ITHACA, N.Y. — The Cornell men's hockey team will look to lock up its first unbeaten Ivy League season since 1995-96 when it takes on Yale at 7 p.m. tonight at Lynah Rink. The contest against the Bulldogs will also serve as Senior Night, acknowledging the final regular-season home games in the collegiate careers of Jared Fiegl, Alex Rauter, Hayden Stewart, Dwyer Tschantz and Trevor Yates. While the game is already sold out, it will be broadcast on subscription-based Ivy League Network. Jason Weinstein will provide play-by-play with color commentary from Tony Eisenhut '88 that can be heard on WHCU (870 AM, 95.9 FM) in the Ithaca area and worldwide via the station's website here.

Game 27: YALE at #4/4 CORNELL
TIME: 7 p.m.
DATE: Saturday, Feb. 17, 2018
PLACE: Lynah Rink  •  Ithaca, N.Y.
RECORDS: Cornell 21-3-2, 15-2-2 ECAC Hockey, 8-0-1 Ivy League;
                    Yale 14-11-1, 9-9-1 ECAC Hockey, 2-3-1 Ivy League
VIDEO: Ivy League Network
RADIO : WHCU (870 AM, 95.9 FM)
LIVE STATS: CornellBigRed.com

Cornell game notes (PDF)
Yale game notes (PDF)

Friday Night Redux:
•  Cornell survived some anxious moments in the third period for a 2-1 victory over Brown last night. The Big Red had to kill a five-minute major in the last frame, then Matthew Galajda made four of his 25 saves in just the final 20 seconds as the Bears threw the kitchen sink at the Big Red late.
•  Anthony Angello set up both Cornell goals, including Jeff Malott's tap-in on a two-on-one just 87 seconds into the game. But Brown hung tough and eventually got an equalizer from Tyler Bird early in the second before a 
power-play goal from Alex Rauter served as the winner.

Cleary Cup Watch:
•  Cornell has a chance tonight to clinch the Cleary Cup, which is awarded to the league's annual regular-season champion. To do so, the Big Red would need to win and have Union either tie or lose at Princeton. Cornell could also clinch with a tie tonight and a Union loss.
•  The last time the Big Red won the Cleary Cup was 2004-05. With a subsequent No. 1 seed, Cornell would then face the lowest-remaining seed in a best-of-three ECAC Hockey quarterfinal series March 9-11 at Lynah Rink.

Highlights From Friday's 2-1 Win vs. Brown:


Need-To-Know Numbers:
•  Cornell still possesses by a wide margin the highest winning percentage in the nation (.846) — its highest through 26 games since a 1969-70 season that ended with a national title.
•  Cornell leads the nation in team defense (1.38 goals against per game), having already posted a national-best nine shutouts. If the season ended today, it would rank as the fourth-stingiest season in Division I history.
•  Cornell has been particularly dominant at even strength, leading the country with a team rating of plus-38. The Big Red has only surrendered a paltry 23 even-strength goals so far. Fifty-seven of the nation's other 59 teams have surrendered at least twice that total (Clarkson 38, Harvard 45, etc.)
•  Cornell has three players in the top five nationally in rating, all junior defensemen. Brendan Smith leads that pack at (plus-19; second), followed by Alec McCrea (plus-18; tied for 3rd), and Matt Nuttle (plus-18; tied for 3rd).
•  The Big Red has quashed 34 of its opponents' last 36 power plays. Cornell's penalty kill has been 92.1% efficient since Jan. 1, which leads the country over that span.

One Crown Down ...:
•  Cornell clinched its 22nd Ivy League championship in program history on Jan. 27 with a 3-1 win at Dartmouth. It's the 18th outright title for the Big Red, and the third its won in the last eight years. 
•  The Big Red is 8-0-1 in Ancient Eight play with just tonight's game remaining. The last time Cornell went undefeated through the Ivy slate was 1996 — Mike Schafer's first season as head coach.

