Sklapsky, PU face Dartmouth
By: Justin Feil
B.J. Sklapsky made the Princeton University ice hockey staff consider starting him tonight.
The PU senior was named Eastern College Athletic Conference Goaltender of the Week after stopping 53 of 57 shots over the final two games of the best-of-three playoff series win over Brown last weekend. But it won’t warrant a change when the Tigers open the ECAC quarterfinals at Dartmouth 7 p.m. tonight.
Instead, Zane Kalemba starts between the pipes tonight with Sklapsky on the bench. Sklapsky will start in the 7 p.m. Game 2 Saturday and Game 3, if necessary, will be determined Sunday morning.
"If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it," Sklapsky said. "It seems to be working for us. I’m going to live with it. It’s part of being a teammate."
Particularly on this Princeton team. The Tigers have been kept on their toes by having one of their largest collections of talent, and competition for playing time has benefited them in game situations.
"Skating at the beginning of the year, we knew the freshmen had a lot of talent," Sklapsky said. "That pushed the rest of us to get better and better. Everyone wants to stay in the lineup. That has really helped the team. Fighting for lineup positions, you don’t know who is going in when. It makes everyone better. We had the slow start but as it rolled on, you could tell with this team, it could go places."
The Tigers won their first ECAC series since 1999 in part because of Sklapsky’s steady play Saturday and Sunday against Brown. He made 21 saves in a 2-1 overtime win Saturday and then stopped 32 shots as the Bears outshot Princeton but the Tigers prevailed, 4-3, Sunday. With the win, Sklapsky improved to 7-3-1and lowered his goal against average to 2.56.
"I think B.J. is playing the best hockey I’ve seen him play and I imagine he has in his career," said PU head coach Guy Gadowsky. "He’s played tremendously. He’s a huge factor in why we’re still playing.
"There was a time Saturday night when he made a huge save, and once he made that, I think everyone felt really good. He’s getting the team confidence."
The Tigers certainly have every reason to be confident in themselves and Sklapsky as they head to Hanover, N.H. They tied Dartmouth early in the season and Sklapsky was in net for a 3-0 win over the Big Green last month.
"It’s nice we have had some success against them in the past," Sklapsky said. "It gives you a little confidence. But playoffs, it’s a whole different game. Everything from injuries and things like that come in. Going into the playoffs, teams can tailor their games to teams."
The Tigers won’t change a thing against Dartmouth. They want to play the same way they have all year. That’s why there wasn’t much second-guessing when it came time to figure out the starting goalies for the weekend. It was just what the Tigers did against Brown.
"It was planned to play Zane on Friday and B.J. on Saturday, then we were going to play it by ear," Gadowsky said. "It’s the same formula we’ve used last weekend and the weekend before and it’s worked.
"If it does go three (games), I feel it’s an advantage to not have a goalie go three nights. We have the luxury because we have two goalies playing well, so there’s an advantage to be able to do that. The formula has worked two weekends in a row so we’ve stuck with it."
That strategy helped the Tigers edge Brown in their ECAC opener. Winning that series was big for Sklapsky, who is one of nine seniors.
"You don’t want to leave Baker Rink on a low note," he said. "A lot of my former teammates have had to do that. Us nine are happy to turn the corner for the program and get a nice solid home victory."
The seniors will also exit with an impressive win total after snapping a 17-game playoff losing streak. In improving to 15-14-3, the Tigers have their highest win total since the 1998-99 season when they won 20 games. The Tigers are also above .500 for the first time ever. But the only records that Princeton is worrying about now is earning two more wins.
"This team showed an extreme amount of character," Gadowsky said. "To win a series, it has us feeling good about the character of the guys. They feel good. Once you do it once, everyone feels you can do it again."
The Tigers will line up to approach Dartmouth the same way they did Brown. That includes having the ECAC Goalie of the Week on the bench to open the series. For B.J. Sklapsky, it just means another chance to close out a series.

