ITHACA, N.Y. — Junior goaltender Matthew Galajda made 13 of his 22 saves in the third period to help sophomore forward Michael Regush's power-play goal in the second period stand up as the game-winner for the Cornell men's hockey team in a 2-1 victory over ECAC Hockey rival Quinnipiac on Friday night at Lynah Rink. With the win, the Big Red — ranked second in the nation in both the USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls — improves to 7-0 for the second time in the last three years.

Cornell (7-0, 5-0 ECAC Hockey) struck first with junior forward Brenden Locke's goal early in the second period, set up by freshman forward Ben Berard. Quinnipiac (6-5-1, 2-2-1) countered with Nick Jermain's fifth goal of the season to tie it, but Regush put the Big Red back on top for good just a shade over two minutes later. It gave the Big Red power play, which leads the country with a 40% conversion rate, at least one goal in each of the team's first seven games for the first time since the 2005-06 season.

"It was a bit scrambly. We probably wouldn't draw it up that way, but everyone battled to keep the puck in as we entered the zone," Regush said. "It got tossed toward the net and kind of popped out to me and, fortunately, I put it in."

But it was Cornell's penalty kill that essentially stole the show Friday. Struggling to the tune of just a 75% success rate entering the weekend, the Big Red killed off all five Bobcats power plays. That included the final 92 seconds of the game, when Quinnipiac also pulled its goaltender to create a six-on-four advantage. The Bobcats had just one shot on goal in that stretch, with Galajda moving to his right to thwart a one-timer from the right circle from Odeen Tufto, Quinnipiac's leading scorer, with 35 seconds to play.
 
"For as much as our power play has carried us in the last few games, I thought tonight it was flip-flopped," said Mike Schafer '86, the Jay R. Bloom '77 Head Coach of Men's Hockey at Cornell. "Tonight, our power play got the game-winning goal, but it was really our penalty kill that saved the game – especially late in the third, six on four. They did an outstanding job of getting their hands on it, getting it down the ice, and getting some outstanding clears."
 
Though the first period was bereft of scoring, it certainly had its fair share of entertainment. Quinnipiac had the frame's first two power plays, with the first forcing three saves from Galajda before Cornell got the better of the second. Quinnipiac's Keith Petruzzelli was called upon to stop a shorthanded breakaway from senior forward Jeff Malott and the ensuing wraparound attempt from junior forward Morgan Barron.
 
The Big Red's lone power play of the opening 20 minutes came up empty, but the real drama came immediately after the Bobcats returned to full strength. Wyatt Bongiovanni stepped out from the penalty box and stepped in on a two-on-one that was foiled by retreating junior forward Brenden Locke. Eight seconds later, Bongiovanni had a breakaway that Galajda stopped before freshman forward Ben Berard blocked a rebound chance from Alex Whelan. And then 19 seconds after that, another breakaway – this one from Desi Burgart – glanced off the crossbar on its way to the back glass.
 
"It was a weird sequence," Galajda said. "Can't say I've ever experienced something like that. I'm just trying to make the save, and they happened to get another breakaway, and they hit the crossbar. It was weird."
 
Added Locke: "It's always good when a goalie can steal a game for you, and he definitely did that tonight – on the PK in the first and then those three (odd-man rushes). He's just such a calm goaltender, and he came up huge tonight. You need a good goaltender to be a good hockey team, and he's proving that he is."

The Big Red's Lineup:

 

How The Goals Were Scored:

Cornell's 1st Goal
2nd period, 3:36  •  Locke 3 (Berard, Green)  •  Cornell 1, Quinnipiac 0
•  The teams scrummed for the puck in the left corner of the Bobcats' zone before Berard rattled it around the boards behind the net. Green activated to win the race to the puck at the right half wall to keep possession for the Big Red, muscling the puck past two defenders from the corner to Berard behind the net. Berard moved out to Petruzzelli's left, and stick-handled around several stick-checks as he entered the bottom of the circle, then found Locke drifting toward the high slot. With the Bobcats' defense sagging to quash Berard, Locke quickly fired a shot between Petruzzelli's legs.
 
Quinnipiac's 1st Goal
2nd period, 7:05  •  Germain 5 (Cukste)  •  Cornell 1, Quinnipiac 1
•  A Cornell defenseman tried to ring the puck up the wall in the defensive zone, creating a puck battle at the left point. With two Big Red players in the vicinity, Cukste won the battle and came down free into the circle. The defense failed to recover, allowed Cukste to find a wide-open Germain standing about six feet out from the far post, where he was free to bury the puck into the vacated wide side of the net.
 
Cornell's 2nd Goal
2nd period, 9:09 (pp)  •  Regush 4 (Andreev, Kaldis)  •  Cornell 2, Quinnipiac 1
•  As blue collar of a power-play goal as you'll ever see, all five Big Red players on the ice helped keep possession along the wall as the puck traveled from the right half wall, behind the net and all the way to Kaldis at the left half wall. Kaldis won a battle for the puck there, and Regush swatted the puck from a Bobcats defender's skates toward goal. Andreev couldn't gain possession, but checked it away from a defender to set up Kaldis' shot from the left circle. Petruzzelli made the save, but kicked the rebound into the middle. It bounced off Andreev's skate into the path of Regush crashing down the slot. He patiently waited for flailing bodies to hit the ice, then flipped the puck into a virtually empty net.

Up Next:

•  Cornell closes out the home portion of the 2019 calendar year with an ECAC Hockey and Ivy League contest against Princeton at 7 p.m. Saturday.