ITHACA, N.Y. — The Cornell men's hockey team continues its home stand with a highly-anticipated weekend against ECAC Hockey and Ivy League rivals Dartmouth and Harvard on Friday and Saturday, respectively. The teams are set to faceoff at 7 p.m. both Friday and Saturday.
Featuring the call of Grady Whittenburg and color commentary from former assistant coach and team captain Topher Scott '08, the games will be broadcast on ESPN+ in the U.S. (
with an option for international viewers also available through portal.stretchinternet.com).
The games can also be heard on WHCU (870 AM, 97.7 FM) with Jason Weinstein back for his 16th season on play-by-play and Tony Eisenhut '88 on color commentary.
Game Information:
#20 Dartmouth at #1 Cornell
7 p.m. EST Friday, Jan. 24, 2020
PLACE: Lynah Rink • Ithaca, N.Y.
RECORDS: Cornell 13-1-3, 8-1-1 ECAC Hockey, 4-1 Ivy League;
Dartmouth 10-5-3, 7-3-1 ECAC Hockey, 5-1 Ivy League
BROADCAST:
ESPN+
RADIO:
WHCU (870 AM, 97.7 FM)
LIVE STATS:
CornellBigRed.com
TICKETS: Sold out
GAME NOTES (PDF):
Cornell |
Dartmouth
#16 Harvard at #1 Cornell
7 p.m. EST Saturday, Jan. 25, 2020
PLACE: Lynah Rink • Ithaca, N.Y.
RECORDS: Cornell 13-1-3, 8-1-1 ECAC Hockey, 4-1 Ivy League;
Harvard 9-6-2, 7-4-1 ECAC Hockey, 4-1-1 Ivy League
BROADCAST:
ESPN+
RADIO:
WHCU (870 AM, 97.7 FM)
LIVE STATS:
CornellBigRed.com
TICKETS: Sold out
GAME NOTES (PDF):
Cornell |
Harvard
Big Red Rewind:
• For a second straight week, Cornell retains the #1 spot in both the USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls, having lost just once in its first 17 games despite playing the nation's fewest home games to date (six). It's the first time the Big Red has claimed the top spot in both national polls for consecutive weeks since the polls started during the 1990s.
• The Big Red is coming off a hard-fought series victory over visiting Northern Michigan last weekend, rallying for a 2-2 tie on Friday before pulling out a 3-1 victory on Saturday. Cornell is now unbeaten in its last six games (3-0-3), which is tied for the fourth-longest active unbeaten streak in the nation.
Highlights From Friday's Game vs. #17 Northern Michigan:
Highlights From Saturday's Game vs. #17 Northern Michigan:
Perfect Turns 50:
• This weekend marks a reunion for the 50th anniversary of Cornell's second national championship and the only team in men's hockey history to win an NCAA title after an undefeated season with no ties.
• Festivities dot the weekend, culminating with a ceremony to honor the returning members of the team during the first intermission of Saturday's game against Harvard.
By The Numbers:
• The Big Red ranks second in the country in team defense (1.47 goals against per game) and ranks seventh in offense (3.53 goals per game). That leads to the nation's third-largest scoring margin (+2.06).
• For the first time in the program's modern-era history, Cornell did not surrender more than two goals in its first 14 games of the season. That helped the Big Red remain the last team in the nation to yield three goals or four goals in a game, and it's also one of just five teams that hasn't been gouged for five (Clarkson, Michigan, Michigan Tech, and UMass-Lowell are the others).
• Cornell's power play is now tied for eighth in the nation with a 25.0% success rate. Junior forward
Tristan Mullin leads the team with three goals on the man advantage.
• One of the keys to Cornell's hot start has been its ability to play with the lead. The Big Red has scored first in each of its last 12 victories and it has only trailed for a scant 16 minutes, 5 seconds in its 13 wins.
• The Big Red has scored 28 of its 60 goals in second periods this year. That's an average of 1.65 goals per middle stanza, which leads the country for any period. The next closest is Minnesota State's average of 1.62 goals per third period.
