Hanover, NH – A good crowd of 3,121 showed up to Dartmouth’s Thompson Arena to watch two Ivy League rivals play for the 151st time. Dartmouth came out flying in the early going, registering the first four shots on goal. Yale. though, would pick up the first goal at six minutes, 17 seconds of the first period when Charles Orzetti sent a point shot that bounced in front of the net and hit the leg of Mike Doherty to give the Elis a 1-0 lead. It was Yale that came out flying in the second period and Frankie DiChiara scored three minutes in to give the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead.  Dartmouth came on midway through the period, when Mosey found the back of the net. But Brandon Kirk took a dumb boarding call seconds later, which Yale capitalized on to kill the momentum.

Yale scored the only goal of the third period, off the stick of Ryan Hitchcock to seal the game and give them a 4-1 win over Dartmouth. The win improves Yale to 2-1-2 on the season and 1-1-1 in ECAC play. Dartmouth falls to 1-2-1 and 1-2-1 in league play.

What I Saw

• Dartmouth controlled much of the game, but Yale was opportunistic and took advantage of having stronger goaltending. Lyon, as usual, played a strong game in the Bulldog net but James Kruger gave up juicy rebounds and just looked off on the night. Kruger also struggled to see the puck on the first and third Yale goals. On the first, the puck took a weird bounce in front of the net and slowly made its way into the net. On the third goal, the puck fluttered right over his glove. On many occasions he left rebounds right in front of the net, including early in the third where he left two straight right in the slot. On the first, the Yale player tripped, while wide open. The fourth goal, Kruger left a juicy rebound right in the slot which the Yale player put right into the net.
• Despite Dartmouth having a slight territorial advantage, it did not have the advantage in quality chances. Lyon did a great job of swallowing any and all opportunities, while the defense did a great job in the neutral zone and in its own zone. Yale took the body, was able to keep Dartmouth to the outside and did not give the Green much in terms of great opportunities.

What I Thought

• Dartmouth took the momentum midway through the second and it was inevitable it would score, which it did. But the crucial moment in the game was when Brandon Kirk took a boarding call just nine seconds after the Big Green goal. The game was going towards being tied. Yale scored on the ensuing power-play to take the momentum. It was an unnecessary penalty at the time and the Big Green were never able to recover.
• Yale took advantage of its opportunities when it had them and when Dartmouth took the crucial boarding call, it was able to take the game into its hands. It ran away from the Big Green from that point, regaining the momentum with the goal and then ultimately playing smart hockey the rest of the way. Yale played the better, smarter hockey hence they left Hanover with the win.

What They Said

Dartmouth coach Bob Gaudet said,

“I was disappointed in the outcome tonight because I thought we had a couple of lapses that hurt us. We played a really good first period but we were down. We tried really hard in the second period but we weren’t quite in sync.”

“We had good momentum going before that penalty (Boarding call on Kirk) and we had put together three really good shifts together. That power-play goal, Jim never saw it and it was a good play by them. That really was the difference in the game.”

“There is a mental side of the game that we just got to keep on battling. I thought we were working really hard, but we were trying to be a little too fine. When we established zone time, we controlled the play but we weren’t able to be rewarded. It needs to be that 60 minute consistent play. Need to keep on a playing.”

Yale coach Keith Allain said,

“That power-play goal was a turning-point, there is no question about that. You always want to answer when the other team scores. We thought we were playing pretty well, but then they made it 2-1 in their own building. Tommy made a heck of a shot on the power-play. Every power-play is big but in a moment like that it is a moment like that.”

What Else You Should Know

Dartmouth will host a struggling Brown team tomorrow night. Dartmouth has lost consecutive games for the first time since its quarterfinal series against Union last year. The Bears have been outscored 10-2 in its last two contests.

Yale will play a red hot Harvard squad tomorrow night. Harvard is the lone remaining ECAC squad that is undefeated. Harvard has beaten Boston College, Brown and Rensselaer this season. Yale finally gained some consistency in its game in this game, they looked like the team that was poised to break-out.

Friday, November 14th, 2014 - 10:09 pm | Blogs, ECAC, Notes, Thoughts, Ramblings