Princeton's Veronneau Scores First NHL Goal

Former Princeton University All-America forward Max Veronneau has arrived in the National Hockey League. The Ottawa native scored his first career NHL goal in the Ottawa Senators' 5-4 loss at Vancouver on Wednesday, his third career NHL game. He made his league debut on March 14 in a 2-0 win over St. Louis, and picked up his first professional point with an assist in a 6-2 win against Toronto on March 16. He was held scoreless in last night's 5-1 loss at Calgary.

Veronneau signed with an Ottawa as a free agent after Princeton was eliminated from the ECAC  Hockey tournament by Brown University on March 16. He was one of the top scorers in the nation in 2017-18, when he finished with 55 points in helping the Tigers to the ECAC Hockey title plus the school's first NCAA Tournament berth in 10 years. He left Princeton as one of the Tigers' top all-time scorers with 52 goals and 91 assists for 143 points in 130 appearances, after notching 13-23—36 points in 31 games as a senior.

Princeton's 2018-19 Season Ends in ECAC First Round

 

Princeton University's 2018-19 men's ice hockey season came to an an end tonight in Providence. Alex Brink scored 3:30 into the third overtime session to boost host Brown University to a

6-5 victory in Game 2 of its best-of-three ECAC Hockey first-round series with the Tigers at Meehan Auditorium. At a total time of 103:30, it was the longest game in the history of both schools.

Coupled with Brown's 3-0 win on Friday, Princeton has been eliminated from the conference tournament, while the Bears will travel to either Quinnipiac or Cornell next weekend for a best-of-three quarterfinal series. Princeton eliminated Brown in two games in the first round of the ECACs last spring in New Jersey, en route to the league title.

The two Ivy League rivals played to a 2-2 tie after 40 minutes on Saturday, before Brown scored three times in the first 14:12 of the third stanza to take a 5-2 lead. Princeton pulled within 5-3 just a minute later on Alex Riche's second goal of the night, before Ryan Kuffner scored his second goal of the evening and team-leading 22nd goal of the campaign at 17:41. Kuffner then assisted on Jackson Cressey's tying marker with 49 seconds remaining in regulation. All three goals were scored in a span of 2:47, and all with Princeton's goaltender pulled for an extra attacker.

The teams then played through two scoreless 20-minute overtime periods before Brink ended it. Ryan Ferland took the loss in goal for the Tigers (10-18-3 overall, 8-12-2 ECAC) despite stopping 31 shots. Gavin Nieto earned the win for the Bears (13-13-5, 8-9-5) in making 35 stops.

Kuffner, ECAC Hockey's Player of the Month for February 2019, finished his college career with a school record 75 goals in four seasons, among his 152 points in 132 career games that leave him second all-time in school scoring behind John Messuri's 178 points. Kuffner also paced Princeton with 44 points in 31 outings as a senior this season.

Longtime linemate Max Veronneau was kept off the scoresheet on Friday and Saturday, but scored two goals in a 3-2 regular-season finale victory at Brown on March 2. He completed his college career with 52-91—143 points in 130 appearances, which ranks hims fourth all-time in Princeton points, and finished second to Kuffner on this year's Tiger scoring scroll with 13-23—36 points in 31 games.

Riche posted two goals and two assists in his Tigers swansong Saturday, and placed third among all Princeton scorers this season with 11-15—26 points in 31 games, plus 26-49—75 points in 122 career contests. Finishing in fourth place was senior defenseman Josh Teves with 3-17—20 points in 31 games, and 16-69—85 points in 126 career appearances. Together the foursome led Princeton to the ECAC Hockey tournament championship last year in Lake Placid, plus a berth in the NCAA Midwest Regional in Allentown, Pa. where the Tigers fell to eventual Frozen Four participant Ohio State. Also finishing their Princeton careers on Saturday were senior forward Spencer Kryczka (19 GP, 1-1—2) and senior goaltender Austin Shaw (9 GP, 2-1-1, 2.93, .904).

Other NCAA Division I men's schools that saw their seasons end on Saturday included Alabama-Huntsville, Alaska Fairbanks, Bemidji State, Colgate, Holy Cross, Mercyhurst, Michigan, Michigan State, Michigan Tech, and Rensselaer.

Princeton Downs St. Lawrence, 5-3, in Home Finale

Princeton University closed out the home portion of its 2018-19 schedule on Saturday night with a 5-3 victory over ECAC Hockey rival St. Lawrence.