The Red's Barron:
• Junior forward
Morgan Barron (9-11–20) leads the team in scoring and ranks tied for fourth in ECAC Hockey and tied for 19th in the nation with an average of 1.18 points per game.
• Barron became the first Cornell men's hockey player with at least 12 points through six games since Matt Moulson '06 and Ryan Vesce '04 both did so in the 2003-04 campaign.
• A sixth-round draft pick of the New York Rangers, Barron was named to the All-ECAC Hockey first team last season after leading the squad with 34 points on 15 goals and 19 assists. He was tabbed a Preseason All-ECAC Hockey selection in September.
Forward Thinking:
• Junior forward
Brenden Locke (7-10–17) has points in four straight games and ranks second in team scoring. Classmate
Cam Donaldson (3-12–15) is third in team scoring, with the duo typically playing on the same line together. Locke's plus-18 rating is tied for eighth in the nation.
• Donaldson's average of 0.80 assists per game is tied for 13th in the nation. He had the game-winning goal and an assist Saturday vs. Northern Michigan.
• Locke's seven goals have come on just 23 shots on target, giving him an average of .304 goals per shot on the frame that is tied for second nationally.
• Sophomore forward
Michael Regush (7-5–12) is tied for second on the team in goal-scoring, just ahead of junior forward
Tristan Mullin (5-5–10). Mullin leads the team with three power-play goals, while Regush, sophomore forward
Max Andreev (2-7–9), junior forward
Morgan Barron, and freshman
Ben Berard (4-7–11) have two apiece.
More Than Just Defense:
• Not only has Cornell surrendered just 12 even-strength goals this year, it also ranks third in the nation with 2.94 points per game for defenseman.
• Junior defenseman
Alex Green (4-8–12, plus-17), a fourth-round pick of the Tampa Bay Lightning, has already tripled his point production from an injury-riddled sophomore campaign.
• Tied with Green in scoring is senior defenseman
Yanni Kaldis (2-10–12), who is the team's leading active scorer with 73 collegiate points. The three-time selection to the All-Ivy League first team was also a Preseason All-ECAC Hockey selection in September.
•
Travis Mitchell (2-8–10, plus-17) leads the nation's freshman defensemen in rating.
Goaltending, Inc.:
• Junior goaltender
Matthew Galajda (13-1-3, 1.46, .940, 2 SO) ranks second in the nation in goals against average, having surrendered just 12 even-strength goals through 17 games. His save percentage also ranks third nationally.
• Galajda recorded a 25-save shutout Jan. 10 at Rensselaer, which was the 16th of his collegiate career. That keeps him in third place on the program's all-time list, trailing just 18 posted by David McKee (2003-06) and 19 by
Ben Scrivens '10.
• Galajda has returned to form after sophomore season was cut short by multiple injuries. As a freshman, he was a Hobey Baker Memorial Award finalist, a Mike Richter Award finalist, a first-team All-American, the ECAC Hockey Goaltender of the Year and Ivy League Player of the Year.
• The Big Red has the rare claim of two all-league goaltenders from a season ago in Galajda and classmate
Austin McGrath. Though McGrath hasn't appeared yet this season, he was an All-Ivy League first-team selection last year.
Honor Roll:
• Cornell laid claim to five of ECAC Hockey's weekly awards over its first five weeks of the season and two monthly awards for November. Junior
Matthew Galajda was named the league's goalie of the month and freshman defenseman
Sam Malinski was tabbed rookie of the month.
• Three of the team's five weekly honors to date were rookies of the week. Malinski earned the accolade after each of his first two weekends in the collegiate ranks (Nov. 4, Nov. 11), then freshman forward
Ben Berard claimed it Nov. 25 after scoring his first collegiate goal two days earlier against Princeton.
The Twin Tradition:
• The arrival of freshmen Ben and
Zach Tupker give the Big Red its fourth pair of twins in
Mike Schafer's 25-year tenure as the program's head coach. The others were the Devins (Joe and Mike, 2007-11), the Abbotts (Chris and Cam, 2001-06), and the McRaes (Mark and Matt, 1999-2003).
