HAMDEN, Conn. — ECAC Hockey contenders collide on Saturday night when the Cornell men's hockey team visits Quinnipiac for a game at 7 p.m. at People's United Center.
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
#20 Cornell at #3/5 Quinnipiac
TIME: 7 p.m.
DATE: Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019
PLACE: People's United Center • Hamden, Conn.
RECORDS: Cornell 7-5, 5-2 ECAC Hockey
Quinnipiac 15-4, 6-3 ECAC Hockey
VIDEO: ESPN+ —
United States |
International
RADIO:
WHCU (870 AM, 97.7 FM)
LIVE STATS:
QuinnipiacBobcats.com
TICKETS:
QuinnipiacBobcats.com
GAME NOTES:
Cornell |
Quinnipiac
The Big Red Rewind:
• Cornell enters the Nutmeg State on the heels of an entertaining 3-2 victory at Princeton on Friday night.
Alec McCrea's one-timer past Tigers goalie Ryan Ferland with 7:05 to play was originally washed out by a referee for goaltender interference, but the call was overturned after video review.
•
Brenden Locke and
Brendan Smith scored first-period goals for Cornell in their first action after injuries suffered Nov. 9-10 at Northern Michigan.
• The Big Red saw its two-goal lead evaporate by the 11:37 mark of the third, but McCrea struck 78 seconds later to restore the visitors' lead.
• Making his third consecutive start with 2018 All-American first-team goaltender
Matthew Galajda on the shelf with an injury, sophomore
Austin McGrath made 30 saves to earn his second collegiate victory.
• No penalties were called — a first for a men's game at the Division I level since American International and Bentley met Dec. 1, 2015. It was Cornell's first penalty-free outing over its last 660 games, dating back to Feb. 19, 1999.
• With
Mike Schafer not in attendance due to illness, Associate Head Coach
Ben Syer improved his all-time record to 7-0-3 as an acting head coach. All but one of those games has been at Cornell (the other was at Quinnipiac).
• Cornell also improved to 15-1-2 in its last 18 Ivy League contests.
About The Big Red:
• Cornell enters the Nutmeg State on the heels of an entertaining 3-2 victory at Princeton on Friday night.
Alec McCrea's one-timer past Tigers goalie Ryan Ferland with 7:05 to play was originally washed out by a referee for goaltender interference, but the call was overturned after video review.
• Brenden Locke and Brendan Smith scored first-period goals for Cornell in their first action after injuries suffered Nov. 9-10 at Northern Michigan.
• The Big Red saw its two-goal lead evaporate by the 11:37 mark of the third, but McCrea struck 78 seconds later to restore the visitors' lead.
• Making his third consecutive start with 2018 All-American first-team goaltender
Matthew Galajda on the shelf with an injury, sophomore
Austin McGrath made 30 saves to earn his second collegiate victory.
• No penalties were called — a first for a men's game at the Division I level since American International and Bentley met Dec. 1, 2015. It was Cornell's first penalty-free outing over its last 660 games, dating back to Feb. 19, 1999.
• With
Mike Schafer not in attendance due to illness, Associate Head Coach
Ben Syer improved his all-time record to 7-0-3 as an acting head coach. All but one of those games has been at Cornell (the other was at Quinnipiac).
• Cornell also improved to 15-1-2 in its last 18 Ivy League contests.
Ring In The New Year Right:
• After last night's win at Princeton, Cornell is 10-2 in its first game after New Year's Day over the last 12 seasons. The Big Red was undefeated for entire month of January (7-0-1) last year.
Wasting No Time:
• Underclassmen have been at the forefront of Cornell's arsenal in the early going, scoring 20 of the team's 33 goals (60.6 percent).
•
Max Andreev (2-5–7) 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 nine goals from defensemen through 12 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.
On The Mend:
• Cornell has already lost 17 man-games to injury from its top six defensemen, having now played six straight games without two of its top four before
Brendan Smith's return last night (
Alex Green remains 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 fourth in the nation in team faceoff percentage (55.8%), with
Beau Starrett continuing to lead the team in draws taken with a 60.1% success rate.
•
Max Andreev (61.2%) ranks second among the nation's freshmen in faceoff percentage and ranks 12th 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.
Scouting Quinnipiac:
• The Bobcats are tied for the national lead with 15 victories, but they are coming off a 5-4 overtime loss to Colgate last night. The Raiders scored three unanswered goals, including Jared Cosgrove's winner in overtime. The loss dropped Quinnipiac to sixth in the Pairwise rankings.
• The game was a rematch of a 6-0 Quinnipiac shutout of Colgate in a non-league game last Saturday on Long Island.
• Sophomore center Odeen Tufto (11-16–27; 4 PPG) leads the team in scoring and ranks seventh in the nation in points per game (1.42). He is typically flanked by Wyatt Bongiovanni (8-2–10) and Ethan de Jong (4-10–14).
• Senior defenseman Chase Priskie (12-13–25; 7 PPG) leads the team in
goals and ranks second in the nation in points per game among blueliners (1.32). The two-time captain and Washington Capitals draft pick now has
21 power-play goals in his collegiate career.
• Sophomore goaltender Keith Petruzzelli (8-3, 2.30, .909, 3 SO) leads the team in starts, but junior Andrew Shortridge (7-1, 0.84, .965, 3 SO) heads the country in goals against average and save percentage.
• Rand Pecknold is in his 25th season as the head coach at Quinnipiac.
The Series Against Quinnipiac:
• Cornell leads the all-time series against Quinnipiac, 22-17-3, though the Bobcats scored three unanswered goals in the third period to secure a 4-2 victory over the Big Red in the season's first meeting on Nov. 16 in Ithaca.
• Chase Priskie scored the winner in bizarre fashion when his slap shot from the neutral zone went wide of the goal, only to kick hard off the back glass and into the net off the back of the goaltender.
• The Big Red swept all four games against the Bobcats last season, including a memorable sweep of an ECAC Hockey Championship quarterfinal series. Cornell used six second-period goals to roll to a 9-1 victory in Game 1 before
Matthew Galajda made 22 saves for a 2-0 shutout win in Game 2 to end Quinnipiac's season.
•
Mitch Vanderlaan leads Cornell in career scoring against Quinnipiac with 10 points on six goals and four assists over 12 games.
