1. Between the Pipes

Since the dust settled in No. 5 Yale’s goaltender shuffle, Alec Richards ’09 has provided Yale with consistency in the net. His netminding has yielded a .926 save percentage and four shutouts. Vermont’s starting netminder, freshman Rob Madore, has only one shutout and a .911 percentage. Without the years of experience Richards carries with him, the 19-year-old Madore may wilt under the national spotlight.

2. Recent Play

No team wants to come into a tournament cold, with tough losses in recent memory. Vermont will have to buck a three-game losing streak — including two overtime defeats to both New Hampshire and UMass–Lowell — in order to advance. Yale is coming off four straight wins, including a 5-0 rout against No. 9 Cornell in the ECAC Championship game last weekend. Vermont also may be a bit rusty: The team has not played in three weeks.

3. Crunch Time

Over the past 15 games, Yale has out-scored opponents in the third period 26-10. Yale came back in the final two minutes to score two goals and secure a win over St. Lawrence in the ECAC tournament, and, earlier in the season, Yale scored four goals in the third period to erase a 4-0 deficit against Colgate. Yale has demonstrated an ability to score when it counts, while seven of Vermont’s 11 losses were by a single goal.

Quick Hits

Vermont’s penalty kill stands at 80.2 percent, while Yale’s stands strong at 89.6 percent. Yale also scores an average of 3.39 goals per game to Vermont’s 3.06.

Vermont was a member of the ECAC until the 2005-’06 season.

Yale head coach Keith Allain was named the College Hockey News Coach of the Year.

Prediction

YALE 3, VERMONT 1