Nov. 25, 2008
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Sean Backman has scored two goals on four different nights this season and each has resulted in a victory. The junior forward did it again tonight as the Yale men's hockey team came from behind twice to take a 4-3 ECAC Hockey win over Brown at Meehan Auditorium.
Yale (6-2, 3-1) beat Brown for the seventh straight time by outshooting the home team 44-22 and capitalizing on three of eight man-advantages. Sophomore winger Denny Kearney had three assists, while classmate Broc Little pitched in a pair of helpers.
Senior Alec Richards earned the win in net with 19 saves but saw his team keep the puck at the other end for most of two periods. Yale outshot Brown 16-4 in the third and kept the Bears (0-5-2, 0-3-2) from picking up their first win.
Dan Rosen had another big game against Yale with 40 saves giving him 114 this year against the Bulldogs in three outings. "He's a good goalie but he gives up a lot of rebounds, and I think we took advantage of that tonight," said Kearney.
The Bulldogs had 12 of the game's first 16 shots on goal but the Bears found the net first, and it came on their initial power-play chance. Matt Vokes, who took a feed from the point, skated around the top of the left circle and then wristed a low shot past Richards glove at 10:46 for his second goal of the year.
Yale, which outshot Brown 20-9 in the first, took advantage of its third power-play opportunity late in the opening frame to tie the game before intermission. Broc Little sent a pass low in the right slot to Kearney, who turned and flipped the puck over Rosen's shoulder from just five feet away. The puck bounced on the ice in front of the goal line and Backman (7th) raced in from the opposite side to poke it home with 55 seconds left.
The Eli shot barrage in the first was the most they had generated in a period since 24 on Harvard in the middle frame of last February's game at Boston. The second period at Meehan was very different. Brown had the slight edge in shots but the Bulldogs scored two of the three goals.
Brown jumped all over a 2-on-1 break early in the second to take another lead. Skating 4-on-4, Vokes held the puck and at the last second slipped it across the low slot to Eric Slais (2nd goal) for a pretty one-timer at 6:55.
Yale tied it up again at 2-2 nearly five minutes later on another man-advantage. Defenseman Kevin Peel's shot from the left point bounced off Rosen's pad and out to the right circle where his linemate Nick Jaskowiak (2nd) was camped. The freshman blueliner quickly snapped it into the open right side before Rosen could recover.
For the second straight period, the home team took a late penalty and Backman turned it into a goal again. Kearney pulled the puck from a scrum in the corner and fed to the left point. Backman (8th) slapped a low liner into the back of the net with 3.8 seconds left for Yale's first lead of the night.
"That goal with three seconds left was big. Going into the third with a lead was very important," said Kearney.
That 3-2 Yale lead last until there was 5:56 left in the third period. The Elis were on a power play with a faceoff in their own end. Aaron Volpatti stroked the puck out of the linesman's hand with enough power to catch Richards off guard and even the score at 3-3.
The Bulldogs could not grab the lead back with what was left on the Brown penalty but got the go-ahead tally three seconds later. Jimmy Martin's blast (2nd) from the left point whizzed inside the near post on Rosen's stick side at 15:17. The sophomore defenseman took a long feed from behind the goal line by Patrick Brosnihan that went through a lot of traffic.
"I think Bros (Brosnihan) was trying to pass to someone in front of the net. The puck came out to me and I just fired a slap shot at the net. I seem to be getting the bounces this year," said Martin, who celebrated his first collegiate game-winner tonight.
Yale's forechecking was excellent most of the game, but the Elis got a little too aggressive with under a minute left in the Brown end. A hitting from behind penalty on Brian O'Neill gave the Bears a 5-on-4 for the last 37.9 seconds. It quickly became a 6-on-4 when Rosen was pulled for an extra skater, but Brown managed just one shot on goal.
"We got our power play on track tonight," said Kearney. "It has not been as productive as it can be."
The Bulldogs, who have this weekend off, are next in action at home on Dec. 5 and 6 with Rensselaer and Union in town for conference games.
Recap filed by Steve Conn, Yale Sports Publicity Director
