ITHACA, N.Y. – Junior forward Jeff Malott scored twice, and sophomore forward Brenden Locke had two assists to go along with his first-period goal as the Cornell men's hockey team turned a clash of top-10 teams into a resounding 5-0 victory over Clarkson on Friday night at Lynah Rink.
 
Cornell (14-6-2, 10-3-2 ECAC Hockey) continued its first-period dominance this year by jumping out to a two-goal lead after 20 minutes. It marked the 19th time in 22 games that the Big Red has scored first, and it's now outscoring its opposition in first periods, 26-6.
 
Sophomore goaltender Matthew Galajda made the lead stick, turning aside 17 shots for his third shutout of the season – all coming in his last five starts.
 
"I didn't think we had many lapses in our game tonight," said Mike Schafer '86, the Jay R. Bloom '77 Head Coach of Men's Hockey at Cornell. "I think we're starting to learn, as the season has gone on. … Just a really solid effort from start to finish for our guys."
 
Galajda's most important saves came after Cornell's first period goals to keep momentum for the home side. First, he slid across to his left to stop Kevin Charyszyn's shot off a three-on-two rush in the 12th minute, then he stayed strong on Anthony Callin's chance driving the net along from the bottom of the right circle seven minutes later for Clarkson (18-9, 9-6 ECAC Hockey).
 
The Big Red kept the pressure on in the second. Matt Nuttle's goal just 63 seconds into the middle frame pushed the lead to three, then Michael Regush's unassisted power-play goal on outstanding individual effort created the fourth strike just before the final intermission.
 
Cornell's strong special teams were on full display again, with the power play clicking twice in three opportunities and the penalty kill a perfect 2-for-2. Since Dec. 1, the Big Red's power play is clicking at a 31.6% success rate and the penalty kill is 93.5% effective. Both of those rank as second-best in the nation over that span.
 
With the win, Cornell maintained solo possession of first place in ECAC Hockey with 22 points. That's one point ahead of Quinnipiac and two ahead of Harvard, who both won their respective games Friday. The Big Red is now 5-1-1 this year against teams ranked in the USCHO.com poll at the time of the game.
 
Locke's three-point effort is a season-high, and it marks just the team's second of the season (linemate Cam Donaldson had three assists last Friday at Union). The third member of the line, Morgan Barron, had an assist on Nuttle's goal to give him points in 11 of his last 12 games.
 
The Big Red returns to Lynah Rink at 7 p.m. Saturday, when it hosts St. Lawrence in another ECAC Hockey contest. Tickets are available through the Cornell Athletics Ticket Office, or online at CornellBigRedTickets.com.
 

The Big Red's Lineup:

How The Goals Were Scored:

Cornell's 1st Goal
1st period, 8:17  •  Locke 5 (Leahy, Donaldson)  •  Cornell 1, Clarkson 0
• Barron worked the puck up the right wing wall in the neutral zone for Donaldson, who gained the Clarkson zone. With all five Golden Knights flooded to that side of the ice, Donaldson zipped a pass all the way across to defenseman Joe Leahy rushing forward on the far side. His shot from the left circle hit the left leg of lunging Clarkson goalie Jake Kielly, with the rebound redirected in by Locke's skate.
 
Cornell's 2nd Goal
1st period, 17:12  •  Malott 2 (Nuttle, Locke) (pp)  •  Cornell 2, Clarkson 0
• On the man advantage, Locke gave the puck to Nuttle drifting down the half wall from the right point, then rolled toward the top of the zone. Nuttle instead took space to the outside hash and opted to serve the puck toward a one-on-one battle at the top of the crease, where Malott had effectively posted up against his defender enough to deftly deflect the puck straight into the roof of the net over Kielly's glove.
 
Cornell's 3rd Goal
2nd period, 1:03  •  Nuttle 2 (Locke, Barron)  •  Cornell 3, Clarkson 0
• After Clarkson cleared its zone, Alex Green collected in his own zone and quickly turned a diagonal pass back up to Locke on the left wing of Clarkson's blue line. He angled toward the middle while awaiting reinforcements, then backhanded the puck toward a rapidly crowding high slot. The puck briefly touched Barron's stick as he approached the left hash mark, but Nuttle gathered it cutting across the other way before sliding a shot from the right hash mark off the far post and in.
 
Cornell's 4th Goal
2nd period, 18:04  •  Regush 6 (pp)  •  Cornell 4, Clarkson 0
• On the penalty kill, a Clarkson forward had possession in the neutral zone, but saw that he was outnumbered. In an effort to keep possession and burn more of Cornell's power play, he attempted a cross-ice pass to a defenseman moving forward – but it missed the mark and allowed Regush to circle in on the right wing. A defender slid across on a one-on-one near the right faceoff dot, but Regush toe-dragged to the middle and worked the puck back to his forehand before slipping it between Kielly's legs.
 
Cornell's 5th Goal
3rd period, 14:47  •  Malott 3 (Green, Kaldis)  •  Cornell 5, Clarkson 0
• With the teams playing four-on-four, the Big Red defense worked the puck up to Malott in the neutral zone. He entered the Clarkson zone on a harmless-looking two-on-two up the right side. His defender got a piece of the puck with his stick, but it then hit Malott's skate and started to bounce forward. The defender failed to corral it, and Malott sped around the outside to collect the puck at the bottom of the circle, then swoop across the top of the crease before flipping in a forehand around goaltender Nicholas Latinovich.