ITHACA, N.Y. — The Cornell men's hockey team hits the road for ECAC Hockey games for the first time this season when it simultaneously resumes Ivy League play on Friday night at Dartmouth and Saturday night at Harvard. The games will be streamed on ESPN+ in the U.S. The same production can be viewed by international viewers through a different platform via Stretch Internet. The games can also be heard on WHCU (870 AM, 97.7 FM) and worldwide via the station's website with 15th-year play-by-play man Jason Weinstein on the call.

GAME INFORMATION

#16 Cornell at Dartmouth
TIME: 7:30 p.m.
DATE: Friday, Nov. 30, 2018
PLACE: Thompson Arena  •  Hanover, N.H.
RECORDS: Cornell 5-4, 3-1 ECAC Hockey, 3-0 Ivy League
                    Dartmouth 3-3, 3-2 ECAC Hockey, 2-2 Ivy League
VIDEO: ESPN+ — United States | International
RADIO: WHCU (870 AM, 97.7 FM)
LIVE STATS: DartmouthSports.com
TICKETS: Dartmouth.edu
GAME NOTES: Cornell | Dartmouth | ECAC Hockey

#16 Cornell at Harvard
TIME: 7 p.m.
DATE: Saturday, Dec. 1, 2018
PLACE: Bright-Landry Hockey Center  •  Cambridge, Mass.
RECORDS: Cornell 5-4, 3-1 ECAC Hockey, 3-0 Ivy League
                    Harvard 3-3, 1-2-2 ECAC Hockey, 1-1-2 Ivy League
VIDEO: ESPN+ — United States | International
RADIO: WHCU (870 AM, 97.7 FM)
LIVE STATS: GoCrimson.com
TICKETS: Sold Out
GAME NOTES: Cornell | Harvard | ECAC Hockey
 

The Big Red Rewind:

•  Cornell is coming off a 4-1 non-league loss to Harvard in The Frozen Apple, held in front of 14,000-plus fans at Madison Square Garden on Saturday. The loss was the Big Red's first in four editions of the biennial event, following victories against Michigan (2012), Penn State (2014) and New Hampshire (2016).
•  Freshman forward Liam Motley opened the scoring for the Big Red, giving Cornell a goal inside seven minutes while also not conceding to its opponent for the sixth time in its nine games.
•  Harvard rattled off four unanswered goals and held Cornell to just one goal for the first time this season. The Big Red had scored at least two goals in each of its first eight games for the first time since the 2009-10 season.


•  Despite its early-season struggles outside the conference, Cornell enters the weekend still having won five of its last seven and atop the ECAC Hockey in winning percentage after a 5-1 victory over defending league champion Princeton on Nov. 17 at Lynah Rink. 
 

About The Big Red:

•  Junior defenseman Yanni Kaldis (4-5–9; 2 PPG), a two-time All-Ivy League first-team defenseman, leads the team in scoring and has already matched his goal total from last season. Kaldis is one of 14 defensemen in the nation currently leading his team in scoring.
•  Senior forward and two-time captain Mitch Vanderlaan (1-7–8) leads the team in assists and ranks second in scoring. The Big Red's second-year captain is the team's active leading scorer over his collegiate career with 75 points in 104 games (Kaldis ranks second at 42).
•  Sophomore forward Morgan Barron (5-2–7; 2 PPG), a New York Rangers draft pick, leads the team with 42 shots on goal and ranks second in the nation with an average of 4.67 shots on goal per game.
•  Matt Nuttle (1-2–3), one of three senior pillars on defense, is off to a quick start with a plus-9 rating. He was second in the nation last year at plus-23.
•  Sophomore goaltender Matthew Galajda (5-4, 2.59, .885), a first-team All-American as a freshman last year, has rebounded after a rough season-opening series against Michigan State. Galajda has a 2.02 goals against average and .905 save percentage while leading ECAC Hockey with five victories in seven November games.
 

Wasting No Time:

•  Underclassmen have been at the forefront of Cornell's arsenal in the early going, scoring 17 of the team's 26 goals (65.4 percent).
•  Max Andreev (2-4–6) scored the Big Red's first goal Oct. 26 against Michigan State, making the program's first native of Russia also the first freshman to score the team's first goal of a season since Joe Devin '11 did so against RIT on Oct. 27, 2007.
 

The Offensive Defense:

•  The trend started last year of generating more offense from the blue line has continued for Cornell. The Big Red has seven goals from defensemen through nine games (Kaldis 4; Cairns, McCrea and Nuttle 1 each).
•  The Big Red had 21 goals from defensemen last year after receiving just 13 goals from blueliners in each of the previous two seasons.
 

Kill Zone:

•  Cornell's penalty kill has started to round into form after a rough start to the season. This Big Red is 6-for-7 over its last two games, which have been against the top two power-play teams in the nation (Princeton on Nov. 17; Harvard last Saturday). 
•  Though the Big Red's combined special teams are ranked 55th among the nation's 60 Division I programs, at least one metric points to likely improvement in that category. Of all shots on goal on special teams this season, Cornell's 68.5% leads the country. The main culprit to that statistic is that opponents have been converting at an astronomical 26.5% of their shots on goal when on the power play against the Big Red. 
•  Cornell's penalty kill is 14-for-14 in the first period this year.
 

Is Mending Trending?:

•  Cornell has already lost 12 man-games to injury from its top six defensemen, having now played its last four games without two of its top four — Alex Green and Brendan Smith.
•  The Big Red's injury woes on defense are in stark contrast to last season, when Cornell led the country in team defense. For the entirety of the 2017-18 season, the Big Red lost just 10 man-games to injury from its top seven defensemen.
 

