Men's Hockey Opens ECAC Playoffs At Dartmouth

at Dartmouth
Friday, March 6 (7 p.m.)
Thompson Arena
ESPN+ | International Stream
Live Stats | Tickets

at Dartmouth
Saturday, March 7 (7 p.m.)
Thompson Arena
ESPN+ | International Stream
Live Stats | Tickets

at Dartmouth (If Necessary)
Sunday, March 8 (5 p.m.)

SERIES INFORMATION
Princeton and Dartmouth have met 211 previous times on the ice, with the Big Green holding a 106-89-11 lead in the series. Princeton had won three in a row in the series, but the Big Green have countered with three consecutive wins of their own over the last three meetings.

THIS SEASON VS. DARTMOUTH
Princeton has dropped both meetings with the Big Green this season. At the start of January, the two teams battled into overtime where Dartmouth snagged the game winner with 1:01 remaining. Pito Walton had scored for the Tigers with 17 seconds left to force overtime. In November, a pair of Big Green goals 0:50 apart in the third period broke a 1-1 tie as Dartmouth secured a 3-1 victory.

VS. DARTMOUTH IN THE PLAYOFFS
This weekend marks just the third time these two teams have met in the ECAC Playoffs. Dartmouth has claimed the previous two series, both being held in Hanover. The last time the two teams met in the postseason was in 2015 where Dartmouth picked up wins by scores of 3-2 and 2-0 en route to a sweep.

CHAMPIONSHIP PEDIGREE
Princeton has won three ECAC Championships in program history, while Dartmouth has yet to claim an ECAC Championship. Princeton's most recent ECAC title came in 2018. Princeton will feature 10 players from that 2018 team this weekend, including seniors Jeremy Germain and Liam Grande who assisted on Max Becker's game-winning goal in overtime against Clarkson.

CRESSEY'S CORNER
Senior Jackson Cressey leads the team in points with 19 through 29 games. His 14 assists are most on the team, and he is the only Tiger to have scored on both the power play and penalty kill this season. After going four games without a point from 1/4-31, Cressey has six points over his last nine games -- including five assists. With 113 career points, he is 11th on the Tigers' all-time list and he is four away from the No. 10 spot. He's No. 4 on the career assists list with 82 and is five away from No. 3.

Cressey enters the weekend having played 130 career games, No. 3 all-time among Tigers. He is two games away from tying Jeff Halpern'99 and Ryan Kuffner '19 for most games played by a Tiger with 132.

LEADERSHIP FROM THE TOP(ATIGH)
Captain Derek Topatigh has 11 points this season, nine of which have come in ECAC play. All four of his goals in ECAC action have come on the powerplay.

ANDONOVSKI ACTIVATED
Sophomore Corey Andonovski is second on the team lead in points (18) over 24 games this season. He has six multi-point games this season and has notched 9 points over his last 12 games. He returned to the lineup in the regular season finale after missing the previous four games.

LUCKY LUKE
Luke Keenan has 13 points over his last 15 games dating back to 12/29/19 at Quinnipiac, well surpassing the three points he had in his first 14 games of the season. Against St. Lawrence on 2/14/20, Keenan had a career-high four points with two goals and two helpers.

POWERING UP
Princeton has scored a power-play goal in 11 of its last 20 games, scoring 16 total PPGs since the UNH game in Belfast. The Tigers now have at least one PPG in 16-of-29 games this season. Over its last five games, Princeton is 9-for-33 (27.3%) on the powerplay. Derek Topatigh leads the team with five power-play goals -- ranking No. 4 in the country in power-play goals by a defenseman. He is followed by Liam Grande who has four and Corey Andonovski who has three. Spencer Kersten and Christian O'Neill each have two. Overall, 10 different players have scored at least one PPG for the Tigers.

Overall this season, Princeton is 22-for-105 on the powerplay (21.0%) which ranks No. 20 in the country and No. 4 in the ECAC. Dartmouth is 20-for-107 (18.7%) to rank No. 30.

PK BATTLE
Yale is No. 26 in the country on the PK, killing 95-for-116 penalties (81.9 %). Princeton is No. 43 on the PK, killing 97-of-123 (78.9%). The Tigers were 6-for-6 on the PK at Union, with Finn Evans tallying a short-handed goal. Last Friday, they were 4-for-4 against Yale. Princeton has four short-handed goals this season which is most in the ECAC and tied for No. 10 in the country.

GERMAIN MAN
Jeremy Germain found the back of the net against Quinnipiac on 12/28, his first goal since 2/16/18 against RPI. The goal had extra meaning for the Hamden, Conn. native and grandson of Jim Armstrong -- 14-year head coach at Quinnipiac.

PAOLINI PAYING OFF
Defenseman Mark Paolini went 11 games without a point from 11/2/19-1/3/20, but has eight points in his last 13 games..

GRANDE PLANS
Liam Grande has five points over his last nine games, including a goal and an assist against St. Lawrence on 2/14.

PAGING PAGANELLI
Jake Paganelli has six assists over his last eight games, dishing three against St. Lawrence and two at Brown before registering an assist at Union. His six points in his last eight games surpass the four he totaled in the other 20 games he's played this season.

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Corey Andonovski

Max Becker

Jackson Cressey

Finn Evans

Jeremy Germain

Liam Grande

Luke Keenan

Spencer Kersten

Ryan Kuffner

Christian O'Neill

Jake Paganelli

Mark Paolini

Derek Topatigh

Pito Walton

Princeton University Athletics

Upcoming Events

Recent Results