2011-2012 Season, Game 23: Colgate at Quinnipiac

 Game 23: Colgate (12-7-2, 6-3-0 ECAC) at Quinnipiac (12-8-5, 4-5-4, ECAC)
Date: Sat., Jan. 14, 2012
Time: 4:00 p.m.
Site: High Point Solutions Arena at TD Bank Sports Center; Hamden, Conn.
Radio: 93.9 FM WKXZ Norwich
Internet Broadcast: WKXZfm.com (http://www.wkxzfm.com), TEAMLINE (http://www.teamline.cc)
Internet Video: http://www.quinnipiacbobcats.com
Live Stats: http://www.quinnipiacbobcats.com

Opponent: Quinnipiac University
Nickname: Bobcats
Location: Hamden, Conn.
Conference: ECAC Hockey
2011-2012 Record: 12-8-5 (4-5-4 ECAC)
2011-2012 Non-Conference Record: 8-3-1
Wins: Ohio State, Holy Cross, Canisius (x2), Bentley, Robert Morris, Princeton (x2),, UMass, RPI, Sacred Heart, Yale
Losses: Ohio State, Robert Morris, Dartmouth, St. Lawrence, Colgate, Cornell (x2), Nebraska Omaha
Ties: Harvard, Clarkson, Union, Nebraska Omaha, Brown
Current League Standing: Tied for second place with Colgate
Preseason Ranking: Sixth (Coaches & Media)
2009-2010 Record: 16-15-8 (6-9-7 ECAC Hockey)
Head Coach: Rand Pecknold (Connecticut College 1990), 18th season
Overall Record: 329-224-61 through 18 seasons

Last Time Out…
Colgate 3 Quinnipiac 1
Date: Nov. 18, 2011
Site: Starr Rink; Hamilton, N.Y. (Silver Puck Weekend)
*Austin Smith recorded his second-career hat trick and Alex Evin made 31 saves as the Raiders ended a five-game overall losing streak against the Bobcats. All three of Smith’s goals came in the final two minutes of a period –first, second and third. Incidentally, Smith’s only previous hat trick also came against Quinnipiac in the 2008-09 ECAC playoffs.

*Colgate’s Thomas Larkin and Chris Wagner each had two assists.

*The two teams combined for just five power-play opporuntiies and seven penalties. Quinnipiac went 0-for-3 on the power play while Colgate went 0-for-2. Each team had two power plays in the third period after just one man-advantage chance in the first 40 minutes that went to the Bobcats.

*The Hamden, Conn., side outshot Colgate 32-26 on the strength of a 14-6 shot on goal advantage in the first period.

While Quinnipiac did outshoot Colgate, the Bobcats had many more shots that were not on target and sent wide of the goal.

*Alex Evin notched his first career victory over Quinnipiac and his second win of the season with a 31-save effort. Evin was making his first start in nearly three weeks after not playing in Colgate’s first four ECAC league games.

*The lone Quinnipiac goal was scored by Connor Jones in the first period with an extra attacker in a delayed penalty situation.

*Read our game recap HERE

All-Time Series: 9-9-2 Tied (20 games)
First Meeting: Dec. 2, 2005 (Colgate 4-3; Starr Rink, Hamilton, N.Y.)
Last Meeting: Nov. 18, 2011 (Colgate 3-1; Starr Rink; Hamilton, N.Y.)
Last Colgate Win: Nov. 18, 2011 (Colgate 3-1; Starr Rink, Hamilton, N.Y.)
Last Quinnipiac Win: Jan. 7, 2011 (Quinnipiac 3-1; TD Bank Sports Center; Hamden, Conn.)
Home: 5-4-1 Colgate
Road: 5-4-0 Quinnipiac
Neutral: 0-0-1 Neutral

*Naturally Quinnipiac is Colgate’s least-played conference opponent with just 20 all-time games. Colgate and

Quinnipiac did not play against one another when Quinnipiac was a member of Atlantic Hockey. The two teams first played in 2005-06 when the Bobcats joined ECAC Hockey.

*Colgate’s victory over Quinnipiac in November ended a five-game losing streak against the Bobcats that stretched back all the way to the 2008-09 ECAC playoffs. The Bobcats defeated the Raiders in Game 3 of a best-of-three series and then swept the Raiders back-to-back in 2009-10 and 2010-11.

*All-time at High Point Solutions Arena at the TD Bank Sports Center, Colgate is 3-4-0. The Raiders have not beaten the Bobcats in Hamden since Game 2 of the 2008-09 ECAC playoffs. However, Colgate did come out victorious in its’ first two trips to Hamden in 2007-08 and 2008-09 with overtime game-winning goals from Tyler Burton and Peter Bogdanich.

*Quinnipiac and Colgate have gone to overtime seven times in 20 games, just two of those contests ended up in ties. All-time against Quinnipiac, Colgate is 3-2-2. However, the two teams have not played an overtime game since the 2008-09 playoffs.

*The Raiders and Bobcats have played 15-straight games decided by two goals or less. Just twice in the all-time series has a team won by three goals or more – in both cases, the games were in the 2005-06 ECAC playoffs. Interestingly, the last three games between Colgate and Quinnipiac have resulted in a 3-1 score.

