princeton from netting another in the first period, while Kalemba (9 saves), who saw two pucks hit the post in the first, needed some great saves of his own to prevent an even bigger momentum shift.
Eighteen seconds into the second the underdogs made it three straight to stun the home crowd. Dignard, at the point, sent a perfect lead pass to the low slot. Freshman Brendan Mason (5th) one-timed the soft feed from 12 feet away inside the near post low.
Yale, which outshot Princeton 9-7 in the middle frame, made it four in a row when Little (11th), skating full speed through the right circle, re-directed a fantastic toss from Denny Kearney at 10:18. Kearney skated in from the blueline on the left side and noticed Little busting for the net.
Both teams had great scoring chances in the third and both goalies were amazing in challenging the shooters. Kalemba was pulled for the extra skater with just over four minutes left and Blase faced some extra pressure. Kevin Lohry stood in the low slot alone and fired just over the crossbar with the Yale goalie standing his ground.
The Tigers finally broke through to close the margin to 4-3 when MacIntyre got his second of the night with 59 seconds left. Blase, who stopped 14 of 15 shots in the third, saved a few more big ones for the closing moments.
"Blase gave us just what we needed tonight and the guys really rallied around him," said Allain. "He really gave us some confidence late in the game when things were getting crazy."
