ITHACA, N.Y. — The Cornell men's hockey team will not only play the 2,000th game in program history tonight, it will do so against its biggest rival when Harvard makes its annual visit to Lynah Rink. The game 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 game 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

Harvard at #14/15 Cornell
TIME: 7 p.m.
DATE: Friday, Jan. 18, 2019
PLACE: Lynah Rink  •  Ithaca, N.Y.
RECORDS: Cornell 9-5-1, 5-2-1 ECAC Hockey, 5-1 Ivy League
                    Harvard 7-5-3, 4-4-2 ECAC Hockey, 1-3-2 Ivy League
VIDEO: ESPN+ — United States | International
RADIO: WHCU (870 AM, 97.7 FM)
LIVE STATS: CornellBigRed.com
TICKETS: CornellBigRedTickets.com
GAME NOTES: Cornell | Harvard
 

The Big Red Rewind:

•  Cornell enters the weekend on a five-game unbeaten streak that has boosted the program back into NCAA tournament at-large consideration. The Big Red swept Arizona State at home last Friday, 6-1, and Saturday, 3-2, in the first-ever meeting between the two programs.
•  Cam Donaldson was named the men's ECAC Hockey Player of the Week and NCAA Second Star of the Week after posting three goals and adding an assist against the Sun Devils. All four of his points came in the first periods, helping the Big Red build commanding two-goal leads after 20 minutes in both games.
•  Beau Starrett scored twice in Cornell's four-goal third period Friday, with the total of 52 shots on goal the highest for the program since March 14, 2009.
•  Cornell finished its non-league regular season schedule at 4-3, giving it a winning record in such games for the sixth time in the last seven years.




 

Forward Thinking:

•  With eight points over his active five-game scoring streak, sophomore forward Morgan Barron (7-8–15; 3 PPG) leads the scoring. He also leads the team with 69 shots on goal and ranks third in the nation with an average of 4.60 shots on goal per game.
•  Senior forward Mitch Vanderlaan (2-12–14) had a goal and two assists last weekend and is second in team scoring. The Big Red's second-year captain is also the team's active leading scorer with 81 points in 111 collegiate games.
•  Sophomore Cam Donaldson (9-4–13; 3 PPG) leads the team in goals and is tied with Barron for the lead in power-play goals. He has already tripled the goal total from his freshman season. His average of 0.6 goals per game is fourth-best in ECAC Hockey.
•  Barron and Donaldson were placed on a line pivoted by Brenden Locke (2-2–4) following the semester break. The sophomore trio has scoring eight of the team's 14 goals over the last four games.
•  Cornell hasn't average more than 30 shots on goal per game in a season since the 2005-06 campaign, but it currently has an average of 31.73.
•  The Big Red has scored first in 12 of its 15 games so far and is outscoring the opposition in first periods, 17-5.
 

More Than Just Defense:

•  A two-time All-Ivy League first-team selection, junior defenseman Yanni Kaldis (4-6–10; 2 PPG) leads the team's blueliners in scoring.
•  Matt Nuttle (1-7–8), one of three senior pillars on defense, is off to a quick start with a plus-13 rating and is the only skater in the nation to play each of his team's games and only be on the ice for one goal against.
•  Senior Brendan Smith (1-0–1) celebrated his return to the lineup Jan. 4 with a goal, but he's also started off as one of the country's best shot-blockers. His average of 3.22 blocks per game would lead the nation if he had enough games played to qualify.
•  The trend started last year of generating more offense from the blue line has continued for Cornell. The Big Red has nine goals from defensemen through 15 games (Kaldis 4; McCrea 2; Cairns, Nuttle and Smith 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.
 

Goaltending, Inc.:

•  Sophomore Matthew Galajda (6-4, 2.53, .891) a first-team All-American last year, returned to the lineup after a five-game absence last Saturday and made 27 saves in a victory over Arizona State.
•  Sophomore Austin McGrath (3-1-1, 1.84, .932) made the most of his first five collegiate starts after Galajda was forced out of the lineup due to injury. McGrath was named ECAC Hockey Goaltender of the Week on Jan. 7. 
 

