Hanover, NH – Dartmouth came into the game with a record of 0-5-0 on the season but took it to Saint Lawrence early on a five minute major power-play. Dartmouth would gain its first lead of the season, 368 minutes, and 58 seconds into its season, as Andy Simpson sent a wrister to the net that went through the wickets of SLU goalie, Matt Weninger. St.Lawrence would answer a mere 1:46 later, as a brutal turnover by Josh Hartley led to a Patrick Doherty breakaway, shorthanded goal.Dartmouth would again take the lead, also on the major power-play when Josh Hartley attuned for his mistake and blasted a shot into the net to give the Big Green the 2-2 lead.

St. Lawrence would tie the score in the first at 17:04 of the period on a Chris Martin goal. St Lawrence would take another major penalty as Eric Sweetman got the gate on a contact to the head penalty joining Woody Hudson who had received a game misconduct earlier. But Dartmouth was unable to take advantage and it was tied at deuces after one.

St. Lawrence would add three goals in the second, on goals from Matt Carey, Patrick Doherty and Gunnar Hughes. Dartmouth would add a goal from Brett Patterson on breakaway and the teams would enter the third with St. Lawrence leading the Big Green 5-3. The Saints and Big Green would trade goals in the third, as St. Lawrence would outscore the Green 3-2 in the third period. Matt Carey had two goals, while his brother Greg would add a goal and an assist.  St. Lawrence held, despite some late interesting moments, to defeat Dartmouth 8-5. St. Lawrence improves its record to 6-2-2, 2-0-2 ECAC while Dartmouth falls to an abysmal 0-6-0, 0-4-0 on the season.

What I Saw

• It was much of the same for Dartmouth on this night as St. Lawrence skaters were left seemingly at will in front of Charles Grant. St. Lawrence has more guys that can bury the puck than does Clarkson, and it showed as the Saints sent three goals into the net during the second period alone. They also found the back of the net three times in the third period,   The frustration continues to mount for the Big Green and it has allowed 5.16 goals per game in its first six contests.
• St. Lawrence lives and dies by its high powered offense. tonight the offense was firing on all cylinders, especially in the second period where it dominated Dartmouth both territorially and on the scoresheet . The second period was an impressive display of offense, as it sent shot after quality chance towards Charles Grant. If not for Grant the game could have gotten seriously out of hand.
• Dartmouth had its chances in the game and unlike the night prior they were able to bury four of them. The offense though is hardly the problem. We knew Dartmouth would score some goals but its the defense that has reared its ugly head in the early going. Dartmouth scored two late goals in the third period but it was a case of too little, too late for the Big Green.

What I Thought

• No easy way to sugar coat the defensive performance of Dartmouth over the last two nights other than the fact it could have been much worse than what the scoreboard ultimately said on the weekend and tonight I will remind you the score was 8-5. It is tough I suppose. In the offseason Dartmouth lost its captain, Mike Keenan, and it seems as though that loss was a bigger loss than anyone has thought or written about. There is a lot of offense in the ECAC this season and the Big Green will need the right the ship, and right it fast if it wishes to compete. Luckily for them all 12 teams make the ECAC playoffs, so there is plenty of time for that to happen.
• Credit St. Lawrence, as it was down two guys in the first period to major penalties and game misconducts. The latter one, in my opinion, was borderline in nature and seemed to only fire the team up. St. Lawrence wouldn’t allow a goal on the second major and it went on to outscore Dartmouth 3-1 in the second period. In all honesty, the kill was the difference in the game. Penalty kills are often huge momentum swings, especially when it is of the major variety.
• St. Lawrence is downright fun to watch and there is no better way to put it. Last week, against Yale it provided a brand of hockey that few teams can match and on tis night it was much of the same. Its defense wasn’t great tonight but its didn’t have to be. That has proved to be its MO so far this season. The ultimate goal is to score more goals than the other team and so far St. Lawrence has done that.

What They Said

Dartmouth Coach Bob Gaudet said,

“They are a really good hockey team. We did some good things but they can score. We fought really hard and scored some goals. We continued to battle hard the whole game. They are a very very good offensive team.”

“They took advantage of rush situations and we needed to do a better job keeping them off the scoreboard. For the most part we played a solid game but tonight they we were the better team.”

St. Lawrence coach Greg Carvel said,

“Scoring goals is not an issue for us. We have good balance on our forward lines and any night we can expect to get contributions from a lot of guys. My concern is the defensive side of it and tonight was a real ugly game. We gave them too much.”

“The shorthanded goal was big for us, Right now we are a real confident and good hockey team. The only fact we weren’t able to control the game was because of the two majors. Being able to kill those was great.”

“To get a point in every through the first four on the road, I am very excited about it. I don’t care if Dartmouth hasn’t won a game because you have to earn every point in this league. I am very proud of my team.”

St. Lawrence Forward Greg Carey said,

“It is a good start for us on the road but we want to keep it going. We don’t want to let up next weekend. It will be nice to get off the bus for a little bit.”

What Else You Should Know

Dartmouth will travel to Princeton next weekend. Both teams are struggling and will both enter the contest with identical 0-4-0 conference records. Princeton will enter off a loss to Brown on Saturday night. but will play a rare Tuesday night game against UMass-Lowell. Dartmouth has allowed opponents 5.16 goals per contest.

St. Lawrence will play its first home games of its conference slate as it hosts Colgate on Friday night. The Saints were able to gather 6 out of a possible eight points on the road in its first four conference games, which is a great result.

Saturday, November 9th, 2013 - 11:02 pm | Blogs, ECAC, Notes, Thoughts, Ramblings