ITHACA, N.Y. – With just four games remaining and the Cornell men's hockey within a pack of six teams within five points in the ECAC Hockey standings, the Big Red will make its final road trip of the regular season when it faces Harvard at 7 p.m. Friday, followed by a 7 p.m. Saturday contest at Dartmouth. Both games will be streamed on the subscription-based Ivy League Digital Network, while Friday's game against the Crimson will be simulcast on NESNplus. Additionally, Jason Weinstein will handle play-by-play which can be heard in the Ithaca area on WHCU (870 AM, 95.9 FM).
 
GAME 26: #16/RV CORNELL at #13/13 HARVARD
TIME: 7:05 p.m.
DATES: Friday, Feb. 19, 2016
PLACE: Bright Center   ·  Cambridge, Mass.
RECORDS: Cornell 12-8-5, 7-7-4 ECAC Hockey  ·  Harvard 14-8-3, 10-5-3 ECAC Hockey
TV: NESNplus
WEBCAST: Ivy League Digital Network
RADIO: WHCU (870 AM, 95.9 FM)
LIVE STATS: GoCrimson.com
 
GAME 27: #16/RV CORNELL at RV DARTMOUTH
TIME: 7:05 p.m.
DATES: Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016
PLACE: Thompson Arena   ·  Hanover, N.H.
RECORDS: Cornell 12-8-5, 7-7-4 ECAC Hockey  ·  Dartmouth 13-11-1, 10-8 ECAC Hockey
WEBCAST: Ivy League Digital Network
RADIO: WHCU (870 AM, 95.9 FM)
LIVE STATS: DartmouthSports.com
 
Cornell game notes (PDF)
Harvard game notes (coming soon)
Dartmouth games notes (coming soon)
 
The Big Red Rewind:
Cornell mustered one point last weekend in a pair of Ivy League games at Lynah Rink. Christian Hilbrich scored a six-on-four goal with 9.4 seconds left in the third period of Friday's 3-3 tie with Brown, with Reece Willcox registering assists on all three of the Big Red's goals. Yale skated away with a 4-2 victory the following night, despite a goal and an assist for John Knisley. Sophomore goaltender Hayden Stewart made his second appearance of the season, stopping 19 of 20 shots. The previous weekend, Cornell blanked Princeton for a 1-0 victory after earning a 2-2 tie at #1/1 Quinnipiac.
 
Who's Who at CU:
Junior goaltender Mitch Gillam (12-8-5, 2.02, .929, 5 SO) has started all 25 of the Big Red's games to date and logged the program's third-longest shutout streak (213:17) during November. After stopping of 71 of the 73 shots he faced two weeks ago, Gillam was named the ECAC Hockey Goaltender of the Week for a third time this season. His five shutouts are tied for fourth-most in the country. ... Junior forward Jeff Kubiak (7-13–20) leads the team in scoring and rating (plus-12). For the entire season, he's centered a line with a pair of freshman wingers on the JAM line (an acronym of their first names) — Anthony Angello (9-8–17), who leads the team in goals, and Mitch Vanderlaan (7-8–15), who is third in points. ... Senior Reece Willcox (2-10–12) is the team's leading scorer among defensemen afer his three-assist effort last Friday vs. Brown. ... Junior Matt Buckles (5-3–8) leads the team with four power-play goals.
 
Scenario Central:
With two weeks remaining in the regular season, Cornell can still finish anywhere from second to ninth in the ECAC Hockey standings. The Big Red can clinch a home-ice series if it wins both of its games this weekend.
 
About Harvard:
The defending ECAC Hockey champions are 3-4 since they visited Lynah Rink three weeks ago, which has dropped the Crimson to 12th in the Pairwise rankings. Last Friday's home loss to Rensselaer was the team's third straight defeat before it rebounded with a 4-1 win over Union behind freshman Ryan Donato's hat trick. ... Senior forward Jimmy Vesey (18-17–35, 5 PPGs) ranks sixth in the country in points per game. Similar to the Big Red, Harvard's top three scorers typically play on a line together — Vesey on the left, junior Alexander Kerfoot (4-25–29) at center and senior Kyle Criscuolo (16-10–26, 7 PPGs) on the right. ... The Crimson's power play ranks second in the nation, converting at a 29.8% clip. ... Sophomore Merrick Madsen (13-4-2, 1.89, .933, 4 SO) has been the primary starting goalie.
 
The Series Against Harvard:
Cornell has been battling with ancient rival Harvard since 1910, and they have matched up 146 times with the Big Red holding a 74-62-10 lead in the series. Cornell has gotten the better of Harvard in the past five years, with the Crimson winning just four times during the last 16 matchups. One of those victories was a 6-2 contest three weeks ago in Ithaca. Cornell's last visit to Cambridge was a 3-3 tie, with Jared Fiegl scoring the game-tying tally with a touch under four minutes to play in regulation. Cornell head coach Mike Schafer is 34-15-5 in 53 games against Harvard. 
 
