Brown scored two goals per period and held Yale’s meager offense in check to cruise to 6-0 blowout in its home opener Friday night. Senior center Nick Ringstad led a balanced scoring attack with two goals, and Yann Danis quietly made 31 saves for his 10th career shutout, a Brown record.
Brown’s crisp passing, conservative defensive zone play, and persistent forecheck made the easy win possible in front of a lively Meehan Auditorium crowd. The Bears are, remarkably, one of the hottest teams at home in the nation. They are 20-2-6 in their last 28 games wearing the white jerseys.
“I was impressed with all four lines tonight,” said Brown head coach Roger Grillo. “A lot of the young guys stepped it up tonight. It’s exciting when we play like this.”
Brown is now 3-1 on the season and the team’s offense seems to be entering a zone. The Bears had only scored six goals in their first three games — meaning Friday’s performance doubled their goal total.
Danis made his 31 saves look easy. He handled his rebounds well and made a few key stops late in the first and early in the second while short a man. Yale freshman goaltender Matt Modelski looked shaky in his second career start, but finished with 33 saves.
“I don’t think really think about the shutouts,” Danis said. “I just want to win every night. It was good to see some offense out there. We have good offense, defense, and, when I play well in net, we can be the best in the league.”
Ringstad made it 1-0 just 2:08 into the first period. He tipped in a Gerry Burke shot from the point, and Brown dominated most of the first. Sophomore Joe Bauer assisted on both of Ringstad’s goals and has all four of his career points in the last two games.
Mike Meech, the junior who scored the game winner last Saturday at Vermont, drew two penalties on one play to give the Bears a full two-minute five-on-three chance. Freshman Brian Ihnacak finished off the shooting gallery that followed to make it 2-0. Ihnacak also had an assist.
Chris Swon, who also had an assist, scored his second goal of the season off a short pass play from linemate Cory Caouette to make it 3-0 late in the second period. Ringstad made it 4-0 soon thereafter, as he freed himself up for a loose puck in front of the Yale net and patiently waited for Modelski to go down so he could roof it.
Last year’s second leading scorer, Les Haggett, played for the first team this year due to injury and had an impact, as he scored the fifth goal of the game 5:10 into the third. The junior was a big part of the offense last year, and he showed why with a power-play goal he knocked in from the side of the net.
Caouette made it 6-0 on when he fired in a centering feed from Swon. Yale’s offense had spurts late in the third but never got quality chances on Danis. The Bulldogs looked flat in their first road conference game of the season.
“We didn’t have a collective sense of urgency about the game of hockey,” said Yale head coach Tim Taylor. “We just have to battle more.”
Yale faces No. 12 Harvard Saturday night. Brown will host Princeton.
