Weekend Preview: Focus On League Play
ALBANY, N.Y. -- For the remainder of the
season the spotlight is now on league play as the top seven spots
in the ECAC Hockey standings are separated by a mere six
points. This weekend features all 12 of the league teams in
action engaged in a pair a league matchups.
Clarkson/St. Lawrence at No. 20
Union/Rensselaer: Nationally-ranked Union currently
sits in a three-way tie for second place in ECAC Hockey standings,
as it will welcome Clarkson and St. Lawrence to Messa Rink this
weekend for a pair of crucial games. Clarkson (5-18-3) enters
the weekend in 12th place with a 1-11-2 mark (4 pts.), while St.
Lawrence (14-9-4) joins Union in second place with a 8-4-2 record
(18 pts.). Friday's game against the Golden Knights will be
televised nationally on the NHL Network. The Dutchmen have
played in a program-high 11 overtime games this season, going 3-2-6
in those games. Clarkson is looking to gain some momentum for
the playoffs over the final eight games of the regular
season. Golden Knights' senior Matt Beca leads Clarkson in
scoring with 25 points, including a team-high 13 goals.
Rensselaer welcomes back many of the players and staff of the 1985
NCAA Championship Team - as well as other former member of the
program - this weekend as part of Men's Hockey Alumni
Weekend. The Engineers enter Friday's game in a fifth place
tie with Colgate will face-off against St. Lawrence Friday and
Clarkson Saturday. The Engineers have several
student-athletes who rank among the top five in ECAC Hockey in
numerous categories highlighted by Chase Polacek who is first in
goals (18), points (40), power-play points (23), power-play goals
(10), and shorthanded points (5). He is also second in
assists (22). The Saints come in with a 4-1-1 record in their
last six games. They are led by senior goaltender Kain Tisi,
who is 8-4-2 with a 1.99 goals-against average and a .932 save
percentage.
Dartmouth/Harvard at No. 8/8 Yale/Brown:
Yale, coming off a 5-3-1 January mark that included splitting its
last three conference sets, looks to begin February with a bang as
old rivals Dartmouth (6-15-0, 4-10-0) and Harvard (5-12-3, 5-6-3)
make the trek to New Haven this weekend. Yale and Dartmouth
have met 194 times since 1907 with Yale having a 99-84-12
lead. The last four games at Ingalls have been split.
Harvard's win at Boston last month increased its series lead over
Yale to 135-74-18 heading into the 228th meeting. However,
the Bulldogs own a 43-38-12 edge in home games, including 3-0-1
over the last four seasons. Yale possesses an aggressive
offensive style each night, as it has outshot opponents in 15 of
the 21 games and are 10-2-1 in those outings. Brown will also
play host to its league rivals this weekend. The Bears come
into the weekend on a three game non-losing streak with wins over
Clarkson and Rensselaer and tie with Union. Brown has been a
‘streaky' team this season, as it had a five-game win streak
come to close with a five-game losing streak earlier this
year. Junior Harry Zolnierczyk leads the Bears in scoring
with 20 points, while sophomore Jack Maclellan has 19. The
series between Brown and Dartmouth has been very tight as the Big
Green holds a slim lead, just 65-63-7. Dartmouth has won the
last three meetings over the Bears with a sweep last season and a
9-4 victory earlier this year. Dartmouth's junior Adam
Estoclet is the Big Green's top point getter with 20 points.
Classmate Scott Fleming is right behind with 19, he is also the top
goal scorer with 10. Harvard has been hot as of late losing
just once in its last five league games (3-1-1). Harvard has
won four of its last six games against top-10 teams, dating back to
last season. Crimson freshman Louis Leblanc has recorded
multiple points in three of the last five league games and has five
goals and two assists in that span.
No. 5/5 Cornell/Colgate at
Quinnipiac/Princeton: Both the Bobcats and the
Tigers will host Central New York travel partners, Cornell and
Colgate this weekend in league action. Quinnipiac has won
four of 13 games all-time against Cornell, with two of those three
wins coming in the 2007 ECAC Hockey Quarterfinals to send the
Bobcats to the tournament quarterfinals that year. Last
season, Quinnipiac was 16-0-0 in games in which it led after the
second period. In their last 44 games in that scenario,
dating back three seasons, Quinnipiac is undefeated at 40-0-4 when
playing with a lead heading into the final frame. Princeton gained
points on 10 league teams last weekend as it ran its win streak to
three games with a sweep at Harvard and Dartmouth. The Tigers
moved within two points of the final home ice playoff spot.
Cornell closed out the month of January with a 5-1-1 mark after
pulling off its second four-point weekend of the season, downing
St. Lawrence and Clarkson at Lynah Rink. On the year, Blake
Gallagher leads the Cornell offense with 25 points through 20 games
on a team-best 13 goals and 12 assists. In goal, Ben Scrivens
has played every minute, posting a 1.94 goals-against average and a
.929 save percentage with a pair of shutouts. After finishing
January with a 3-4-1 overall record, Colgate kicks off the month of
February on the road as it travels to face Princeton and
Quinnipiac, Friday and Saturday evening. The Raiders rank
14th nationally in scoring offense (3.28) heading into this
weekend. The offense is led by the trio of Austin Smith
(10g-21a-31pts), David McIntyre (8g-19a-27pts), and Brian Day
(16g-10a-26pts).
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