Feel The Draft?:
• Cornell has six players on the roster who have been selected in the NHL Entry Draft — at least one in each of the last five drafts. Freshman forward
Matt Stienburg (Colorado Avalanche) was selected earliest in that group, having been taken in the third round with the 63rd overall pick in June.
• Junior defenseman
Matt Cairns (Edmonton Oilers) was also taken in the third round with the 84th overall pick in the 2016 draft. Classmate
Alex Green was taken with an overaged selection by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2018 draft, and
Misha Song (2015 sixth round, New York Islanders) gives the Big Red blue line three NHL picks.
• Two sixth-round picks also give Cornell three NHL picks when joined by Stienburg. Junior
Morgan Barron, a fellow St. Andrew's graduate, was snagged in the sixth round by the N.Y. Rangers in 2017. Freshman
Jack Malone was taken by the Vancouver Canucks in the sixth round last summer.
Scouting Dartmouth:
• The Big Green is one of the hottest teams in the league, only suffering one loss over the last eight to enter Friday's game 10-5-3 overall, 7-3-1 in ECAC Hockey, 5-1 to sit atop the Ivy League standings and breaking through to the #20 position in the USCHO poll.
• Dartmouth has won three straight, including victories of 3-2 over Clarkson and 3-1 over St. Lawrence at home last weekend to climb into a tie for third place in the ECAC Hockey standings.
• Sophomore forward Drew O'Connor (11-9–20) leads the team in scoring after leading the team with 17 goals during his freshman season. He typically plays on the left wing of a line with senior Will Graber (6-5–11) at center and junior Quin Foreman (6-10–16) on the opposite wing. The trio ranked 1-2-3 in team scoring last year.
• Senior Adrian Clark (10-4-3, 2.77, .908) has started all but one game for the Big Green this season, posting six shutouts as the primary starter last year.
• Dartmouth is 7-0-2 when scoring the first goal, but it has yet to win a game in which it trailed at the end of any period. The Big Green is also an impressive 6-1 in one-goal games.
• Bob Gaudet is in his 23rd season as the head coach at his alma mater after a stint at Brown's helm.
The Series Against Dartmouth:
• Cornell and Dartmouth have met on 139 occasions since 1909, with the Big Red holding a wide margin in the series with a 83-50-6 advantage.
• The Big Green handed the Big Red its only loss to date with a 2-1 decision on Dec. 7 at Thompson Arena in Hanover.
Morgan Barron scored the lone Cornell goal with 12 seconds left in the second period, but the Big Red couldn't strike again despite outshooting Dartmouth, 40-17.
• Cornell won, 5-1, in Dartmouth's last visit to Lynah Rink last January.
Cam Donaldson had a goal and an assist,
Morgan Barron had a pair of assists and
Brenden Locke also scored for the Big Red.
Scouting Harvard:
• The Crimson started its season with six straight victories, but it's won just three of its last 11 to enter this weekend 9-6-2 overall, 7-4-1 in ECAC Hockey play and ranked 16th in the USCHO poll. Harvard topped St. Lawrence, 3-1, last Friday before suffering a 5-3 loss to Clarkson the next night.
• Sophomore right wing Casey Dornbach (10-13–23) leads the team in scoring and ranks eighth in the nation with an average of 1.35 points per game. He plays regularly on a line with the next two leading scorers on the team, freshman Nick Abruzzese (8-13–21; 3 PPG) on the opposite wing and sophomore center Jack Drury (8-11–19; team-high 5 PPG).
• Sophomore Jack Rathbone (4-12–16) is tied for fourth in the nation with an average of 1.00 per game, and he leads the team with 51 shots on goal.
• The Crimson ranks third in the nation with an average of 3.88 goals per game, and the power play is clicking to the tune of 27.7% so far this season. But after a hot start, Harvard's defense has cooled down overall the last 11 games (which have led to a 3-6-2 record), yielding 3.27 goals per game over that stretch.
