... and the game wasn't even that close. After clinching a playoff spot with
the victory over Harvard on Friday, Dartmouth let down in the Brown game on
Saturday night. It was a relapse into the form they had in the first few
weeks of the season in which they went 1-7. As weird as it may sound, Vern
Guetens, Dartmouth's goalie played a tremendous game - having 51 saves - many
of which were agains quality chances from Brown. In contrast, Dartmouth could
only muster a total of 13 shots for the entire game!
 
I don't want to take anything away from Brown, who played good solid hockey
and clearly deserved the win. Dartmouth, however, did not do any checking and
could never generate any sustained offense. The Dartmouth defense would let
Brown skate in unmolested to take shots at Guetens and then would not clear
the puck after the rebound.
 
Brown scored first at 1:10 into the first period and pressured Geutens for
almost the entire 20 minutes (Guetens had 23 saves in the first period). Tony
DelCarmine scored for the Big Green at 7:29 and the period ended at 1-1.
Brown scored quickly in the second period, pulling ahead 2-1 at 1:21 - and
that was all the scoring in period 2. Brown scored on a PPG at 2:28 in the
third, but Dartmouth returned the favor with a PPG at 4:20. Brown made it 4-2
with a short handed goal at 11:56. With about a minute left, Coach Demment
pulled Guetens but Brown tallied an empty netter to make it 5-2. Finally,
Brown scored another PPG with just 6 seconds left.
 
To illustrate the total dominance by Brown, take a look at the saves by
period:
                      1      2      3
Dartmouth (Guetens)  23     16     12
Brown (Parsons        5      2      4
 
Putting things in perspective, however, Dartmouth has still done quite well
so far this year. After a 1-7 start, they have a record of 9-7 and are in the
playoffs for the first time in 13 years. Hopefully, this game just represents
a temproary letdown after clinching the playoff spot.