ITHACA, N.Y. – With the chase still alive for a first-round bye in the ECAC Hockey Championship playoffs, Cornell returns home for its final two games of the regular season when it takes on Union at 7 p.m. Friday and Rensselaer at 7 p.m. Saturday. After Saturday's game, the Big Red will hold a postgame Senior Night for its four elder statesmen, Christian Hilbrich, John Knisley, Teemu Tiitinen and Reece Willcox. Both games will be broadcast on the subscription-based Ivy League Digital Network, featuring play-by-play from Jason Weinstein and color commentary from Tony Eisenhut. Their call can also be heard in the Ithaca area on WHCU (870 AM, 95.9 FM).
 
GAME 28: RV UNION at #16/RV CORNELL
TIME: 7 p.m.
DATES: Friday, Feb. 26, 2016
PLACE: Lynah Rink   ·  Ithaca, N.Y.
RECORDS: Cornell 13-8-6, 8-7-5 ECAC Hockey  ·  Union 12-11-9, 5-9-6 ECAC Hockey
WEBCAST: Ivy League Digital Network
RADIO: WHCU (870 AM, 95.9 FM)
LIVE STATS: CornellBigRed.com
 
GAME 29: #17/RV RENSSELAER at #16/RV CORNELL
TIME: 7 p.m.
DATES: Saturday, Feb. 27, 2016
PLACE: Lynah Rink   ·  Ithaca, N.Y.
RECORDS: Cornell 13-8-6, 8-7-5 ECAC Hockey  ·  Rensselaer 16-12-6, 8-6-6 ECAC Hockey
WEBCAST: Ivy League Digital Network
RADIO: WHCU (870 AM, 95.9 FM)
LIVE STATS: CornellBigRed.com
 
Cornell game notes (PDF)
Union game notes (PDF)
Rensselaer games notes (PDF)
 
The Big Red Rewind:
Cornell is coming off an impressive three-point road trip featuring a 2-2 tie last Friday at Harvard and a 1-0 shutout the following night at Dartmouth. Mitch Gillam made 33 saves in each game, and sophomore defenseman Dan Wedman — with one point in 53 career games entering the weekend — had a goal and an assist. Teemu Tiitinen and Jeff Kubiak had the other goals, and Cornell moved to within one point of fifth place and two points of fourth place in the ECAC Hockey standings.
 
Who's Who at CU:
Junior goaltender Mitch Gillam (13-8-6, 1.94, .933, 6 SO) has started all of the Big Red's games to date and was named the ECAC Hockey Goaltender of the Week on Tuesday for the fourth time this season. His six shutouts are tied for third-most in the country, the latest of which came last Saturday at Dartmouth to wrap up a weekend in which he stopped 66 of the 68 shots he faced. ... Junior forward Jeff Kubiak (8-13–21) leads the team in scoring and rating (plus-14). 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 (9-9–18), who leads the team in goals, and Mitch Vanderlaan (7-8–15). ... Senior Reece Willcox (2-10–12) and freshman Alec McCrea (2-10–12) are the team's leading scorers among defensemen. ... Junior Matt Buckles (5-3–8) leads the team with four power-play goals and 60 shots on goal.
 
Scenario Central:
Even with just two games remaining in the regular season, Cornell can still finish anywhere from fourth to eighth in the ECAC Hockey standings. In order to finish fourth and claim the final first-round bye in the ECAC Hockey Championship playoffs, the Big Red must defeat both Union and Rensselaer and get a little help from other games around the league. One scenario would be Dartmouth defeating St. Lawrence on Friday, plus Clarkson defeating Dartmouth and Harvard either defeating or tying St. Lawrence on Saturday. The other possibility is Dartmouth tying St. Lawrence on Friday, Clarkson defeating or tying Dartmouth and Harvard defeating St. Lawrence on Saturday. If Cornell does not finish fourth, it will host a best-of-three series in the first round from March 4-6 against Union, Brown, Colgate or Princeton.
 
About Union:
The Dutchmen currently sit ninth in the ECAC Hockey standings, but can move up to eighth for the final home-ice berth in the first round with two wins this weekend coupled with two Clarkson losses. Union fought off Princeton for a 2-1 win at home last Friday, followed by a 3-3 tie with national No. 1 Quinnipiac. ... Junior forward Mike Vecchione (9-17–26) leads the team in scoring and has points in six consecutive games. He also leads the country in faceoff wins (465), winning 62.1% of his draws. ... Sophomore forwards Spencer Foo (12-13–25) and Ryan Scarfo (12-6–18) are tied for the goal-scoring lead. Scarfo and freshman forward Brett Supinski (9-11–20) each have six power-play goals. ... Junior Alex Sakellaropoulos (10-9-7, 2.44, .918, 2 SO) has started the lion's share of Union's games in goal. ... The Dutchmen have a better record on the road (5-4-2) than at home (5-6-7).
 