Polls Prose:
•  Cornell has been tabbed fourth in both the USCHO and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls this week. The Big Red remains the highest-ranked team in ECAC Hockey and is in the national top five in both polls for a eighth consecutive week.
•  For the first time in nearly 15 years, the Big Red was ranked No. 1 spot in both polls last week. The only other time that's happened since the polls started in the mid-90s was March 2003, when Cornell started its postseason run into the Frozen Four.

Goaltending, Inc:
•  Despite entering the season with just eight career collegiate starts among its three goaltenders, the Big Red has not only found one solid starter in net this season — it has two.
•  Freshman Matthew Galajda (17-3-2, 1.45, .942, 8 SO) was named the Hockey Commissioners' Association National Division I Rookie of the Month for January after he surrendered just five goals in eight starts with four shutouts.
•  Galajda now owns the national lead in goals against average, shutouts, and he ranks third in the country in save percentage. He has also set a program record for shutouts by a freshman goaltender, and he has solo possession for third place on the program's list for clean sheets in a single season.
•  After making just one start over the last two seasons, senior Hayden Stewart (4-0, 1.01, .956, SO) started three straight from Dec. 2 to Jan. 5 and performed well. In his first start, Stewart made 26 saves at Miami for his third career shutout in just his ninth collegiate start.

More Than Just Defense:
•  One of the keys to Cornell's success this season has been an increase in offensive production from its defensemen. After receiving 13 goals from blueliners in each of the last two seasons, the Big Red already has 15 goals from defensemen this year.
•  Junior defensemen Matt Nuttle (2-9–11) has already more than doubled his point total from his first two collegiate seasons. His assist on Cornell's third goal Feb. 2 vs. Union moved him into a tie for the team lead in scoring among blueliners with sophomore Yanni Kaldis (3-8–11). 
•  An All-Ivy League first team selection last year, Kaldis had three assists two weeks ago in games at Harvard and Dartmouth and leads the team with seven power-play points.
•  Often paired together, Alec McCrea (4-6–10; 4 PPGs) and Brendan Smith (4-5–9) are among the nation's leaders in rating with a combined plus-37. Smith has missed the team's last three games.
•  The Big Red has five defensemen with at least nine points, a first for the program since the 2009-10 campaign.

Forward Thinking:
•  While Cornell's attack exemplified remarkable depth through the early going, junior forward Anthony Angello (12-11–23) was that nation's leading goal-scorer in January with nine. The reigning ECAC Hockey Player of the Month has 10 goals in his last 13 games.
•  Senior forward Trevor Yates (11-10–21; 4 PPGs) ranks second in team scoring, recording assists in each of the last two games.
•  Junior Mitch Vanderlaan (4-13–17) has 10 points over his last 10 games to take the team lead in assists, but has missed the last three games and is expected to remain out of the lineup for the remainder of the regular season.

Fresh Faces:
•  The Big Red is the youngest team in ECAC Hockey and boasts one of the largest freshman classes in the country, with seven of the team's 10 newcomers appearing in the season opener — a first at Cornell since 1997.
•  Freshman forward Morgan Barron (4-10–14) became the first freshman in program history to record a point in each of his first seven collegiate games.
•  Defenseman Alex Green (2-7–9) returned Feb. 2 from a four-game absence and recorded a highlight-reel assist in the first period vs. Union.
•  Forward Kyle Betts (5-4–9) has taken over the team's goal-scoring lead among freshmen, netting the final goal Jan. 20 at Colgate. He made the most of his four shots on goal during consecutive games Dec. 2 and Dec. 30, scoring on each of them.
•  Both goals from forward Brenden Locke (2-8–10) have been game-winners, coming in the latter stages of third periods vs. Princeton (Nov. 4) and Union (Feb. 2). 

