A pair of power play tallies pulled the St. Lawrence men's hockey team within a goal on two separate occasions, but two quick goals for Princeton late in the second period proved to be the difference, as the Saints fell to the Tigers, 5-3, in Princeton, New Jersey on Saturday night.

Keenan Suthers and Bo Hanson notched the power play goals for St. Lawrence in the second period, while first-year Zach Risteau scored the only goal of the final frame. Philip Alftberg recorded a pair of assists for the second night in a row, while Carson Gicewicz, Cade Gleekel and Jake Stevens also finished with helpers in the loss.

The Saints finished 2-for-5 on the power play, while Princeton went 1-for-3. The Tigers man-advantage goal came off the stick of Ryan Kuffner in the first period. He finished with a pair of goals for Princeton.

Max Veronneau opened the scoring with a blast from the right circle that found its way behind the Saints' Emil Zetterquist just 38 seconds into the game. Kuffner's 19^th of the season at 10:04 of the opening frame gave Princeton a 2-0 lead heading into the first intermission.

St. Lawrence started the second period on the power play and was able to cash in in the final second of the opportunity with a breakaway goal by Suthers.

After a poke check by Zetterquist broke up a shorthanded scoring bid by the Tigers, Alftberg hit Suthers with a stretch pass in stride on the Princeton blue line and the Tecumseh, Ontario native roofed a shot of the glove of netminder Ryan Ferland for his fifth of the season to make it a 2-1 game at the 1:48 mark.

The goal is the first for Suthers since November 10 against Mercyhurst.

Later in the frame, Kuffner's second of the night helped Princeton regain their two-goal lead, as he blasted a quick shot off a faceoff win by Jackson Cressey at 14:57.

Less than two minutes later, Hanson and the Saints responded with their second power play goal, as the sophomore defensemen sent a bomb from the point in the top of the net behind Ferland at 16:12 with Alftberg and Gleekel assisting.

But at 18:10, Cressey recorded the eventual game-winning goal on a play that was reviewed at length after a St. Lawrence challenge for a potential high stick. The goal stood and Princeton took a 4-2 lead.

Just 36 seconds later, Alex Riche went forehand-backhand across the top of the blue paint, and tucked a shot along the ice behind an outstretched Zetterquist for the fifth and final Tigers goal.

In the early part of the third period, not long after a power play opportunity expired, Stevens put a shot on net from the right circle that was stopped by Ferland, but Risteau was there on the near post to deposit the rebound for his sixth of the season, on his birthday, to make it a 5-3 game.

The Saints pulled Zetterquist for the extra attacker with just under two minutes to play, but failed to convert before taking a penalty with 43 seconds to play that put them on the kill for the remainder of the game.

With the loss, the Saints fall to 4-26-2 overall and 2-16-2 in ECAC Hockey games heading into the final weekend of the regular season. Princeton improves to 8-16-3 and 6-12-2 in conference play, while also earning a season split with St. Lawrence.

The Tigers finished with a 30-24 edge in shots on goal, as Zetterquist finished with 25 saves and Ferland stopped 21 for the Tigers. Backup Austin Shaw played the final 43 seconds for Princeton, but was not tasked to make a save.

St. Lawrence will finish the regular season with their final home games of 2018-19 next weekend, hosting Cornell and Colgate.