The No. 4/4 Quinnipiac Bobcats return home to face the Princeton Tigers to complete the weekend home and home series. Quinnipiac (12-1-1, 6-0-1 ECAC) traveled to Princeton (2-8-0, 1-6-0 ECAC) Friday night and defeated the Tigers 3-0 to extend its unbeaten streak to 13 games. Kellen Jones tallied his 100th career point with the first goal of the game while Sam Anas continued his impressive freshman campaign with a goal and an assist. Michael Garteig stopped all 19 shots in the shutout effort.
Keys for Quinnipiac:
- The Bobcats cannot let up against the Tigers just like they held them in check on Friday night. Princeton has scored more goals in the third period (11) than in the first and second periods combined (9). Quinnipiac knows what to expect having played them already, so they need to maintain the same mentality.
- Quinnipiac needs to continue its power-play success from Friday. The Bobcats scored two of their three goals on the man-advantage, including Jones’ 100th point. Although they had success during their power-play struggles, it is not something that can continue. The power-play percentage is up to 21.1 percent and they need to keep that trending up. Princeton’s penalty kill is at just 79.5 percent and the Bobcats figured it out quickly.
Keys for Princeton:
- Princeton has struggled to score this season, scoring 2.2 goals per game while giving up 3.7 goals per game. Andrew Ammon leads Princeton in scoring with five goals while only one other player, Tyler Maugeri, has more than three. The Tigers need to score first and set a tone against the Bobcats at the after getting shutout for the first time all season.
- Plain and simple, the Tigers’ goaltending needs to step up big time. Starting goaltender Sean Bonar has a goals against average of 3.42 allowing 25 goals in eight games, and a save percentage of .889. Bonar’s back up Colton Phinney has a goals against average of 4.16 and a save percentage of .875, which aren’t better. These numbers just aren’t going to cut it in the ECAC and especially against a team like Quinnipiac that scores 3.43 goals per game and only gives up a nation best 1.42 goals per game. If Princeton’s goaltending doesn’t improve, it could be another long night and a long season for the Tigers.