About Dartmouth:
The Big Green was in the midst of a five-game winning streak when it topped Cornell three weeks, but it has alternated wins and losses ever since. That includes a 4-1 loss to Union and a 2-1 overtime victory against Rensselaer at home last weekend. Troy Crema scored in OT against the Engineers. ... Senior forward Jack Barre (11-12–23) leads the team in scoring with 14 points in his last 11 games and, by a considerable margin, rating (plus-16). He plays on a line centered by sophomore Carl Hesler (9-7–16). Senior forward Brett Patterson (8-9–17) leads the team with three power-play goals. ... The Big Green has started all three of its goalies in at least four games. Senior Charles Grant (8-7, 2.60 .907, 3 SO) has seen the most starts, though senior James Kruger (4-2, 3.54, .880) has started twice in the last four games. ... Dartmouth's power play has scored just twice in its last 19 opportunities (10.5%). ... Dartmouth is currently 21st in the Pairwise rankings.
 
The Series Against Dartmouth:
Cornell and Dartmouth have met on 131 occasions since 1909, with the Big Red holding a wide margin in the series with a 79-47-5 advantage. That gap has been shortened with the Big Green holding a 4-0-1 advantage over the last five games, including a 3-0 triumph on Jan. 22 at Lynah Rink behind Charles Grant's 18-save shutout. Since taking over the reigns as Cornell head coach, Mike Schafer is 22-20-5 against Dartmouth.
 
Gillam's Groove:
Junior goaltender Mitch Gillam was named ECAC Hockey Goalie of the Week on Nov. 17, then earned Player of the Week and NCAA First Star honors on Nov. 24 followed by a 40-save effort Nov. 28 against Boston University. In that span, he posted the third-longest shutout streak in program history, spanning 213 minutes, 17 seconds over four games — including consecutive shutouts at Yale and Brown. That marked the Big Red's first back-to-back shutouts since Andy Iles did so Dec. 2-3, 2011 against St. Lawrence and Clarkson, and it was the Big Red's first consecutive road shutouts since Ben Scrivens blanked Princeton and Quinnipiac from Nov. 7-8, 2008. An odd twist on Gillam's six career shutouts is that he's only won four of them — Dec. 28, 2014 against Lake Superior State and Nov. 20, 2015 against Yale were both scoreless ties.
 
Wasting No Time:
Junior forward Jeff Kubiak entered the season with 17 career points through his first two seasons, but he followed that up with nine points in the first six games this year. He had the Big Red's six-game point streak since Brian Ferlin's seven-game stretch from Dec. 28, 2013 to Jan. 31, 2014. Kubiak has more points this season (20) than he had in 57 games through his freshman and sophomore seasons.
 
What, Me Worry?:
Four of Cornell's 12 victories have come in games in which it has surrendered the first goal. The Big Red had a combined record of 14-34-5 over the previous three seasons when it faced a 1-0 deficit. Cornell was a remarkable 4-0 when yielding the first goal until its Dec. 29 loss to Ohio State.
 
The Little Things Aren't So Little:
While junior forward Jake Weidner is fourth on the team in scoring (3-9–12), his contributions go way deeper than those numbers — especially with increased ice time as a result of the early-season absence of John Knisley. Entering the weekend, Weidner is the team's top faceoff men (56.4%), and top shot-blocker among forwards (1.17).
 
No Fear:
Cornell is 1-0-1 this season against No. 1-ranked teams. The Big Red defeated Providence in overtime, 2-1, on Dec. 28 when the Friars entered the game undefeated and ranked No. 1 in both major college hockey polls. Cornell followed that up by rallying for a 2-2 tie last Friday at Quinnipiac, which enters this weekend still undefeated in ECAC Hockey play.
 
Special Threads:
The Big Red wore special jerseys for its home opener which were recently auctioned off to bids totaling $10,400. Proceeds from the auction will go to a mission and service trip to the Dominican Republic this summer, led by head coach Mike Schafer and current players. In addition to the special design the red jerseys with a thick horizontal white stripe across the midsection, the jerseys featured name plates of the greatest Cornell hockey player to have ever donned that number according to the player that currently wears it.
 
Freshman Force:
The jump to college hockey can be a big one for newcomers, but freshman forward Anthony Angello — a 2014 draft pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins — has felt right at home with Cornell. Angello is the Big Red's first player to have points in his first four collegiate games since Ryan Moynihan from Nov. 8-16, 1996 — which was Mike Schafer's second season as head coach of his alma mater. He then scored the overtime winner Nov. 14 at Colgate and later had two goals against Merrimack on Jan. 9 to garner ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Week honors a few days later. Angello's nine goals lead the team.
 
