BACK IN ACTION: Princeton University men’s hockey player Tyler Rubin, left, chases down the puck in a 2022 game. Last Friday, junior defenseman Rubin scored a goal in a losing cause as Princeton fell 4-2 to Quinnipiac. The Tigers, who lost 3-0 to Quinnipiac on Saturday in the second game of a home-and-home set to move to 6-8-1 overall and 3-5-1 ECAC Hockey, host Cornell on January 17 and Colgate on January 18. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

Tyler Rubin wasn’t fazed even though the Princeton University men’s hockey team found itself trailing Quinnipiac 3-0 in the second period last Friday night.

“We were in the same situation last weekend and we have a lot of belief in ourselves in how we compete and our detail,” said Princeton junior defenseman Rubin, referring to a rally by the Tigers against New Hampshire on January 4 which saw them claw back from a 3-0 deficit to knot the game at 3-3 before losing 4-3.

“We know that when they get to our game and stick to our details that we can come back on anybody.”

Princeton started a comeback against Quinnipiac as Jaxson Ezman scored with 2:16 left in the second as Joshua Karnish and Nick Marciano picked up assists on the tally.

“That goal by Jaxson was huge and it was a great play by Karnish and Marciano as well,” said the 5’10, 175-pound Rubin, a native of Natick, Mass. “I think that really gave our group some energy and juice there. We built well off of that.”

Early in the third period, Rubin gave himself a present on his 22nd birthday, blasting a one-timer into the net.

“I was just entering the zone and the puck squirted out,” said Rubin, noting that he didn’t recall ever scoring a goal on his birthday. “I just wanted to rip it. It was a good shot, it was good to get some energy for the team.”

The Tigers, though, couldn’t close the deal as they fell 4-2 as the Bobcats added an empty-net goal with 2:31 left in regulation.

Rubin liked how Princeton tightened up its defense, holding Quinnipiac scoreless for a stretch of more than 32 minutes before it tacked on the empty netter.

“We just wanted to simplify our game and get into our structure more in the defense zone,” said Rubin. “It was just stay on top of them and compete and win some more puck battles in the d-zone. We got back to that better in the third period.”

With the Tigers putting the Bobcats on their heels at times during the third period, Rubin was hoping that Princeton could bring some momentum into Saturday night as the rivals met in the second game of a home-and-home set. But the Tigers fell behind 3-0 once again and that proved to be the final score as Princeton moved to 6-8-1 overall and 3-5-1 ECAC Hockey with the loss.

“There was a lot of momentum there, we had a lot of chances in the third,” said Rubin. “Hopefully we can just capitalize tomorrow night.”

Having been sidelined by injury from November 14 to January 4, Rubin is looking to make the most of his chance to get back into action.

“I was out for a bit, it feels good to be back and just working through it,” said Rubin. “It is good to be playing right now.”

Princeton head coach Ben Syer is happy to have Rubin back after his two-month absence.

“It was nice to see him get on the score sheet again,” said Syer. “He has great mobility there for us. That is nice to see and to have on the back end. It is real nice to have him back.”

Syer acknowledged that the Tigers weren’t moving as well as he would’ve liked on Friday.

“You have got to move your feet, that is a good team and they don’t give you much,” said Syer. “You have got to understand that if you don’t get much on a shift as long as it is a momentum shift, it is a win. There were some different times here today where we weren’t satisfied with just having a good, quality shift. It is the reason there are four lines and six, seven defensemen that play. One group goes over and they set the table for the next group. I thought that was up and down here tonight.”

The goal from Ezman did give the Tigers some momentum.

“Ez did a nice job of going hard to the net there and burying that,” said Syer. “You have to give Karny (Karnish) a lot of credit, he put his head down and moved his feet and brought it to the net. He set the table for that, credit to him. He didn’t play the last game, he had a little bite to him here. It was great to see.”

In assessing his team’s effort overall, Syer is looking for his players to show more bite collectively.

“I want to see us compete for 60 minutes here when that puck is dropped,” said Syer, whose team hosts Cornell on January 17 and Colgate on January 18. “That is a really good team. You have to compete, they don’t give you much and you have to fight tooth-and-nail.”

Rubin is excited to be back competing for the Tigers after his injury hiatus.

“It takes time to jump back into it and I feel good right now,” said Rubin, who now has two goals and one assist this season. “It feels good to be back with the team.”