You know what they say, defense wins championships. And as the postseason approaches, not many people are touting Dartmouth as a championship contender, but what they’ve done over the last four weeks is serving notice to some of the other teams that might have to deal with the Big Green in the playoffs.
Scott Fleming leads Dartmouth with 17 goals.
Some of the numbers worth noting – in Dartmouth’s last eight games, the teams have combined to score at least six goals, and the average number of goals in those games is 8.5.The Big Green ranked 10th in conference scoring prior to the streak and is currently fifth in the league with a 3.15 goals-per-game average.
The Big Green is a respectable 3-3-2 in those eight games including wins over top-four teams Cornell and Rensselaer in dramatic fashion. That .500 clip gives Dartmouth a bit of momentum, and counts for half of its six victories in ECAC Hockey play, as they currently stand 11th with a 6-12-2 record in the league. They
Dartmouth’s last five games have been particularly dramatic. It started with a 5-5 tie against Brown, when Adam Estoclet scored with 29 seconds left to draw Dartmouth level. The following weekend began with a 5-4 loss to Union in which the Big Green built a 4-0 lead in the game’s first eight minutes. They flipped the script the following night, scoring three goals in the third period to rally for a 4-3 win over Rensselaer. Dartmouth’s run of high-scoring games continued this past weekend. A 6-6 tie with Colgate was followed by a comeback win over Cornell, and a three-goal rally in the last seven minutes.
The high-scoring junior tandem of Estoclet and Scott Fleming has taken the offensive leade during Dartmouth’s scoring spree in the last eight games. Estoclet has four goals and nine asisists for 13 points. Fleming has eight goals and four assists for 12 points. They are also Dartmouth’s top two scorers. Estoclet has a team-high 19 assists and 30 points. Fleming has a team-leading 17 goals and 29 points.
The Big Green is 10th in the league in team defense. Sophomore goalies James Mello and Jody O’Neill have split the duties in recent games. Mello’s .914 save percentage in league games ranks fourth among ECAC Hockey qualifiers, but it has yielded only a 3.08 goals-against average.
Dartmouth wraps up its regular season with games at St. Lawrence and Clarkson this weekend, and has a mathematical possibility to get into eighth place and a home-ice playoff series in the first round. But if Dartmouth’s season is to continue beyond the first week of the playoffs, reducing goals against will also be a priority.
THREE MORE THINGS WORTH KNOWING
• Yale is poised for its second straight league title, and its most remarkable attribute may be its consistency. An 18-6-3 overall record stands out, as does the fact that the Bulldogs haven’t lost back-to-back games at any point this season. They can clinch the outright title with three points this weekend in games at Princeton and Quinnipiac. Several observers pointed to Yale’s 2-1 win at Cornell earlier this month as one of its best performances of the season, and that was part of Yale’s current six-game winning streak. It seems that the Bulldogs are peaking at the right time.
• ECAC Hockey will soon announce its all-decade team spanning the seasons 1999-2000 through 2008-09. The list of candidates was impressive to peruse and brought back memories of many of the league’s greatest players over the last 10 years. A panel of coaches, media and sports information directors voted on the nominees. Look for that to be announced in the near future. And how do you pick just two goalies from a list that includes the likes of Danis, LeNeveu, Kalemba, Dekanich, McKee, Grumet-Morris and Scrivens?
• The Good: There’s room for lots of teams to move into better standings positions headed into the final week of the season, highlighted by a Friday game between RPI and Colgate. Those teams are currently tied for fourth place and the game will be aired on NHL Network and other regional sports networks. The Bad: Rumors are that the set-to-be retired numbers of Ken Dryden and Joe Nieuwendyk will be hung in the rafters at Lynah Rink. Just where about in those over-crowded rafters do they plan to hang them, and properly honor the Big Red greats? The Ugly: It’s important to alumni and fans, but carries no bigger impact in the season than any other league game. That being said, a 7-0 loss by RPI in its annual Big Red Freakout! was especially startling.