*Since potting 10 goals against Quinnipiac’s Bud Fischer in the 2008-09 ECAC playoffs, the Raiders have scored just one goal at TD Bank Sports Center in the last 120 minutes of game action. Quinnipiac shut out Colgate, 2-0, in 2009-10 on national television (CBS College Sports) and then the Raiders were tripped up by the Bobcats last season, 3-1, on a snowy Friday night in early January.

Current Leading Scorers – Quinnipiac (Entering the weekend)
Connor Jones (So. F) 5-16-21
Jeremy Langlois (Jr. F) 12-8-20
Matthew Peca (Fr. F) 5-11-16
Kellen Jones (So. F) 5-10-15
Scott Zurevinski (Sr. F) 4-11-15
*Eric Hartzell (Jr. G) 6-4-5, 2.00, .916
*Dan Clarke (Sr. G) 6-3-0, 2.05, .901

Loose Pucks – Quinnipiac
*The Bobcats have already played 25 games this season and will be playing their 26th on Saturday afternoon. No other ECAC Hockey team has played more games. Quinnipiac will take a two-week break after Saturday and not play another game until February. Even though Colgate and Quinnipiac are tied for fifth place in the league, CU has four games at hand.

*Friday night, Cornell scored two short-handed goals in the third period to upend Quinnipiac, 3-2, at the TD Bank Sports Center. Quinnipiac led 2-1 through two periods on the strength of back-to-back goals by Jeremy Langlois and Zack Currie. Quinnipiac outshot Cornell 33-19 including 24-14 over the final two periods. The ‘Cats held Cornell to an 0-for-5 effort on the power play.

*Since being swept in upstate New York by Cornell and Colgate, Quinnipiac has lost just two games – one to Nebraska Omaha and one to Cornell. The Bobcats are 5-2-3 in the 10 games since their New York trip.

*Jeremy Langlois and Austin Smith were battling for the national scoring lead when Quinnipiac rolled into Starr Rink in mid-November. Langlois did not score against Colgate and he has just three goals in his last 10 games.

*Quinnipiac is among the national leaders in scoring defense. The Bobcats are ranked seventh nationally, allowing 2.20 goals per game which amounts to 55 goals given up in 25 games. Goaltenders Dan Clarke and Eric Hartzell each have a goals against average below 2.10. Hartzell, who has played a majority of the minutes in half, boasts a 2.06 GAA while Clarke clocks in with a 2.05 GAA.

*The national rankings also show Quinnipiac towards the top of the table in penalty killing. The Q-Cats are fourth nationally in the penalty kill with an 88.8% success rate (95-for-107) and three short-handed goals. Only Robert Morris, Yale and Boston College have a been penalty kill in terms of numbers.

*Eight Bobcats have recorded at least 10 points and two of the eight, Connor Jones and Jeremy Langlois, have surpassed the 20-point plateau. Overall, 23 of 25 Quinnipiac players have posted a point this season and that includes goaltender Eric Hartzell.

Loose Pucks – Colgate
*Colgate is playing its fourth “afternoon” game of the season. With a 4:00 p.m. start time, the Raiders are 2-1-0 with victories over Robert Morris and Princeton and a loss to Ferris State. Unless the schedule changes for whatever reason (weather-related), Saturday will be Colgate’s final “afternoon” game of the regular season.

*The last two players to wear the number 9 for Colgate have been Austin Smith (currently) and Tyler Burton. Burton wore the number through his graduation in 2008 and Smith has worn the number since. Between the two, the number 9 sweater has accounted for 293 total points on 147 goals and 146 assists. Burton finished his Colgate career tied for 16th on Colgate’s all-time scoring list with 155 career points. Smith is just 17 points behind Burton.

*Chris Wagner is on pace to break into Colgate’s top 10 all-time in single season assists. Through 21 games; the sophomore from Walpole, Mass., has 18 helpers. Wagner stands just three helpers behind last year’s team assist leader – Austin Smith (21). It should also be noted that Wagner, despite leading the team in penalty minutes, has accrued only four penalty minutes in his last five games played and six overall.

*The Colgate power play remains at over a 20.0% clip for the season after CU recorded a 1-for-5 effort on Friday night at Hobey Baker Rink. Colgate has scored 22 power play goals which is one shy of last years’ total through 42 games. Austin Smith, Austin Mayer and Robbie Bourdon each have potted four power play goals.

*Princeton’s six goals on Friday night tied the most goals that Colgate has allowed this season. The Raiders gave up six previously on Oct. 28 to Niagara at Dwyer Arena however that game ended in a 7-6 overtime victory. Friday night was just the second time this year that CU has allowed more than four goals in a single game. Princeton’s previous recent high against Colgate was seven scored in a 2007-08 7-2 romp at Hobey Baker Rink.

*The 2012 calendar year has seen Colgate allow 13 total goals. Meanwhile the Raiders have scored only six times with Austin Smith potting three of those goals. One should also note however that all three games that Colgate has played since the calendar changed have been on the road.

*One note, interesting or not, when having a full complement of “healthy” skaters this year (i.e. no injured scratches), Colgate is 2-4. The Raiders have wins over Robert Morris and Nebraska Omaha and losses to Miami, Ferris State (x2) and Princeton.

*As previously mentioned, Saturday’s game in Hamden, Conn., will mark Colgate’s final regular season game outside of New York State. Seven of Colgate’s remaining 12 tilts will be at Starr Rink and then five remaining road games are no more than a 3.5 hour drive away in the Empire State.