Circle Time:

•  This weekend's games feature three of the country's best nine faceoff teams. Cornell (56.2%) is fifth; Harvard sixth (56.0%) and Dartmouth ninth (53.9%).
•  Harvard's Jack Badini (72.2%) is still the nation's leading faceoff man, though he was a modest 5-4 on draws against the Big Red on Saturday. (Though Jack Drury was a more robust 17-8).
•  Cornell's Max Andreev (63.2%) ranks first nationally on draws among freshmen and ninth overall.
 

Feel The Draft?:

•  Cornell has five players on the roster who have been selected in the NHL Entry Draft — one in each of the last five drafts. Sophomore defenseman Matt Cairns (Edmonton Oilers) was selected earliest in that group, having been taken in the third round with the 84th overall pick in 2016.
•  Junior forward Beau Starrett (Chicago Blackhawks) was also taken in the third round during the 2014 draft. One other forward is a draft pick in Morgan Barron, who was snagged in the sixth round by the N.Y. Rangers in 2017. He then became the first freshman in program history to have at least one point in each of his first seven games. 
•  Three underclassmen represent the Big Red's three NHL Draft picks along the blue line. Alex Green leads that group after his outstanding collegiate debut led to a fourth-round selection by the Tampa Bay Lightning last summer.
•  Defenseman Misha Song (N.Y. Islanders in 2015) is the only newcomer to have his NHL rights already owned.
 

Statistically Speaking:

•  Despite its relative defensive struggles to start the year, the Big Red still surrenders the third-fewest shots on goal in the country (22.11).  
•  On the offensive side, its average of 28.67 shots per game is on pace to be the program's highest since the 2006-07 season.
 

Scouting Dartmouth:

•  The Big Green has alternated wins and losses through its first six games, most recently suffering a 5-3 non-league home setback to Vermont last Saturday. Freshman forward Drew O'Connor (4-3–7) scored twice for the hosts before Vermont potted a pair of shorthanded goals to pull away.
•  Dartmouth's marquee victory to date was a 5-1 decision on Nov. 3 against Quinnipiac, which is one of just two losses through 13 games for the Bobcats.
•  Junior center Will Graber (3-5–8) leads the team in scoring. He pivots a group dubbed the Timber Line with sophomore Quin Foreman (4-2–6) and Shane Sellar (2-2–4) on the wings. The trio represents the Big Green's top three returning scorers from last year.
•  Senior defenseman Connor Yau (0-5–5) leads the team with a plus-6 rating and is tied for a team-high five assists.
•  After serving as the primary backup the last two years, junior Adrian Clark (3-2, 3.04, .907, SO) has started five of the team's six games so far.
•  The Big Green's penalty kill currently ranks last in the nation at 61.9%, though it is 15-for-16 (93.8%) over the last three years against Cornell.
 

The Series Against Dartmouth:

•  Cornell and Dartmouth have met on 136 occasions since 1909, with the Big Red holding a wide margin in the series with a 82-48-6 advantage. 
•  The Big Red swept last season's games against the Big Green, including a 3-0 win on Nov. 10, 2017 when Matthew Galajda needed to make just 16 saves to earn his first of nine shutouts during his freshman campaign.
•  Cornell's last visit to Hanover ended in a 3-1 victory on Jan. 27. Cam Donaldson opened the scoring just outside two minutes, Yanni Kaldis assisted on a pair of strikes and Galajda made 27 saves for one of his nation-leading six victories in the calendar's first month.
•  Senior forward Mitch Vanderlaan (1-2–3) is the Big Red's leading active scorer against Dartmouth. His goal Nov. 4, 2016 against the Big Green marks the last time the Big Red has scored shorthanded — a span of 76 games.
 

Scouting Harvard:

•   The Crimson has leveled its record after the 4-1 victory over the Big Red last Saturday at The Frozen Apple. Sophomore forward Henry Bowlby (3-1–4) scored twice, and freshman forward Casey Dornbach (2-10–12) had three helpers to pull into the national lead for newcomers' points per game (1.50).
•  Harvard ranks fourth in team offense with an average of 3.88 goals per game, thanks to a variety of goal-scorers and one of the top set-up men in the nation. Junior defenseman Adam Fox (4-13–17; 2 PPG) leads the country in in points per game (2.12).
•  Senior forward Lewis Zerter-Gossage (6-2–8) leads the team in goals after a power-play strike against Cornell on Saturday. Sophomore defenseman Reilly Walsh (4-4–8) leads the squad with four power-play goals.
•  Senior Michael Lackey (3-2-2, 2.92, .893) has assumed the starting goaltending role after the graduation of three-year starter Merrick Madsen. He made 15 of his 30 saves in the third period last Saturday against Cornell.
•  While the power play leads the nation (35.1%), the penalty kill is third-worst in the nation (72.4%).
•  Ted Donato is in his 15th season as the head coach at his alma mater.
 

The Series Against Harvard:

•  Cornell has been battling with ancient rival Harvard since 1910, and they have matched up 153 times with the Big Red holding a 76-66-11 lead.
•  The Frozen Apple marked the first regular-season meeting outside of Ithaca or the Boston metro area between the teams since the series' first two games in 1910 and 1911.
•  The Big Red swept last season's series, starting with an exhilarating 3-2 affair on Nov. 11, 2017 at Lynah Rink. Cornell stormed back after the Crimson scored the first two goals inside 16 minutes. Yanni Kaldis and Jeff Malott scored to knot the score by the 1:15 mark of the second period, then Alec McCrea's one-timer on the power play with 2.3 seconds left in the third period proved to be the winner.
•  Cornell then won the rematch in Cambridge, 3-0, behind a hat trick from Anthony Angello and a 35-save shutout from Matthew Galajda.
•  Cornell head coach Mike Schafer is 36-19-6 in 61 games against Harvard.