EAST LANSING, Mich. – Sophomore forward Michael Regush scored twice and freshman defenseman Sam Malinski scored his first collegiate goal to put the finishing touches on the Cornell men's hockey team's 6-2 rout of Michigan State on Saturday night at Munn Ice Arena.
 
The Big Red scored three times on the power play to wrap up a weekend series in which it went 5-for-14 on the man advantage to power a sweep of the Spartans – effectively returning the favor after Michigan State stunned Cornell with a pair of victories to begin last season at Lynah Rink.
 
"I think one of our guys' biggest concerns going into this season (was were) we going to get off to a slow start because we have so many freshmen in the lineup? It was definitely a concern," said Mike Schafer '86, the Jay R. Bloom '77 Head Coach of Men's Hockey at Cornell. "I think those guys answered that concern. So it's not so much revenge or extra sweet – I think the guys are really happy that we answered the bell with one of our first concerns of the year."
 
Junior goaltender Matthew Galajda made 21 saves to earn the victory, only conceding a pair of Michigan State power-play goals after Cornell had built a five-goal lead. Malinski, who also had two assists to lead the Big Red offensively with three points, then essentially iced the game by scoring with 6:50 left.
 
The end result was a rout, but it didn't necessarily start out that way. Cornell came out sluggish with neither team generating a single scoring chance inside the game's first 12 minutes. The Big Red then had the game's first power play, which it used to get on the board with junior forward Tristan Mullin's first strike of the season.
 
Despite watching his team post a 2-for-8 effort on the power play in Friday's victory, Schafer and his coaching staff spent a decent amount of preparation time for the rematch keyed on special teams – specifically the power play.
 
"I thought we worked harder and we were just more aware," Schafer said. "It was a great play in the first by (freshman forward) Ben Berard, who found Tristan Mullin. It just shows you Benny's offensive instincts. And the (next) power-play goal, there was the tip (by Regush). We made that adjustment last night."
 
The story of the second period ended up being a trio of Cornell goals to blow the game open, including a pair inside the final four minutes to extend the lead to 4-0. Sophomore forward Liam Motley, inserted into Saturday's lineup after sitting on Friday, scored in transition for the second goal. Regush's first goal and a tip-in strike from junior forward Morgan Barron came less than two minutes apart and chased Michigan State starting goaltender Drew DeRidder.
 
But on the other side of the coin, the Big Red was staunch defensively. The Spartans had just five shots on goal in the middle frame, and only one of them came within 40 feet of Galajda (a power-play chance by Denis Cesana in the period's final minute).
 
"I thought our guys really got into the flow of things and got going offensively," Schafer said. "Defensively, all weekend I thought we were really good. The penalty kill needs some work, but the power play was successful this year (against Michigan State) as opposed to last year."

The Big Red's Lineup

How The Goals Were Scored

Cornell's 1st Goal
1st period, 15:41 (pp)  •  Mullin 1 (Berard, Locke)  •  Cornell 1, Michigan State 0
•  Working on the man advantage, Locke gained the zone on the right side and held up just inside the blue line. As pressure increased, he rung the puck around the boards and behind the net. Berard was first to it and, without any hesitation, he flipped a backhand back into the middle for Mullin to slam over DeRidder's glove before the goaltender could react.
 
Cornell's 2nd Goal
2nd period, 7:31  •  Motley 1 (Mitchell)  •  Cornell 2, Michigan State 0
•  After absorbing pressure in its own zone, the Spartans looked to counter with a banked pass off the boards up the right wing – but Mitchell knifed it down with his long reach and quickly whirled a cross-ice pass onto Motley's tape. He sped into the Michigan State zone and snapped a shot from the top of the right circle that found its way between DeRidder's left pad and blocker.
 
Cornell's 3rd Goal
2nd period, 15:41  •  Regush 1 (Locke, Malott)  •  Cornell 3, Michigan State 0
•  Regush started a rush up the right side and chipped the puck off for Locke upon entry. Locke delayed and cut to the middle before snapping a shot into charging traffic in front of the net. After a couple bounces around the paint, Regush scooped in the rebound.
 
Cornell's 4th Goal
2nd period, 17:54  •  Barron 1 (Malinski, Andreev)  •  Cornell 4, Michigan State 0
•  DeRidder's night ended after Andreev passed the puck back to Malinski at the far reaches of the left point for a wrister down toward goal that was tipped in by a passing-by Barron.
 
Cornell's 5th Goal
3rd period, :41 (pp)  •  Regush 2 (Kaldis, Malinski)  •  Cornell 5, Michigan State 0
•  On the power play, the Big Red won an offensive-zone faceoff and set up shop. Malinski worked the puck to Kaldis at the top of the left circle, and he forced a puck into the slot for Regush to tip past Lethemon's glove.

Michigan State's 1st Goal
3rd period, 6:47 (pp)  •  Nodler 1 (Miller, Ch. Krygier)  •  Cornell 5, Michigan State 1
•  On the power play, the Spartans worked the puck across for a one-timer from the top of the left circle that Nodler blasted over Galajda's blocker.
 
Michigan State's 2nd Goal
3rd period, 9:09 (pp)  •  Müller 2 (Miller, Khodorenko)  •  Cornell 5, Michigan State 2
•  After Galajda made a pair of big saves on Mitch Lewandowski from in tight, the Spartans kept the pressure on. Miller slid a puck toward the middle from the left side that Müller redirected over Galajda's glove.
 
Cornell's 6th Goal
3rd period, 13:10 (pp)  •  Malinski 1 (Kaldis, Barron)  •  Cornell 6, Michigan State 2
•  Back on the man advantage, the Big Red worked the puck ended up with Malinski on the left wall. With the defense sagging to protect the slot and the net front, Malinski took the space in front of him and placed a perfect shot high short side over Lethemon's blocker.

Up Next

•  Cornell returns to upstate New York to host its ECAC Hockey and Ivy League openers next weekend. The Big Red takes on Brown at 7 p.m. Friday and Yale at 7 p.m. Saturday at Lynah Rink in Ithaca.