CREASE CONTROL: Princeton University men’s hockey goalie Austin Shaw thwarts a Yale player last Saturday. Making just his second career start, senior Shaw made 23 saves to help Princeton prevail 4-1. The Tigers, now 7-14-2 overall and 5-10-1 ECAC Hockey, play at Rensselaer on February 15 and at Union on February 16. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

Having gone 1-6 in its first seven games of 2019, the Princeton University men’s hockey team turned to an unlikely hero and one of its stalwarts to break that skid when it hosted Yale last Saturday evening.

Senior goalie Austin Shaw, who started for the second time in his career and for the first time in an ECAC Hockey contest, stood tall with 23 saves against the Bulldogs.

On offense, the program’s all-time goal scorer Ryan Kuffner added two more tallies to his total to give him 70 in his career.

The excellence of Shaw and Kuffner at opposite ends of the ice translated into a 4-1 win over the Bulldogs before a standing room only crowd of 2,300 packing Hobey Baker Rink.

Shaw, who found out Saturday morning that he was starting, was primed to make the most of his opportunity.

“I just wanted to get in there and help the boys get the job done,  said the 6’4, 210-pound Shaw, a native of Denver, Colo.

“It has been a month since I played last; it is always good to get into the net. If you are going to be thrust into a situation, you just have to be ready to go. I just wanted to be ready for the boys and help us win whenever I can.”

Shaw credited the boys in front of him with producing a solid defensive effort as they repeatedly pushed the Bulldogs away from the net.

“That was huge today; it was a big part of our game that will help us be successful,” said Shaw.

“It makes my job a lot easier when there are a lot of shots from the outside. There were no crazy chances, nothing too wild.”

At the offensive end, Kuffner and the Tigers were clicking as 11 different players made the score sheet in the win.

“When all four lines are on their game, we can go pretty deep and just play well,” said Kuffner. “We were lucky to get a couple of good bounces to score at the end of the game.”

Kuffner got a good bounce in scoring the go-ahead goal as Princeton took a 2-1 lead midway through the third period and never looked back.

“I tried to get to the front of the net and Riche gave me a good pass,” recalled Kuffner, a 6’1, 195-pound native of Ottawa, Ontario.

“I think all four of their guys went after him so it was like a 2-on-1 in front and I shot it and it deflected off the guys’ stick. I got pretty lucky.”

Continuing to fire away at the net, Kuffner has been looking to make his luck.

“The last couple of games I have been trying to shoot more, just trying to get it on net and pick my spots,” said Kuffner. “If I can do a good job with that, I trust myself to put it past the goalie.”

Kuffner has put more shots past the goalie than any player in Princeton history, having recently broken the career record of 67, previously held by John Cook ’63.

“It is just an honor but it also a big testament to the guys I have gotten to play with the last four years,” said Kuffner, who added an empty net goal late in the contest to hit the 70 mark in his career.

“They are just incredible guys, even better players. I am so lucky to be in that kind of group and atmosphere. We push ourselves every day. I am lucky to be the beneficiary on that side.”

In Kuffner’s view, the way Princeton played against Yale is a testament to the team’s potential.

“We are just looking for finding a way to win a game, and to get those couple of goals late was massive,” said Kuffner. “For Shawsy to stand on his head late in the game, especially was unbelievable for us. It is definitely a confidence booster going forward.”

Princeton head coach Ron Fogarty was confident that the Tigers would break out of their slump.

We have been playing well; it is just one of those things, we knew it was coming, we have the talent,” said Fogarty, who moved star defenseman Josh Teves to a forward position on a line with Max Veronneau and Corey Andonovski.

“You have to assess personnel over position. We just assessed who can help us here and get us out of the funk.”

Fogarty believed that giving Shaw the start in goal would help get the Tigers on the right track.

“It was a switch up, he has worked hard in practice,” said Fogarty. “He deserved the opportunity and he delivered.”

The fact that Kuffner delivered against Yale came as no surprise to Fogarty.

“He is still creating and getting opportunities, he had eight shots last night,” noted Fogarty.

“He is still shooting the puck; he is an elite scorer and it is the law of averages.”

Getting secondary scoring with Joey Fallon and Liam Grande each tallying their first goal of the season, was another big plus for the Tigers.

“We had 11 guys with points tonight, that hasn’t happened in a while so that was good,” said Fogarty.

“We were rewarded for hard work and getting pucks to the net.”

Citing his team’s daily work ethic, Fogarty believes the Tigers have what it takes to replicate last year’s late surge to the ECAC Hockey championship even though Princeton is just 7-14-2 overall and 5-10-1 ECACH after the win over Yale.

“I am just really happy for the guys to get that win because they have been working so darn hard,” said Fogarty, whose team hits the road this weekend for games at Rensselaer on February 15 and at Union on February 16.

“You have your fans and your critics but the one thing that is a constant is that those guys in the dressing room want to win every night and they bring their best effort every night. You can see that with the way they play in the ice so that is what I am most proud of. It is college athletics, everyone you play against is a Division I athlete. I like our chances still for the playoffs.”

Shaw, for his part, was happy to help Princeton get the big win.“It was great, I am dying to always get in the net and I was glad I could help out the boys,” said Shaw.

“It was a big rivalry game too; there were a lot of people at the rink tonight. It is always fun to play in a packed house here at Princeton.”

In Kuffner’s view, the Tigers could have a lot of fun over the next few weeks.

“Every guy in there will tell you that that we are playing well and that we are confident,” said Kuffner.

“We know what we can do going down the stretch so I think getting these two points is massive. But it is just one down and we still have six more to go and time to go on a big run.”