Men's Hockey Heads To No. 16/17 New Hampshire

Friday, January 5

Durham, N.H.

7:00 PM

Princeton University

#16/17 New Hampshire

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Photo by: Shelley M. Szwast

January 03, 2024 | Men's Ice Hockey

Princeton at #16/17 New Hampshire
January 5 | 7 p.m. | Whittemore Center
ESPN+ | International Stream | Tickets | Live Stats | Game Notes

Princeton at #16/17 New Hampshire
January 6 | 4 p.m. | Whittemore Center
ESPN+ | International Stream | Tickets | Live Stats

THE ALL-TIME SERIES WITH NEW HAMPSHIRE
Princeton and New Hampshire have met 15 previous times, with the Wildcats holding a 13-2 advantage all-time in the series. The Tigers won the first matchup, 5-4, at Hobey Baker Rink on 2/5/31 and picked up another win via an 8-2 victory on 11/29/80. Since that win 43 years ago, UNH has taken the last six meetings -- including a 3-2 win in the Friendship Four in Belfast in 2019. The last time the two teams met in New Hampshire was 2000 -- a 6-3 win for UNH. The Tigers have not won in Durham, entering the weekend with an 0-5 record at UNH.

THE GAUNTLET BEGINS
The weekend series at UNH starts a run of five consecutive games against teams ranked inside the Top-20, with four of those five games coming on the road. After the trip to the Granite State, the Tigers have a home-and-home with No. 3 Quinnipiac (Jan. 12-13) followed by a trip to No. 16 Cornell on January 19.

IVY LEAGUE RACE HEATS UP
Princeton started its second lap through the Ivy League with a win against Harvard, improving to 4-1-1 record against Ivy opponents and moving into first place in the title race with 11 points. Cornell (2-2-1) is second with nine points, while Dartmouth (1-0-2) and Harvard (1-1-2) are tied with six. The Tigers last won an Ivy League title in 2007-08.

REELING IN RANKED TEAMS
The Tigers have 20 wins over ranked opponents during Ron Fogarty's tenure, including a 2-1 (OT) win over No. 10 Cornell on 11/18/23. Princeton also picked up a 5-0 win at No. 20 RIT and a 3-2 (OT) win over No. 12 Providence last year and a 5-4 win at No. 8 Cornell in 2021-22. Princeton has at least one win over a ranked team in each of its last eight seasons.

OFFENSE ON POINT
Princeton has scored 46 total goals over its first 13 games to start the season, ranking No. 2 in the ECAC and No. 12 in the country in Scoring Offense (3.54 goals-per-game). The Tigers scored 3+ goals in their first five games to start the year, the first time that had happened since the 2006-07 team also had 3+ goals in five consecutive games to open that season. Princeton has hit the back of the net 3+ times in 10 of its 13 games this season. There has been balance to the scoring with 15 different goal scorers and seven Tigers in double figures in points.

POWER PLAY POPS OFF
The Tigers are 12-for-38 on the power play this season, connecting at a 31.6% clip to lead the country ahead of Michigan (31.5%), Minnesota-Duluth (30.3%) Western Michigan (29.1%) and Boston College (29.0%). Seven different players have PPGs for the Tigers -- Kai Daniells leads with three, while Jack Cronin, David Jacobs and Adam Robbins each have two.

PRINCETON CAPS PRODUCTIVE DECEMBER
The Tigers went 3-1-1 in December, including a 3-0-1 stretch to finish the month -- the first four-game unbeaten streak for Princeton since a similar 3-0-1 run from 11/5-11/13 in 2021.The last time overall Princeton went more than four games without a loss was a 7-0-1 run from 2/23-3/17/18 which propelled the Tigers to a ECAC Championship and a NCAA Tournament berth. The last time Princeton went five regular season games without a loss was earlier in that 2018 season when the Tigers won five in a row from 1/13-2/9.

THE ARTY PARTY
Freshman goalie Arthur Smith is staking his claim to the net. He enters the weekend No. 3 in the ECAC in save percentage (.917) and No. 5 in GAA (2.47) Nationally, Smith ranks No. 18 among all goalies and No. 3 among freshmen in save percentage. He is also No. 29 among all goalies in GAA and No. 2 among freshman goalies. Smith has a 5-2-1 record, good for a .688 winning percentage which ranks No. 11 among all goalies in the country and No. 4 among freshmen.