Feel The Draft?:
•  Cornell has six players on the roster who have been selected in the NHL Entry Draft, including four from 2014. Junior forward Beau Starrett (Chicago Blackhawks) was selected earliest in that group, having been taken in the third round with the 88th overall pick. 
•  Classmate Anthony Angello, also a forward, was selected in the fifth round by the Pittsburgh Penguins. Junior forwards Jared Fiegl (Arizona Coyotes) and Dwyer Tschantz (St. Louis Blues) were then picked in the seventh round. 
•  Two newcomers are also NHL draft picks — forward Morgan Barron (N.Y. Rangers in 2017) and defenseman Matt Cairns (Edmonton Oilers in 2016).

What, Me Worry?:
•  Cornell has trailed in just seven of its 26 games so far, including deficits of at least two goals in five of those contests. Remarkably, the Big Red has a 3-2-1 record in those games featuring a multiple-goal deficit.
•  The Big Red's resilience from an early deficit has become somewhat of a trend, with the team sporting a very respectable 14-16-5 record when yielding the game's first strike over the last two-plus years. That's a stark turnaround from the team's 14-34-5 record when yielding the game's first goal from the previous three seasons (2012-15).

Turning The Trick:
•  On Jan. 26 at Harvard, junior forward Anthony Angello gave Cornell its third hat trick of the season — a first for the program since the 2003-04 season. 
•  The other hat tricks this season were Kyle Betts on Dec. 30 vs. Canisius and sophomore forward Noah Bauld on Nov. 17 vs. St. Lawrence.

First Ivy League Coach To 400:
•  Already the winningest coach in program history and in Ivy League history, Mike Schafer eclipsed another milestone in his career with his 400th victory last January.
•  Schafer ranks 10th in victories among active Division I coaches and is Cornell's fifth-winningest coach across all sports — second among current coaches, behind just Dave Eldredge (men's and women's polo).

Scouting Yale:
•  The Bulldogs (14-11-1, 9-9-1 ECAC Hockey) enter tonight on a season-high five-game winning streak, using a late surge to defeat Colgate, 4-3, last night.
•  Junior winger Joe Snively (17-12–29; 3 SHGs), the 2016 Ivy League Rookie of the Year, scored twice last night and continues to lead the team in scoring. Yale's offense started to take off once he was removed from a line centered by senior Ryan Hitchcock (5-12–17) after a Dec. 29 loss to Minn.-Duluth. Up until that point, the Bulldogs averaged 2.38 goals per game — since then, it's averaged 3.54.
•  Sophomore center Evan Smith (10-6–16) has scored seven goals since Christmas to move into third on the team in scoring.
•  Yale has split starts in goal over the last four weeks, with junior Sam Tucker (8-9-1, 2.83, .902) starting on Fridays and sophomore Corbin Kaczperski 
(6-2, 1.87, .935) starting on Saturdays.
•  Head coach Keith Allain is absent this weekend as he continues to serve as an assistant coach with the U.S. Olympic men's team in PyeongChang, South Korea.

The Series Against Yale:
•  The Big Red has tangled with the Bulldogs 150 time since the series started in 1902, with the Big Red holding a 83-60-8 lead.
•  The teams played to a 3-3 tie in its first meeting this year, with Ryan Hitchcock scoring an extra-attacker in the final minute of the third period to pull the Bulldogs even.
•  Yale held a 2-0 lead late into the second period before Brendan Smith got Cornell on the board, then Alex Rauter and Alex Green scored third-period goals to momentarily pull the Big Red out in front.
•  Cornell took three of four points against Yale last year, starting with a 6-3 victory on Nov. 12, 2016 at Yale with Mitch Vanderlaan recording a hat trick. The Big Red then took a two-goal lead inside of 15 minutes in the rematch on Feb. 11, but Ted Hart scored twice to help visiting Yale scratch out a 2-2 tie.

Up Next:
•  Cornell wraps up its regular season on the road, first visiting Rensselaer at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 23 before heading across Route 7 to take on Union at 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 24.