ITHACA, N.Y. — The Cornell men's hockey team put its six-game unbeaten streak on the line at 3 p.m. today when it hosts Dartmouth in an ECAC Hockey and Ivy League game at 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 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

Dartmouth at #14/15 Cornell
TIME: 3 p.m.
DATE: Saturday, Jan. 19, 2019
PLACE: Lynah Rink  •  Ithaca, N.Y.
RECORDS: Cornell 10-5-1, 6-2-1 ECAC Hockey, 6-1 Ivy League
                    Dartmouth 7-8-2, 6-3-1 ECAC Hockey, 5-2 Ivy League
VIDEO: ESPN+ — United States | International
RADIO: WHCU (870 AM, 97.7 FM)
LIVE STATS: CornellBigRed.com
TICKETS: CornellBigRedTickets.com
GAME NOTES: Cornell | Dartmouth
 

Friday Night Redux:

•  Brenden Locke's line stayed red hot, Matthew Galajda made 25 saves, and the Big Red pushed its unbeaten streak to six games with a 2-0 victory over Harvard on Friday night at Lynah.
•  Morgan Barron set up Locke's strike early in the second period, then he scored his team-leading fourth power-play goall in the latter stages of the frame.
•  Galajda's shutout was the first of his season and 10th of his career. It also gives the Big Red at least one shutout for a 24th straight season — a stretch that mirrors the tenure of head coach Mike Schafer.
•  With two more goals against the rival Crimson, the line of Barron, Locke and reigning ECAC Hockey Player of the Week and NCAA Second Star of the Week Cam Donaldson has scored 10 of the Big Red's 15 goals since Jan. 4.

 

Forward Thinking:

•  With points in six straight and multiple points in each of his last four games, sophomore forward Morgan Barron (8-9–17; 4 PPG) leads the team in points and power-play goals. He also leads the team with 75 shots on goal and ranks second in the nation with an average of 4.69 shots on goal per game, behind only Arizona State's Johnny Walker (4.84).
•  Sophomore Cam Donaldson (9-5–14; 3 PPG) leads the team in goals and is tied for second in team scoring. He has already tripled the goal total from his freshman season. His average of 0.56 goals per game is fifth-best in ECAC Hockey.
•  Barron and Donaldson were placed on a line pivoted by Brenden Locke (3-2–5) following the semester break, with all three of Locke's goals coming over the last five games. The sophomore trio has scoring 10 of the team's 16 goals over the same span.
•  Senior forward Mitch Vanderlaan (2-12–14) had a goal and two assists in last weekend's non-league sweep of Arizona State and is tied with Donaldson for second in team scoring. The Big Red's second-year captain is also the team's active leading scorer with 81 points in 112 collegiate games.
•  Cornell hasn't averaged more than 30 shots on goal per game in a season since the 2005-06 campaign, but it currently has an average of 31.62.
•  The Big Red has scored first in 13 of its 16 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 (4-7–11; 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-14 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 even-strength goal against.
•  Senior Brendan Smith (1-1–2) 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 3.00 blocks per game would rank second in the nation if he had enough games played to qualify.
 

Goaltending, Inc.:

•  Sophomore Matthew Galajda (7-4, 2.29, .902, SO) a first-team All-American last year, recently returned to the lineup after a five-game absence and continues to round into form after a shaky start to the year.
•  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:

•  Having won the Ancient Eight crown with a sterling 9-0-1 record last season, Cornell is 16-1-2 in its last 19 Ivy League contests. The one loss was Nov. 30 at Dartmouth, which can pull past the Big Red for first place if it can complete the season sweep.
•  On the other hand, a Cornell victory today would give itself a commanding lead in the Ivy League standings and a potential clinch of the program's 23rd Ivy League title as soon as Feb. 2.
 

Best Behavior:

•  The opposition has had more power plays than the Big Red just three times in 16 games this year. Cornell has been on the penalty kill just 54 times so far, which is tied for second-fewest in the nation (Dartmouth 49).
•  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, scoring 29 of the team's 46 goals (63.0 percent).
•  The Big Red's sophomore class averages 1.44 goals per game, which is highest in ECAC Hockey and third-highest in the nation.
 

On The Mend:

•  Cornell has already lost 21 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%). Senior Beau Starrett leads the Big Red in draws taken with a 57.5% success rate.
•  Max Andreev (60.5%) ranks second among the nation's active freshmen in faceoff percentage and ranks 14th 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 Dartmouth:

•  The Big Green is 7-8-1 overall, but 6-3-1 and currently tied for second place in the ECAC Hockey standings.
•  Alex Jasiek (6-3–9) scored an unassisted goal with 8:18 to play in the third period, and the Big Green started its weekend with a 1-0 victory last night at Colgate. It was the third goal over the last two games for Jasiek. 
•  Adrian Clark (7-6-2, 2.57, .905, 3 SO) made 28 saves to record his second straight shutout and push his shutout streak to 122 minutes, 7 seconds entering tonight's game.
•  Freshman left winger Drew O'Connor (8-6–14) leads the team in goals and is tied for the overall scoring with junior center Will Graber (5-9–14; 2 PPG). 
•  O'Connor and Graber typically play on different lines, with Graber pivoting a group dubbed the Timber Line flanked by sophomores Quin Foreman (7-4–11) and Shane Sellar (3-3–6). The trio represents the Big Green's top three returning scorers from last year.
•  The Big Green's penalty kill currently ranks 59th of 60 Division I teams in the nation at 73.5%, though it is 18-for-19 (94.7%) over the last three-plus years against Cornell.
•  Bob Gaudet is in his 22nd season as the head coach at Dartmouth after spending nine years at the helm at Brown.
 

The Series Against Dartmouth:

•  Cornell and Dartmouth have met on 137 occasions since 1909, with the Big Red holding a wide margin in the series with a 82-49-6 advantage. 
•  While the Big Red swept last season's games, the Big Green took the first meeting this season with a 3-2 victory on Nov. 30 in Hanover. Jeff Malott celebrated his return to the lineup by helping to set up Beau Starrett's second-period goal and tying the game at 2 in the third with a redirection.
•  Joe Leahy's first two collegiate points were primary assists on the goals, but the Big Green pulled ahead for good on Cam Strong's breakaway tally.
•  Dartmouth's last visit to Lynah Rink resulted in a 3-0 win for the hosts, with Matthew Galajda making 16 saves for his first of nine shutouts in his impressive freshman campaign.
 

Up Next:

•  Cornell stays in the immediate region for a third straight week when it plays a home-and-home series with Colgate next weekend. 
•  The regional rivals meet at 7 p.m. Friday in Hamilton before shifting southwest for a rematch at 7 p.m. Saturday in Ithaca.