THE MURPH
For the second year in a row, Ian Murphy is the top returning scorer on the team. After posting 9-10-19 numbers in 2021-22, he tallied 15-14-29 last season to lead Princeton in goals, assists, and points. This year, he is just under a point-per-game player (4-8-12) to start the season with points in 10 of the 13 games -- including a seven-game point streak (2g, 6a) which was snapped last week.

CLIMBING THE CHARTS
Ian Murphy enters this weekend with 60 career points (28g, 32a) in 69 games. His 60 career points rank No. 61 all-time by a Princeton player, along with five other Tigers -- including NHLers Darroll Powe and Kevin Westgarth.

JACK ATTACK
Jack Cronin struck for five PPGs and was second on the team with 12 goals overall last year. He scored 10 more goals last year than he did in his freshman season, and his 12-point growth from 2021-22 to 2022-23 was the most of any player on the team. In the opening weekend, Cronin had three points in two games, including a two-point game (1g, 1a) at Harvard -- his first multi-point game since 12/30/22 at Colorado College. Cronin's 21 career goals are second-most by an active Princeton player, and his two-goal game against Colgate was the first of his career after 15 previous one-goal games. Cronin had a three-game goal scoring streak snapped last weekend, but has scored in four of his last six games and has five total points in that six-game span.

DE LA SOUL
Junior defenseman Noah de la Durantaye tallied a career-high 17 points last season, up from 10 as a rookie in 2021-22. He leads all returning defensemen in goals (4), assists (13) and points (17). This season, he has eight points (1g, 7a) in 13 games played. He had gone 19 games without a goal dating back to 2/11/23 at Clarkson before scoring against Sacred Heart on December 9.

GORMAN FAMILY SCORING RACE
Sophomore Brendan Gorman is chasing down his older brother, Liam (Class of 2023), and father, Sean (Class of 1991) on his family's all-time scoring leader list. Brendan averaged 0.6 points-per-game last season as a true freshman.
1. Liam Gorman -- 36 pts. (16g, 20a) in 91 games
2. Brendan Gorman -- 32 pts. (9g, 23a) in 44 games
3. Sean Gorman -- 23 pts (5g, 18a) in 99 games

ABOUT ADAM
Adam Robbins tallied 14 points (5g, 9a) in 32 games last season after registering 15 points (5g, 10a) over his first 49 combined games. Of his nine assists last season, seven came on the power play. During the 2020-21 year, Robbins won a Clark Cup with the Chicago Steel. He has 14 points (5g, 9a) through 13 games this season, already matching his career highs in goals, assists and points. He enters the game with points in each of his last four games, tallying seven total points (3g, 4a).

Robbins scored the OTGWG against Yale, landing at #5 on that evening's Sportscenter Top-10 Plays -- the second time in his career he landed on the #SCtop10 following a penalty shot goal against Harvard on 1/6/23 which was #4.

SETTING SEITZ
Another NYC product had a standout 2022-23 in Nick Seitz. Last year, he connected for a career-high 15 points (9g, 6a) in 28 games after tallying 11 points (3g, 8a) over his first 56 games. He has 10 points (2g, 8a) in 13 games this season, including 3-assist games at Dartmouth (11/4) and against Harvard (12/30).

KD ON THE PP
Freshman Kai Daniells ranks No. 2 in the ECAC and No. 39 in the nation with three PPGs -- a number which is No. 5 among freshmen in the country.

CARABIN CARRIES HIS WEIGHT
Assistant captain Nick Carabin stepped into a larger role last season as a junior and delivered with a career-high 11 points (1g, 10a) in 32 games after registering just one assist in 21 games during the 2021-22 season. He has 8 points (2g, 6a) in 11 games this season, including a three-point game (1g, 2a) against Harvard (12/30).

EZMAN IS THE MAN
After tallying 2 points in 22 games as a freshman last season, Jaxson Ezman has started the 23-24 season with 7 points (4g, 3a) in 13 games. He had his first career multi-point game with two assists at RPI on 12/2 and his first career multi-goal game against Harvard (12/30).

DJ SPINS GOLD
David Jacobs had 15 points (5g, 10a) as a freshman last year over 32 games. He had five different one-goal games, and is looking for his first career multi-goal game. To start this season, Jacobs has 10 points (2g, 8a) including a 3-point game (1g, 2a) against Yale.