Goalie Mike Devine '08 had a monster game against the Bulldogs, making a career-high 51 saves in the winning effort. Captain Tanner Glass '07 was suspended for the Yale contest following a spearing call from the Friday game versus Brown.
With the victories, the Big Green (14-10-3, 10-7-3 ECACHL) moved into fifth place with 23 points, sitting behind Cornell and Quinnipiac, who are tied for third place with 24 points. St. Lawrence stays atop the standings with 31 points, while Clarkson sits at second place with 28 points.
On Sunday, the Big Green held off an aggressively shooting Yale (10-14-3, 7-12-1 ECACHL) squad in a game that included a shorthanded goal and a penalty shot.
Rob Pritchard '09 notched two goals, including the game-winner with 5:22 to play in the third period. He was able to get a shot off through traffic in front of Yale netminder Alec Richards for Pritchard's seventh goal of the season.
Yale had a chance to knot the score when Ben Lovejoy '07 was called for a two-minute tripping minor with 1:34 remaining in the game. Despite pulling Richards for an extra skater, the Bulldogs could not get past the Big Green defense to force the overtime period.
Dan Shribman '07, who had sat out the past few weeks due to injury, sparked the Big Green's scoring just minutes into the game.
After Kevin Swallow '09 was sent to the penalty box for hitting from behind, Shribman picked up a blocked Bulldog shot at center ice and came in uncontested on Richards. He stuck the puck near the right post to score his first career shorthanded goal and give Dartmouth a 1-0 advantage.
Minutes later, Pritchard connected on his first goal of the game when he placed the puck over Richards' shoulder and into the net with 4:01 elapsed in the first.
With Dartmouth ahead 2-1, Peter Boldt '10 was penalized for hooking the Bulldogs' Sean Blackman with 1:41 remaining in the second period, and the officials awarded Blackman a penalty shot. Blackman converted the chance on Devine to tie the game. It was the first time in the Big Green goalie's career that he had conceded a penalty shot.
"The guy's coming at you, and you try to react to them. The guy kind of fumbled it a little bit, and I tried to poke at it but I missed and he got it over my legs," Devine said.
The Bulldogs outshot Dartmouth 23-7 in the second frame, and for the game Yale outshot the Big Green 53-30.
Devine said that the barrage of shots reminded him of junior hockey, when he faced 50 or more shots on many occasions.
"It was big step in the other direction when I came to Dartmouth. The game against Yale felt like I was going back to juniors. I was kind of used to it," he said.
"They were literally shooting from anywhere. Anytime they dumped the puck, it was on net. As far as the defense, we were trying to stem the tide a little bit and keep them on the outside," Mike Hartwick '07 added. "We have to be confident that Mike [Devine] makes the saves, and he did that all night for us."
The game against Brown (9-12-6, 5-11-4 ECACHL) saw six of the game's seven total goals scored on the power play. Dartmouth went three for eight with a man advantage, while the Bears converted three of nine chances.
Devine said that Brown did a good job of screening him on the power plays to help set up some of the Bears' goals.
Hartwick felt that the officials were making tight calls during the game with Brown.
"I was shocked because penalties were being called all over the ice," he said. "[The referees] take it to such an extreme, and the following night [at Yale] they don't call anything. It's hard as a hockey player to know what you can and cannot do."
Dartmouth had only one power play chance against Yale.
After a tight 1-1 first period, the Big Green opened up a two-goal lead in the second period with back-to-back power play tallies. Glass passed the puck from behind the net to T.J. Galiardi '10, who collected the rebound from his first shot at the left circle and one-timed the puck over Bears' goaltender Dan Rosen with 13:25 in the frame.
Over two minutes later, Glass recorded a goal of his own on a penalty for a bench minor to Brown for too many players on the ice. He took a centering pass from linemate David Jones '08 for Glass's seventh goal of the year. The line of Glass, Jones and Nick Johnson '08 scored two goals and seven points in the game.
Swallow then put the Big Green ahead by a 4-2 margin when he connected on another power play strike in the waning moments of the second period. J.T. Wyman '08 took a shot from the point, and Swallow was positioned in front of the net to tip the puck past Rosen for the goal with 45 seconds remaining in the stanza.
Following the goal, Glass was given a five-minute spearing major and a game misconduct after he retaliated when Brown's Sean Hurley face-raked him with his glove. Glass was subsequently suspended for the contest against Yale on Sunday.
"It was surprising," Hartwick said of Glass's suspension.
Matt Volkes scored with a shot over Devine's right shoulder on the ensuing power play to close Dartmouth's lead to 4-3. The Bears could not get another shot past Devine, despite two more late Big Green penalties.
Dartmouth's upcoming contests with the Big Red on Friday, Feb. 23 and Colgate on Saturday, Feb. 24 at Thompson Arena will be crucial for the Big Green's place in the ECACHL playoffs.
Only the top four teams at the regular season's end earn a first-round bye in the playoffs.
Additionally, a win over Cornell on Friday night would secure a share of the Ivy League title for the Big Green. Dartmouth holds a 5-3-1 Ivy mark, good for third place. Yale is first with a 6-3-1 league record, but recently completed its Ivy schedule with the loss to the Big Green. Cornell is second at 5-2-1.
If Dartmouth beats the Big Red, the Big Green will tie Yale with 13 points. Cornell could also grab a share of the Ivy crown if it loses to Dartmouth but beats Harvard in Cambridge, Mass. on Saturday night.
Unlike the ECACHL postseason tournament, the Ivy League does not award its champion an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Still, some players do not overlook the prospect of garnering the Ivy championship.
"The Ivy League title is more a pride thing for Dartmouth. The whole year we know that the Ivy games have a little more importance," Devine said. "All we know on Friday is that if we get a win, we get a share, and that's important for some of the guys. It's definitely something you shoot for."
Senior Hartwick had a different take.
"I think winning the Ivies is a great honor, but in terms of the season, I would rather us win the weekend and end up in third place and get a bye for the playoffs. I think the Ivy league is a runner-up trophy, to be honest," he said. "I'm not downplaying the Ivy title, but I don't think it's as important as winning the ECAC's and making it to a national stage."
Both games are scheduled at 7 p.m.
