March 10, 2006
Tanner Glass had two goals and two assists and Mike Ouellette notched a goal and two assists as the Dartmouth men's hockey team skated past Yale 5-1 before 4,010 in game No. 1 of the ECACHL playoff series at Thompson Arena.
Yale (10-19-3) may have outshot Dartmouth 36-30 but the No. 1 seed got the early lead and never let the visitors feel like the game was within reach. Alec Richards made 20 saves in 40 minutes before Josh Gartner came on to blank the Green over the last frame.
Meanwhile, Dartmouth's Mike Devine, who had 14 stops in the first period, halted 35 of 36 shots to earn the win for the regular season conference champions.
Strong Big Green forechecking kept the puck in the Yale end for most of the early part of the game and helped Dartmouth (17-11-2) take a 2-0 advantage into the intermission.
Defenseman Ben Lovejoy sent a shot toward the net that Glass (10th goal) re-directed past Richards at 2:09 for the game's first goal.
The home team made it 2-0 when Sean Offers (2nd) sent a high shot toward the Yale net. Richards easily got to it with his glove. However, the puck was not secure and it bounced out and into the corner of the net at 5:18.
Things got worse for the No. 11 seed Bulldogs, looking for the upset of the top seed on the road. Blueliner John Gibson (2nd) fired a low wrister from the top of the left circle that went inside the near post at 1:59 of the second.
The Big Green power play got its first success to increase the lead to 4-0. Offers had the puck on the top of the right circle and sent a perfect one-timer feed to Glass, who cleanly banged it into the open side of the net.
Yale ended the string of Dartmouth goals when freshman forward David Meckler scored. Meckler, who has three goals in as many career playoff games, combined with Zachary Mayer on the same type of play that won last weekend's five-OT game at Union. Mayer put a shot on net from the point that came out to his linemate. Meckler quickly smacked it back toward the net and the puck elevated over Devine's shoulder at 9:29 of the middle frame. Nate Jackson, who also had a goal in the famous game at Schenectady, earned an assist.
The Bulldogs were called for five penalties in the second period, and the last one cost them another goal. Ouellette (12th), on another picture perfect crossing feed, one-timed a shot from 15 feet that Richards again had no chance to stop. Dartmouth's second power-play score at 19:35 of the period took any wind out of the Yale sails heading into the third and also chased the freshman goalie from the net.
Gartner, who had 60 saves in last year's game two victory at Hanover in the playoffs, stopped all five shots in the third and looked very sharp with a few plays on quality chances.
"We weren't doing the little things like winning faceoffs and blocking shots," said Meckler. "Dartmouth did a good on screening us and blocking out. We have to win those battles. We are wounded and now need to be desperate."
The Bulldogs, playing without sophomore winger Jean-Francois Boucher who was suspended for violating team rules, were scoreless on five man-advantage chances. Sophomore Matt Thomey replaced Boucher (5 power-play goals) at left wing with Brad Mills and Jeff Hristovski but that unit could not produce much.
The Elis, who avoided elimination a year ago at Thompson Arena in game two of the first round, face Dartmouth Saturday at 7 p.m. in a game that can be heard live on WYBC (AM-1340).
Report filed by Steve Conn, Yale Assistant AD & Sports Publicity Director