#OneIvy Update:

•  At 5-1 in Ivy League play, the Big Red can clinch the program's second straight and 23rd overall Ivy League championship if it wins both games this weekend — though Dartmouth would still have an opportunity to share the title with Cornell.
•  Having won the Ancient Eight crown with a sterling 9-0-1 record last season, Cornell is 15-1-2 in its last 18 Ivy League contests. The one loss was Nov. 30 at Dartmouth.
 

Best Behavior:

•  The opposition has had more power plays than the Big Red just three times in 15 games this year. Cornell has been on the penalty kill just 52 times so far, which is second-fewest in the nation (Dartmouth 47).
•  Cornell and Princeton played a rare penalty-free game on Jan. 4. It was a first in the Division I men's ranks since American International and Bentley met Dec. 1, 2015. 
•  It was Cornell's first outing without any penalties since a 4-1 victory over Brown on Feb. 19, 1999 — a span of 660 games.
 

Wasting No Time:

•  Underclassmen have been at the forefront of Cornell's arsenal in the early going, scoring 27 of the team's 44 goals (61.4 percent).
•  The Big Red's sophomore class averages 1.40 goals per game, which is highest in ECAC Hockey and fifth-highest in the nation.
 

On The Mend:

•  Cornell has already lost 20 man-games to injury from its top six defensemen, having played six straight games without two of its top four before Brendan Smith's return on Jan. 4 (Alex Green has remained out).
•  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:

•  Cornell ranks sixth in the nation in team faceoff percentage (54.4%), just behind its first opponent this weekend, Harvard (54.7%). Senior Beau Starrett leads the Big Red in draws taken with a 57.9% success rate.
•  Max Andreev (59.7%) ranks third among the nation's active freshmen in faceoff percentage and ranks 16th overall.
 

Understudy Extraordinaire:

•  With Mike Schafer not in attendance for the Jan. 4-5 games due to illness, Associate Head Coach Ben Syer continued his unbeaten streak as an acting head coach. Now in his eighth season with the program, Syer is 7-0-4 all-time when at the helm. All but one of those games has been at Cornell.
 

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.
•  Senior 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.
 

Scouting Harvard:

•  The Crimson is 7-5-3 overall, but 7-3-1 since starting the season with a four-game winless skid. Most recently, Harvard shook off a 4-2 loss Friday at Princeton by knocking off #6/7 Quinnipiac on the road Saturday, 2-1. John Marino scored a power-play goal in the first period and Michael Lackey figuratively made 46 saves before an extra-attacker goal broke a shutout bid.
•  Harvard's power play leads the nation with a 35.7% 
•  Junior defenseman Adam Fox (7-16–23; 4 PPG) leads the team in scoring and leads the country in in points per game for blueliners (1.53).
•  Forward Casey Dornbach (3-17–20) leads the nation's freshmen in points per game (1.33), with 11 of his team-high 17 assists coming on the power play.
•  Senior forward Lewis Zerter-Gossage (10-3–13) leads the team in goals, while sophomore defenseman Reilly Walsh (5-9–14) leads the squad with five power-play goals.
•  Senior Michael Lackey (7-4-3, 2.32, .920) has come on strong as the starting goaltender.
•  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 154 times with the Big Red holding a 77-66-11 lead.
•  Cornell won the latest matchup, 2-1 on Dec. 1, thanks to power-play goals in the second period by Cam Donaldson and Tristan Mullin. Austin McGrath made 23 saves for her first collegiate victory.
•  Just one week earlier, Harvard defeated Cornell, 4-1, at The Frozen Apple at Madison Square Garden in New York. Liam Motley opened the scoring with his first collegiate goal for Cornell, but it was all Harvard the rest of the way.
•  The Frozen Apple, which a non-league game, 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.
•  Cornell head coach Mike Schafer is 37-19-6 in 62 games against Harvard.