Ryan Kuffner led the host Tigers with two goal and an assist, including his team-leading 20th goal of the season, after setting a new single-season school record with 29 tallies a year ago. Jackson Cressey tallied one goal and set up two others, while Alex Riche and Max Veronneau scored Princeton's other goals. Ryan Ferland picked up the win with 21 saves over 59 minutes before giving way to backup Austin Shaw, who played in his final home game at Hobey Baker Rink, as did senior classmates Riche, Kuffner, Verroneau, Spencer Kryczka and Josh Teves.

Keenan Suthers, Zach Risteau and Bo Hanson scored for the visiting Saints, who went 2-for-5 on the power play. Emil Zetterquist finished with 25 saves for St. Lawrence, which was outshot, 30-24, overall.

Princeton (8-16-3 overall, 6-12-2 ECAC), in 11th place in ECAC Hockey, will skate next weekend at Brown and Yale, while 12th place St. Lawrence (4-26-2, 2-16-2) will host Cornell and Colgate as the league closes out its regular-season slate.

Princeton, Penn State Skate to Tie in Philadelphia

Max Veronneau and Ryan Kuffner posted four points apiece, including Kuffner's tying goal with 1:08 remaining in regulation, as Princeton knotted Penn State, 4-4, in the 2018 Philadelphia College Hockey Faceoff at the Wells Fargo Center.

Veronneau scored two goals for Princeton, which got the game-opening goal from Josh Teves. Brandon Biro, Chase Berger and Nate Sucese scored in the first period for Penn State (11-5-2 overall), which outshot host Princeton, 13-3 in the first period, and 37-35 on the night. Alec Marsh scored Penn State’s fourth goal 17 seconds into the second period to put the Nittany Lions up, 4-1, at the time.

Peyton Jones finished with 31 saves for Penn State, including a stop on Veronneau in overtime. Veronneau posted two goals and two assists on the night, while Kuffner had a goal and three assists. Austin Smith stopped all 21 shots he faced in the Princeton net, after relieving starter Ryan Ferland (12 saves) following Marsh’s goal.

Princeton (3-8-2) went 0-for-3 on the power play, while Penn State was 0-for-2.

Princeton Ousts Brown in ECAC Men's First Round

Princeton University has advanced to the quarterfinals of the ECAC Tournament for the second straight year. The Tigers completed a two-step sweep of visiting Brown University with a 7-1 win on Saturday night at Hobey Baker Rink, one night after an 8-2 victory over the Bears in the opener of the best-of-three series.

The Tigers got goals from seven different players on the evening, and 27 saves from Ryan Ferland, after breaking open a 1-0 game with four goals in the middle period. Ryan Kuffner’s second-period score, his 28^th goal of the season, stood up as the game-winner. It also tied a 20-year-old Princeton single-season record, set by retired NHL player Jeff Halpern in 1998 when the Tigers advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time ever.

Kuffner finished the night with a goal and two assists, as did linemate Max Veronneau, who recorded his 100^th career point on Kuffner’s goal. Reid Yochim and Eric Robinson also posted two assists apiece for Princeton, which finished 2-for-6 on the power play.

The Tigers ended the game with six seniors on the ice, including relief goaltender Ben Halford, in their final appearance as a class at Baker Rink. Senior defenseman Matt Nelson closed out the scoring with a power-play goal with 34 seconds remaining in regulation, assisted by classmates Robinson and Joe Grabowski. Also on ice were seniors Max Becker and David Hallisey. Princeton outshot Brown, 44-30, over three periods.

Brown (8-19-4), which defeated both Dartmouth and Harvard last week in its regular-season finale, got its lone goal Saturday from Zach Giuttari, on a power play early in the third period. The Bears also received 37 saves overall from Luke Kania in Brown’s final game of the 2017-18 campaign.

Princeton (15-12-2), which now is assured of its first winning record since 2010-11, will play on the road next week in a best-of-three series at an opponent yet to be determined. The winner of that series will advance to the ECAC Tournament semifinals on March 16 in Lake Placid.

Princeton Outlasts Yale, 5-4

Max Veronneau had a goal and two assists, and Ryan Ferland made 37 saves as Princeton University held on for a 5-4 ECAC Hockey victory over Ivy League rival Yale on Friday night at Hobey Baker Rink. Full recap can be found here.

Princeton Edges UWO in Exhibition, 6-4

Liam Grande's second goal with 5:05 remaining in regulation stood up as the game-winner as the Princeton University Tigers overcame an early 2-1 deficit to best Western Ontario, 6-4, in an exhibition game at Hobey Baker Rink on Saturday evening.

