Rensselaer 0 - Dartmouth 2

Hanover, N.H. -- For the Dartmouth Big Green this season, the idea has been simple: if you play enough ranked teams, you'll begin to play like a ranked team.

Friday night before 2,319 fans at Thompson Arena, that plan finally shifted from theory into reality. Four days after staging an impressive overtime battle with top-ranked New Hampshire, the Big Green displayed strong defense, special teams and goaltending in crafting a 2-0 shutout of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), ranked in the Top 10 in both major polls.

After over 30 minutes of scoreless play, rookie forward Halsey Coughlin received a feed from linemate Dan Casella off a faceoff in the RPI zone. Wasting little time, Coughlin drew back his stick and fired a blazing slapshot between the pipes for the first goal – and first point – of his career.

Coughlin would add his second point later when he assisted junior Peter Mahler on a shot past RPI netminder Joel Laing, but it wouldn't be necessary. The Big Green (3-7-4, 2-2-3 ECAC) outshot the normally offensive-minded Engineers (12-5-0, 4-3-0), 29-20, in helping another emerging star, rookie goaltender Nick Boucher, earn the first perfect game of his young career.

"This is a big 'W' for us to get because it's back in league play," Dartmouth head coach Bob Gaudet said. "We've had a stretch of games where I've thought we've played very well. With the exception of a little bit here and there, we've played pretty good hockey. So it's nice for the guys to have their efforts rewarded."

RPI entered the contest on a bit of a down-note, having dropped a 5-3 decision to Providence on Dec. 30, but still traveled to Hanover sporting a No. 7 ranking in the latest U.S. College Hockey Online Poll. The Engineers, also tabbed at No. 8 in the most recent USA Today/AHM Poll, had been averaging 30 shots and over four goals per game, but showed little offensive spark on this night.

Leading scorer Brad Tapper, who entered the game ranked in the Top 5 nationally in three different offensive categories, was kept quiet by a Dartmouth defense that has allowed more than two goals just twice since Thanksgiving Weekend.

The Big Green outscored RPI in every period -- the visitors took just six shots in each of the last two frames -- and held the Engineers' formidable power play to 0-for-4.

"I thought we played very soft the whole game," RPI head coach Dan Fridgen said. "The forwards weren't supporting the puck well in the neutral zone. They weren't getting after it when we had some opportunities. I thought there were a few flashes where we turned it up on them, but other than that, we didn't have much going on."

All told, the win -- Dartmouth's first shutout in over two years -- was the Big Green's first over RPI since February 16, 1996.

The Engineers poured eight goals on Dartmouth twice last season, but Boucher wasn't in net for either of those debacles. Making just his 10th career start between the pipes, the freshman outshined his celebrated counterpart across the ice.

RPI's Laing came into the night with the best save percentage (95.2), fifth-best winning percentage (.800) and 12th-best goals-against average (1.90) in the nation, but he was solved on two separate occasions.

The first came from Coughlin, who tallied his first career point in his sixth career game. The second came from Mahler, who batted in a rebound early in the third period for his second goal in three games. Casella, a sophomore center, earned assists on both goals, giving him seven points (3 g, 4 a) on the season.

"I think we rely on Joel [Laing] way too much," Fridgen said. "That was evident. Thinking of the saves he made tonight, he made a lot of great saves. There were a lot of odd-man rushes in the first period, and that just tells me that our forwards aren't working hard enough to get back."

He continued: "I didn't think our forwards did a good job of supporting the 'D' from a defensive perspective all night long," Fridgen said. "Apart from that, they didn't do anything offensively either. But that's a credit to Dartmouth. I thought they played us very well."

Boucher, who brought a 2.40 GAA and 92.4 save percentage into the game, stopped all 20 shots he faced to improve his record to 3-3-3.

"I thought we protected Nick [Boucher] really well for large parts of the game," Gaudet said. "Nick has a way of making some saves look pretty easy. I think there were a few testers there that he just got behind. He didn't cause himself a lot of trouble with rebounds and everything. I think he played very well.

"It's a great team shutout for us, but when we needed Boucher to make a really big save in a close game, he was there for us."

Dartmouth will remain home to battle another young, up-and-coming ECAC team, Union, Saturday night, while RPI will make the short trip north to visit Vermont. Both games will begin at 7 p.m.

Big Green notes: Sophomore forward Dan Casella gave the home crowd a thrill midway through the first period when he unloaded a massive check that sent RPI's Nolan Graham over the boards and into the Dartmouth penalty box. Graham, temporarily flat on his back, quickly popped to his feet and hopped back onto the ice surface . . . . Several officials, including the third referee, the official timekeeper and one of the goalie judges, were late to the game because of inclement weather in Hanover . . . . Dartmouth's power play, which had connected in three straight games, was held to 0-for-3 on the night . . . . With Coughlin pitching in his first two points, sophomore Craig Lund and freshman Kent Gillings are the only remaining regulars (not including goalies) without a point to their credit. Lund chipped in four points -- two goals and two assists -- in 28 games last season . . . . Dartmouth was 2-0-0 against Union last season.