• Freshman Mitchell Gibson (6-4-1, 2.27, .930, SO) is the team's primary goaltender with 12 starts, but senior Cameron Gornet (3-2-1, 3.11, .911) has also appeared eight times (including five starts).
• Harvard has outscored its opponents 24-11 in first periods this season. The average of 1.41 goals per game in the opening 20 minutes ranks second in the nation. Furthermore, the Crimson has scored first in 13 of its 17 games to date — and it's 0-4 on the rare occasion when it concedes the first strike.
• Ted Donato is in his 16th season as the head coach of his alma mater.
The Series Against Harvard:
• Cornell has been battling with ancient rival Harvard since 1910, matching up 156 times with the Big Red holding a 79-66-11 lead after three consecutive victories entering Saturday's game.
• The Big Red won the season's first meeting, 3-1, on Dec. 6 at Bright-Landry Hockey Center. Cornell dominated the first two periods, getting goals from
Jeff Malott,
Brenden Locke and
Travis Mitchell to build a three-goal lead while outshooting Harvard, 28-9, through 40 minutes.
• Junior goaltender
Matthew Galajda is 4-1 with a 1.41 goals against average, .948 save percentage and a pair of shutouts in five games against the Crimson.
• Cornell head coach
Mike Schafer is 39-19-6 in 64 games against Harvard.
Key Ivy League Weekend:
• This weekend's games will be pivotal in Cornell's attempt to capture its third straight and 20th overall Ivy League title. The Big Red is currently in third place, two points behind Dartmouth and one point behind Harvard — though Cornell as a game in hand on both.
• Cornell is 20-3-3 in its last 26 Ivy League contests, though two of those losses have come at Dartmouth.
Rare Territory:
• Freshman forward
Jack Malone is doing something that no Cornell men's hockey player has done in more than 50 years — wear #13. The perceived unluckiest of numbers has only been donned by five previous members of the Big Red, all in the first nine years of the program's resurrection in 1957. The last to wear 13 was James Wallace during the 1965-66 season. The number must not be too unlucky, though. Malone scored in his first collegiate game; a goal that was also the team's first of the season.
Chasing Whitelaw:
• The Big Red can storm to the top of the ECAC Hockey standings with a sweep this weekend. Cornell is the two-time defending Cleary Cup champion (though it shared the honor last year). With that, the Big Red has won the ECAC Hockey's regular-season title in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2002 and 2003.
Quick On The Draw:
• Cornell enters the weekend ranked second in ECAC Hockey and tied for sixth in the nation with a 53.4% success rate on faceoffs.
Kyle Betts leads the team by winning 57.6% of his draws, and
Brenden Locke is close behind at 55.9%.
First Ivy League Coach To 400:
• Already the winningest coach in program history and in Ivy League history,
Mike Schafer '86 ranks fifth among active coaches with 471 victories at the Division I level. He also leads all actives coaches of Cornell's 37 varsity teams in career victories.
Neither Here Nor There:
• Cornell is one of four remaining teams in the nation to not have a short-handed goal for or against in a game yet this season. The others are Brown, Rensselaer and New Hampshire. The Big Red hasn't scored a non-empty-net short-handed goal since Nov. 4, 2016 (
Mitch Vanderlaan '19 at Dartmouth).
• The Big Red has yielded just one even-strength goal inside five minutes of any period this year. That one occurrence happened to be in Cornell's lone loss to date — Dec. 7 at Dartmouth, when Matt Baker's goal inside the first minute of the second period proved to be the winner for the Big Green.
• In four-on-four play this season, Cornell has outscored its opposition, 2-0 (
Tristan Mullin on Nov. 23 vs. Princeton and
Michael Regush last Friday vs. Northern Michigan), after holding a 6-1 advantage in those scenarios last season.
Up Next:
• Cornell hits the road for a challenging ECAC Hockey trip to Quinnipiac at 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 31 and Princeton at 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 1.