The Series Against Union:
The Big Red and Dutchmen will do battle for the 62nd time tonight, with Cornell holding a 34-19-8 lead in the series. Cornell scored three power-play goals in the teams' first meeting this season on Jan. 16 in Schenectady, but Union scored twice in the final four minutes of the third period to salvage a 3-3 tie. Cornell swept the regular-season series last year, but Union countered by sweeping a two-game ECAC Hockey Championships first-round series in its last visit to Lynah Rink.
 
About Rensselaer:
The Engineers were nestled in third place in the ECAC Hockey standings as recently as four weeks ago, but RPI has posted a 2-5 record in its last seven games. Between 2-1 victories Feb. 12 at Harvard and last Saturday vs. Princeton, the Engineers suffered a pair of overtime losses — Feb. 13 at Dartmouth and last Friday against top-ranked Quinnipiac. ... Senior Jason Kasdorf (10-10-4, 2.16, .935, 2 SO) has cemented himself as one of the top goaltenders in the league. Each of his shutouts required more than 40 saves, including one against Cornell. ... Junior forward Riley Bourbonnais (13-9–22; 4 PPGs) leads the team in scoring and power-play goals. Sophomore forward Lou Nanne (6-15–21) has the most assists, and senior forward Miloš Bubela (9-3–12) has three shorthanded goals. ... RPI has surrendered an average of 35.8 shots on goal per game over its last 10 contests. ... The Engineers' power play is scoreless in its last 13 chances over seven games. ... RPI is 11-4 in one-goal games and 11-3-4 when it scores first.
 
The Series Against Rensselaer:
Cornell maintains a commanding 60-36-9 all-time series lead, even though Rensselaer goalie Jason Kasdorf made 44 saves to stymie the Big Red in a 1-0 loss Jan. 15 at Troy. The Engineers also visited Lynah Rink during the final weekend of the regular season last year, when a pair of third-period goals from John McCarron deadlocked the team at 2. Mike Schafer holds a 28-16-7 mark against RPI.
 
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 seven career shutouts is that he's only won five of them — Dec. 28, 2014 against Lake Superior State and Nov. 20, 2015 against Yale were both scoreless ties.
 
A Time to Kill:
At the core of Cornell's 1-0 victory Saturday at Dartmouth was a full two-minute kill of a two-man disadvantage in the third period. Defensemen Reece Willcox and Patrick McCarron played the full two minutes on the kill, and Eric Freschi played the majority of the time at forward and won two of three faceoffs. Teemu Tiitinen and Jared Fiegl also saw time on the kill, and Mitch Gillam made three saves.
 
One And Done:
With Cornell's 1-0 win over Dartmouth last Saturday, the Big Red has three 1-0 victories in a single season for the first time in program history. Oddly enough, the other two also came on the road against Ivy League teams (Brown on Nov. 21; Princeton on Feb. 6), and the Big Red played to a scoreless deadlock against Yale on Nov. 20).
 
Working Overtime:
The Big Red went to overtime last night for a 12th time this season, which equaled a program record also set during the 1985-86, 2010-11 and 2011-12 campaigns. Six of those overtime games came before Jan. 1 (a program first), and Cornell has needed an extra frame in five of its last seven games. The Big Red is 3-3-6 in its 12 overtime games to date, and its three OT winners are tied for second in the nation.
 
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 (21) than he had in 57 games through his freshman and sophomore seasons.
 
What, Me Worry?:
Four of Cornell's 13 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.
 
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 Feb. 5 at Quinnipiac, which remains the No. 1 team in the country entering the final weekend of the ECAC Hockey regular season.
 
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. 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. Angello's nine goals lead the team.
 
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).
 
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.
 
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.
 
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 (Feb. 12).
 
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.
 
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).
 
Onward and Upward:
With its Feb. 6 win at Princeton, Cornell 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.
 
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).
 
Little Apples:
•  Junior forward Matt Buckles has four goals and an assist in his eight career games vs. Union — including two power-play goals the last time the teams met on Jan. 15.
•  No one on Cornell's roster has ever scored a goal against Rensselaer. Junior forwards Jake Weidner, Christian Hilbrich and Jeff Kubiak are the only Big Red players with poitns against the Engineers, each with one assist.
•  Cornell has scored just 10 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 eight of its 27 games so far this season.
 
Up Next:
The first round of the ECAC Hockey Championship playoffs will feature four best-of-three series March 4-6 at sites to be determined. The quarterfinals will then follow, with best-of-three series hosted by the four teams earning a bye against the four first-round victors.