With 28 seconds left in the game and the Big Green (6-16-1, 4-11-1 ECAC Hockey) trailing the Bears (7-13-3, 5-8-3 ECAC Hockey), 5-4, Adam Estoclet '11 notched the game-tying goal off assists by Joe Stejskal '11 and assistant captain Scott Fleming '11.
The game went to one scoreless overtime period and ended in a tie.
"We were pretty confident, and we felt we were a lot better than [Brown]," Estoclet said. "We were pretty positive going into the last few minutes knowing that we would get a goal sooner or later."
Estoclet posted three points against Brown, potting his first goal of the night midway through the second period. He has scored 11 goals and 24 points so far this season.
Tied with Estoclet to lead the Big Green, Fleming gave Dartmouth an early 1-0 lead 9:07 into the first frame. He drilled the Big Green's only power-play goal out of nine opportunities this weekend and earned a total of four points during the game.
Dartmouth built a 4-2 lead midway through the third period, but then allowed three goals in less than five minutes burying itself in a 5-4 deficit. Coming back to even the score was not entirely satisfying, captain Peter Boldt '10 said.
"It was the kind of tie we were frustrated with," he said. "I think that we struggled this weekend with discipline."
Paul Lee '12 scored his first collegiate goal 2:37 into the second period, tying the game at 2-2, before goals by Estoclet and Evan Stephens '11 widened the Big Green's lead to 4-2.
Before posting 41 saves against the Bears, James Mello '12 stopped a career-high 47 shots against the Bulldogs (14-6-3, 10-4-2 ECAC Hockey). He earned both starts this weekend and now has six starts this season, compared with no starts last season.
"Mello has been playing unbelievably, and he has kept us in a lot of games, which keeps us confident," Fleming said. "A lot of the shots are from the outside, and we are allowing Mello to see the puck."
On Friday night, Dartmouth collapsed after holding an early 2-0 lead in the first period. The Big Green gave up four consecutive goals to the Bulldogs en route to the loss.
Yale quickly negated Dartmouth's initial lead by potting a shorthanded goal, a penalty shot goal and two power-play goals in the second and third periods.
"When you lose a game by two goals and they are totally avoidable it is so frustrating," Boldt said. "I think they were throwing the puck to the net a lot and they had a lot of speed, which forced us to take on some penalties we didn't want."
With 9:25 gone in the second period, a hooking penalty was called on Jim Gaudet '12 resulting in a penalty shot opportunity for Bulldog junior Broc Little, who capitalized by scoring Yale's second goal.
"That was tough and pretty weird," Estoclet said. "It was at a crucial time it was 2-1 and it was pretty irritating."
Little then scored the winning goal for the Bulldogs with less than three minutes remaining in the second period while on a power play. He is currently tied for first in the ECAC with 18 goals this season.
Yale put the biscuit in the basket once more at 17:06 in the third period on a power play to seal the comeback victory.
Dartmouth combined with the Bulldogs for 16 penalties, totaling 43 infraction minutes. A major scuttle 13 minutes into the second period resulted in two minor penalties, two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties and a game misconduct penalty allotted to Fleming, which removed him from the game.
Fleming put Dartmouth on the scoreboard early, assisted by Estoclet and Dan Markowitz '11, just 5:44 into the first period.
Seven minutes later, Kyle Reeds '11 notched the Big Green's second and last goal of the night off of a pass from Andrew Owsiak '11.
The Bulldogs consistently overpowered the Big Green on offense throughout the night, outshooting Dartmouth, 51-27. Even in the opening frame, when the Big Green established a 2-0 lead, Yale outshot Dartmouth, 19-9.
Including a preseason scrimmage, this was the third time this year that the Big Green fell to Yale by a 4-2 margin.
The Dartmouth squad returns to its home ice this weekend with matchups against No. 20 Union College at 7 p.m. on Friday and Rensselaer Polytechnic University at 7 p.m. on Saturday.
After suffering a 2-1 loss to the Engineers just two weeks ago, the Big Green surprised the Dutchmen, emerging with a 3-1 victory.
"We felt like we walked out of RPI having outplayed them," Boldt said. "We know we match up against both teams really well. We only have a few home games left, so it is a chance for us to turn it around at home and build momentum going into the playoffs."