Max Veronneau set up three Princeton goals and Eric Robinson had two assists while Reid Yochim, Jackson Cressey, Josh Teves and Alex Riche also scored for the Tigers, who finished 15-16-3 overall a year ago. Freshman netminder Ryan Ferland stopped all four shots he faced in playing the final eight minutes and 24 seconds of regulation for the Tigers, and also picked up the victory (which will not count in NCAA totals, as an exhibition) as he was in net for Grande's game-winner.

Princeton starting goaltender Austin Shaw stopped 19 of 22 shots over the first 40 minutes on Saturday, while Ben Halford saved two of three shots in just over 11 minutes of play. Princeton finished 3-for-7 on the power play, and stopped 4-of-5 man-advantage attempts by the Mustangs, who got two goals from Anthony Stefano.


Princeton will open its 2017-18 regular season against visiting Holy Cross on Sunday, Oct. 29 at 4 p.m. at Baker Rink.

Princeton Survives in OT, Forces Game Three

Princeton and Colgate will play a third and deciding game on Sunday night to see who advances in the 2017 ECAC Hockey Tournament.

The host Tigers tied Game Two with one second remaining in regulation on Saturday at Hobey Baker Rink, then won it 16:17 into overtime, 4-3, on an unassisted shot from the right wing by Max Veronneau to force a tiebreaking contest in the best-of-three first-round series.

Derek Freeman scored twice for Colgate (9-21-6 overall), including the game-opening goal in the first period and the go-ahead goal in the second session. Jared Cockrell staked the Raiders to a 2-0 lead late in the opening stanza, before Princeton (14-14-3) forged a second-period tie on goals just over eight minutes apart by Jackson Cressey and Ryan Kuffner.

After Freeman’s second goal, the contest remained scoreless until the final minute of regulation, when Eric Robinson dove to poke home a loose puck with one second left, almost a minute after Princeton had pulled goaltender Colton Phinney (31 saves) for a sixth attacker. The Tigers outshot the Raiders, 55-34, on the night, including 36-15 over the final two periods of regulation, although Colgate had nine of the 17 shots on goal in overtime.

Colgate had taken a one game-to-none series lead with a 3-2 victory in overtime on Friday, on a goal by team captain Jake Kulevich. It was the 1,000^th win in Colgate’s hockey history dating back to the men’s program’s very beginning in 1915. Saturday’s loss was the first suffered by Colgate senior netminder Charlie Finn (8-1-1) in 10 career games against the Tigers, and also snapped an equivalent unbeaten streak by the Raiders over Princeton that began in 2013.

Game Three will start at 7 p.m. ET on Sunday night. The other three first-round ECAC series have all been decided, with Quinnipiac, Yale and Clarkson advancing with two-step sweeps of Brown, Dartmouth and Rensselaer, respectively. A  Colgate win on Sunday will send the Raiders to top-seeded Harvard next weekend, while a Princeton victory will dispatch the Tigers to second-seeded Union.

Princeton Tops Quinnipiac, 5-3

Princeton made it four wins in its last five outings overall as the Tigers defeated No. 7 Quinnipiac, 5-3, on Friday night at Hobey Baker Rink.

Princeton, which took three one-goal leads on the night, went ahead for good with just over four minutes remaining in regulation when an unassisted shot from the blueline by defenseman Matt Nelson found the back of the Quinnipiac net. Eric Robinson then fired an insurance goal into an empty net with 15 seconds left, after Bobcats netminder Chris Truehl (24 saves) had been pulled for an extra attacker. Princeton last won four of five games from Jan. 4-27, 2013.

Max Veronneau set up three of Princeton goals and now has 10 points (4 goals, 6 assists) in his last three games, after starting the season with four points over his first nine contests. Ryan Kuffner, Jackson Cressey (power-play goal) and Alex Riche also scored for the Tigers (4-7-1 overall, 2-6-1 ECAC), who got 33 stops on the evening from Colton Phinney, including a pad save on a shot late in regulation with Quinnipiac threatening to tie the game on a power play.

The Bobcats’ goals came from Kevin Duane (PPG), Landon Smith and Thomas Aldworth, in the first second and third periods, respectively, with each one forging a tie. Quinnipiac (10-6-2, 6-3-1) finished 1-for-5 on the power play while outshooting Princeton, 36-29, overall. The Tigers, who were 1-for-3 with the man advantage, defeated Quinnipiac for the first time since Nov. 23, 2013, a span of four games, and for the first time at home since Jan. 4, 2010.

An altercation after the final whistle resulted in 10-minute misconduct penalties being issued to both teams, and no traditional postgame handshake was held. The two ECAC travel partners will conclude their home-and home series tomorrow at the TD Bank Sports Center in Hamden, Conn.