Class of Captains:
On the day of its season opener at Niagara, Cornell announced that its entire senior class — Christian Hilbrich, John Knisley, Teemu Tiitinen and Reece Willcox — would serve as captains during its final season on East Hill. It marks the first time in program history the Big Red has shared the captaincy among four players, though it's worth noting that only two players will wear the 'C' at any given time. Hilbrich and Willcox will serve as on-ice captains for the team's away games, while Knisley and Tiitinen will do so in home games.
 
Onward and Upward:
With the Feb. 6 win at Princeton, Cornell has surpassed its win total from the 2014-15 season. Earlier this season, the Big Red recorded its first consecutive home sweeps since the 2008-09 season when it swept St. Lawrence and Clarkson in early December and a two-game set against Merrimack in early January.
 
Understudy Extraordinaire:
Associate Head Coach Ben Syer improved his career record as acting head coach to 5-0-2 after taking the helm for three games (Feb. 5-12) with Mike Schafer not in attendance due to a concussion suffered in practice. All but one of Syer's games as acting head coach have come with Cornell, including victories over St. Lawrence (Feb. 18, 2012), Clarkson (Nov. 14, 2014), Union (Feb. 21, 2015) and Princeton (Feb. 6), and ties at Quinnipiac (Feb. 5) and against Brown (last Friday).
 
Blank You Very Much:
Cornell has recorded at least one shutout in each of the last 21 seasons – a streak that has easily been continued behind junior goaltender Mitch Gillam's five shutouts in just the first half of this season. The last time the Big Red went a full season without posting a shutout came during the 1994-95 season.
 
The 35th to 350:
Already the winningest coach in program history, Mike Schafer hit 350 victories for his career — all of which have come from behind the Big Red's bench — with a 4-2 win over Princeton on Nov. 1, 2013. He became the 35th coach all-time to rack up 350 victories across all NCAA divisions. Schafer is also just the third coach to pass 350 victories with Ivy League tenure, joining Ned Harkness (Cornell, Union and Rensselaer) and Tim Taylor (Yale).
 
Working Overtime:
The Big Red went to overtime six times before Jan. 1 for the first time in program history. Now with 11 overtime appearances, Cornell is quickly approaching the program record for overtime games in a season — the Big Red played 12 in each of the 1985-86, 2010-11 and 2011-12 campaigns. Cornell is 3-3-5 in its 11 overtime games to date, with its three OT winners tied for the national lead with eight other teams.
 
Feel The Draft?:
Cornell has six players on the roster who have been selected in the NHL Entry Draft, including four from 2014. Freshman forward Beau Starrett (Chicago Blackhawks) was selected earliest in the group, having been taken in the third round with the 88th overall pick. Fellow newcomer Anthony Angello, also a forward, was selected in the fifth round by the Pittsburgh Penguins. Sophomore forward Jared Fiegl (Arizona Coyotes) and Dwyer Tschantz (St. Louis Blues) were then picked in the seventh round. Junior forward Matt Buckles was taken by the Florida Panthers in the fourth round of the 2013 draft, and senior defenseman Reece Willcox was selected by the Philadelphia Flyers in the fifth round of 2012's event.
 
Global Influence:
The Big Red has 16 players on the roster born in the United States. Cornell also now has players native to four different countries on its squad. Aside from the bulk of its roster hailing from the United States and Canada, Cornell also has a player from Denmark (Christian Hilbrich) and Finland (Teemu Tiitinen).
 
Little Apples:
•  Cornell's last victory at Dartmouth came on Feb. 15, 2013, snapping a seven-game losing streak.
•  Junior forward Matt Buckles is the only current member of the Big Red to have scored a goal against Dartmouth before (Jan. 24, 2015). Senior forward Christian Hilbrich has the team's most career points against Harvard with three (two goals and one assist in seven games).
•  Last Saturday's 4-2 loss to Yale was the first game the Big Red played this year which ended in a two-goal scoring margin.
•  Cornell has scored just nine goals in the third period. While that's the lowest total in the country, the Big Red has only trailed in the final period in seven of its 25 games so far this season.
•  Cornell went 13 games before it faced its first two-goal deficit of the season (Dec. 29 vs. Ohio State). The Big Red has only trailed by two or more goals in three other games this season — including Jan. 22-23 games against Dartmouth and Harvard.
•  The Big Red became the last team in the country to either score or surrender an empty-net goal this season with Dwyer Tschantz's first goal of the season on Jan. 8. Cornell then yielded its first empty-net goals of the season Jan. 22-23.
•  With Alec McCrea, Trent Shore and Brendan Smith all in the lineup Jan. 9 against Merrimack, the Big Red dressed three freshmen on defense for the first time since Jan. 20, 2008 against Clarkson (Jordan Berk, Mike Devin and Jacob Johnston).
 
Up Next:
Cornell wraps up the regular season at the friendly confines of Lynah Rink, starting with a Feb. 26 game against Union before Senior Night festivities follow the Feb. 27 game against Rensselaer. The first round of the ECAC Hockey Championship playoffs will then feature four best-of-three series March 4-6 at sites to be determined.