Playoff Positioning At Stake For Men's Hockey In Regular Season Finale At Baker Rink

Friday, March 1

Princeton, N.J.

7:00 PM

Princeton University

St. Lawrence

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Photo by: Shelley M. Szwast

Playoff Positioning At Stake For Men's Hockey In Regular Season Finale At Baker Rink

February 29, 2024 | Men's Ice Hockey

Princeton vs. St. Lawrence
March 1 | 7 p.m. | Hobey Baker Rink
ESPN+ | International Stream | Tickets | Live Stats | Game Notes

Princeton vs. Clarkson - Senior Night & Fan Appreciation Night
March 2 | 7 p.m. | Hobey Baker Rink
ESPN+ | International Stream | Tickets | Live Stats

JOCKEYING FOR POSITION
With two nights left in the regular season, not much is certain in the ECAC Playoffs picture outside of the fact that Quinnipiac is the #1 seed, Cornell and Colgate have Opening Round byes, and Clarkson and Dartmouth are assured of at least home ice in the Opening Round.

The uncertainty comes from the facts that five teams -- Clarkson, Dartmouth, Union, St. Lawrence and Harvard -- each are within range of the #4 spot and that no team has been eliminated from the potential of hosting an Opening Round game.

Princeton can finish as high as No. 6 in the standings or could finish 12th. Clarkson is trying to find its way to a finish as high as No. 3, but could also finish as low as No. 6. For St. Lawrence, there is a path to the No. 4 spot and a bye, or they could drop as low as No. 11

THE ALL-TIME SERIES WITH ST. LAWRENCE
The Tigers are 29-73-11 all-time against St. Lawrence and are 17-35-5 at Hobey Baker Rink. Princeton has dropped the last two meetings at Baker Rink, last beating St. Lawrence on home ice, 6-3, on 2/24/20. The most recent meeting between the two teams was a thrilling 5-4 win for Princeton in overtime when Adam Robbins scored with 49.1 seconds remaining in OT. Robbins had a three-point night in the win, scoring twice and adding an assist. Nick Seitz and Noah de la Durantaye each had a goal and an assist while Brendan Gorman had two helpers.

THE ALL-TIME SERIES WITH CLARKSON
Princeton enters the weekend with a 35-90-7 record all-time against Clarkson and is 25-37-8 at Hobey Baker Rink. The last meeting between the two teams at Baker was a 6-2 Princeton win on 12/2/22. Jack Cronin, Ian Murphy and Jayden Sison each had a goal and an assist in that win last season. Earlier this season, Clarkson secured a 4-2 win on home ice on 2/9/24. Tristan Saarsland scored twice in the third period to break a 2-2 tie, while Kai Daniells and Brendan Gorman had Princeton's goals and Nick Seitz had two assists.

CARDIAC CATS
So far through 25 games this season, Princeton has reached overtime eight times, with another decided by one goal with under 1:00 left in regulation. The Tigers have won five of their eight overtime games during the 5:00 OT period and claimed the shootouts over Harvard an Union in official shootouts held. The other OT game saw Sacred Heart "win" a shootout which has no bearing on anything.

Overall, the Tigers are 5-0-3 when games reach OT. There are six teams in the country without a loss in overtime this season -- of that group only Minnesota (9) has played more OT games that Princeton and no team undefeated in OT has won more OT games than the Tigers.

The NCAA Record for OT wins in a season is 7 -- set by the 2011 Minnesota Duluth team and matched by Omaha this season. Eight teams in the history of NCAA Division I men's ice hockey have won six OT games in a season -- including Arizona State and Ferris State this season. The 2023-24 Princeton Tigers are one of 18 teams to win five OT games in a season -- including Clarkson, Arizona State and Colorado College as well this season.

One more OT win for Princeton this season will match the ECAC record for OT wins in a season currently held by Colgate (2008-09) and Cornell (1985-86).

GOING OVER OVERTIME
The 2023-24 Tigers have played eight total overtime games and won five entering this weekend -- setting a new program record for regular season OT wins (the 2006-07 and 1980-81 teams had won four regular season OT games). The high mark for overtime games played in a regular season by a Princeton team is nine (2006-07, 1997-98). In terms of a complete season including playoffs, the most OT games played were by the 2006-07 team which played in 11 and won five.

OFFENSE ON POINT
Princeton has hit the back of the net 3+ times in 16 of its 27 games this season. Princeton's 3.07 goals-per-game rank No. 5 in the ECAC and No. 26 in the country. There has been balance to the scoring with 18 different goal scorers and 10 Tigers in double figures in points. 15 of Princeton's 18 goal scorers this season have at least two goals.

POWER PLAY POPS OFF
The Tigers are 25-for-82 on the power play this season, connecting at a 30.5% clip to lead the ECAC and rank No. 2 in the country behind Michigan (35.0%). Princeton ranks ahead of Boston College (27.8%), Minnesota-Duluth (27.7%), Michigan State (27.7%) and Minnesota-Duluth (27.7%). A total of 10 different players have PPGs for the Tigers -- Kai Daniells leads the team with five PPGs, while Jack Cronin has four. Ian Murphy, Adam Robbins and David Jacobs each have three PPGs. The power play has cooled off a bit of late -- after scoring 11 PPGs over an eight game stretch from 12/30-1/30, Princeton has just four PPGs in its last seven games -- but did score a PPG in each game last weekend.

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 (9-12-21) to start the season with points in 15 of his 22 games -- including a seven-game point streak (2g, 6a) from 11/18-12/9. He missed five games with an injury suffered at Cornell but has 7 points in his four games since returning -- including a 6-point (3g, 3a) weekend at Yale and Brown which included a hat trick at Yale.

CLIMBING THE CHARTS
Ian Murphy enters this weekend with 69 career points (33g, 36a) in 78 games. His 69 career points rank No. 45 all-time and No. 7 by a player who has played just three seasons.

ABOUT ADAM
Over his first 49 games of college hockey, Adam Robbins tallied 15 points (5g, 10a, 0.3ppg). Since then, he has registered 42 points in 59 games played (16g, 26a, 0.7ppg).

He has a career-high 28 points (11g, 17a) through 27 games this season, also setting career highs in goals and assists. He enters the game with points in 17 of his last 20 games, tallying 24 points (10g, 14a) in that span.

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.

Robbins enters the weekend No. 15 in the country and No. 3 in the ECAC with 339 faceoff wins. He was 36-for-54 (.667) last weekend on draws, including an 18-for-24 night at Brown.

During the 2020-21 year, Robbins won a Clark Cup with the Chicago Steel.

SETTING SEITZ
Another NYC product had a standout 2022-23 in Nick Seitz. Last year, he connected for a then career-high 15 points (9g, 6a) in 28 games after tallying 11 points (3g, 8a) over his first 56 games. He has 21 points (5g, 16a) in 27 games this season, including 3-assist games at Dartmouth (11/4), against Harvard (12/30) and at Yale (2/23).

Seitz is the active leader in career games played by a Tiger with 111, playing his 100th game at Quinnipiac on 1/12.

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 17 points (5g, 12a) in 24 games this season, and enters the weekend on a five-game point streak with 3g, 4a over his last five games.

THE ARTY PARTY
Freshman goalie Arthur Smith has rounded into form of late, going 2-0-1 over the last three games with a .956 save percentage and a 1.30 GAA. For the season, he is No. 7 in the ECAC with a .904 save percentage -- a mark which is No. 10 among rookie goalies in the country.

KD ON THE PP
Freshman Kai Daniells ranks No. 5 in the ECAC and No. 44 in the nation with five PPGs -- a number which is No. 9 among freshmen in the country.