ITHACA, N.Y. — The final weekend of the ECAC Hockey men's hockey regular season descends on Ithaca this weekend, where Cornell will look to clinch the program's third consecutive Cleary Cup. The Big Red plays host to St. Lawrence at 7 p.m. Friday before a highly-anticipated showdown with Clarkson at 7 p.m. Saturday at Lynah Rink. 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 Stretch Internet). 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:

St. Lawrence at #1 Cornell
7 p.m. EST Friday, Feb. 28, 2020
PLACE: Lynah Rink  •  Ithaca, N.Y.
RECORDS: Cornell 21-2-4, 16-2-2 ECAC Hockey;
                    St. Lawrence 4-24-4, 2-17-1 ECAC Hockey
BROADCAST (U.S.): ESPN+
BROADCAST (Int'l): Stretch Internet
RADIO: WHCU (870 AM, 97.7 FM)
LIVE STATS: CornellBigRed.com
TICKETS: BigRedTix.com
GAME NOTES (PDF): Cornell | St. Lawrence

#7 Clarkson at #1 Cornell
7 p.m. EST Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020
PLACE: Lynah Rink  •  Ithaca, N.Y.
RECORDS: Cornell 21-2-4, 16-2-2 ECAC Hockey;
                    Clarkson 23-7-2, 16-4 ECAC Hockey
BROADCAST (U.S.): ESPN+
BROADCAST (Int'l): Stretch Internet
RADIO: WHCU (870 AM, 97.7 FM)
LIVE STATS: CornellBigRed.com
TICKETS: Sold out
GAME NOTES (PDF): Cornell | Clarkson

Back To The Top:

•  Cornell enters the weekend on a seven-game winning streak that has propelled the team back to the #1 ranking in the USCHO.com poll after a three-week stint at #2. The Big Red remained #2 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll, and also stood pat at #3 in the RPI, KRACH and Pairwise rankings.
•  Not only is the Big Red men's team #1 in the USCHO.com poll, the Cornell women's team hockey has also the #1 spot in the same poll for a third straight week. It marks the first time that a Division I program has held the #1 ranking in both the men's and women's polls simultaneously since Minnesota on Oct. 27, 2014.

What's At Stake:

•  Cornell enters the weekend two points ahead of Clarkson for first place in ECAC Hockey with just this weekend's two games remaining.
•  With a win against St. Lawrence on Friday, the Big Red would clinch the program's first back-to-back-to-back Cleary Cup titles, which are awarded to the team with the best regular-season record in ECAC Hockey. The Cleary Cup title can be shared with tiebreakers only applied to determine seeding.
•  If it clinches the Cleary Cup, Cornell would lay claim to the league's regular-season title for three consecutive years for the first time in program history. It would also be the first time anyone has won three straight since Harvard did it from 1992-94.
•  Cornell cannot clinch the #1 overall seed in the league playoffs on Friday if Clarkson wins its game at Colgate. If both Cornell and Clarkson win on Friday, the Big Red would need a tie or a win against the Golden Knights to secure the top seed.
•  Regardless of Friday's results, Cornell would clinch the #1 seed with a tie or win over Clarkson on Saturday.

Big Red Rewind:

•  Cornell enters the weekend on a seven-game winning streak, which is tied for the second-longest such active streak in the nation. Most recently, the Big Red is coming off consecutive road shutouts after defeating Yale on Friday, 4-0, and Brown on Saturday, 3-0.
•  Matt Stienburg was named ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Week on Monday after scoring two goals and assisting on another. Of Stienburg's nine points this season, eight have come in 15 games since the semester break.
•  The Big Red scored three goals in the first period to take early control of Friday's game at Yale. Stienburg had the primary assist on Joe Leahy's goal to make the score 3-0, then he capped the scoring in the third period. Matthew Galajda made 17 saves.
•  Cornell then hit two posts and a crossbar inside of 10 minutes against the Bears, but Stienburg eventually opened the scoring a short time later. The lead remained at one until Sam Malinski's goal with 7:21 left in the third, then Morgan Barron iced the game with an empty-net goal.

Highlights From Friday's Win Over Yale:

Highlights From Saturday's Game Win Over Brown:

By The Numbers:

•  The Big Red ranks second in the nation in team defense (1.63 goals against per game). Cornell also ranks seventh in offense (3.48 goals per game), which leads to the nation's fourth-largest scoring margin (+1.85).
•  Cornell's power play ranks ninth in the nation with a 24.8% success rate, but it came up empty in nine opportunities last weekend. The Big Red has scored nine goals on the man advantage in its seven February games to date, which is tied with Arizona State and Princeton for the most in the country.
•  One of the keys to Cornell's success is its ability to play with the lead and – failing that – erasing deficits. Opponents have taken a one-goal lead on the Big Red 14 times this season, and in 12 of those instances Cornell has scored the next goal.
•  Saturday's win over Brown marked the first time in seven games that Cornell was held to fewer than four goals. It was the program's longest stretch of having at least four goals in a game since Jan. 24 to Feb. 8, 1997.
•  The Big Red has scored 18 of its 30 goals over its seven-game winning streak in first periods. That number doesn't only lead the nation for first-period goals in February, it's more goals that 31 of the nation's 60 teams have in all periods of February games.

Forward Thinking:

•  Junior forward Morgan Barron (#27, 14-18–32, 5 PPGs) continues to lead the team in scoring after extending his point-scoring streak to seven games last weekend. He has 11 points over that stretch, now ranking 15th in the country with an average of 1.19 points per game.
•  The Preseason All-ECAC Hockey selection has become the first Cornell men's hockey player with at least 30 points in his first three seasons on East Hill since Riley Nash (2007-10).
•  Barron typically plays on a line centered by junior Brenden Locke (#28, 8-16–24), who is tied for the ECAC Hockey lead with a plus-20 rating. Classmate Cam Donaldson (#7, 5-12–17) has frequently joined them on the right wing.
•  Junior forward Tristan Mullin (#26, 8-12–20; 6 PPGs) leads the team in power-play goals. He has 14 points over the last 14 games. Linemate and classmate Kyle Betts (#11, 3-7–10) typically centers Mullin's line, with six of his 10 points on the year coming in the last six games since returning from injury.
•  Sophomore forward Michael Regush (#19, 9-7–16), who has spent time at both center and on the wing, ranks second on the team in goal-scoring. With his next goal, Regush would become just the fifth player at Cornell to score 10 goals in both his freshman and sophomore seasons since the turn of the century (Anthony Angello, Riley Nash, Colin Greening and Matt Moulson are the others).

More Than Just Defense:

•  Senior defenseman Yanni Kaldis (#8, 5-19–24) continues to be tied for the team lead in assists and has the solo lead in power-play points (13). He has eight points over the last six games.
•  Kaldis' 85 career points is the most for a Cornell defenseman since Mark McRae '03 (98 points) and Doug Murray '03 (84 points). The three-time selection to the All-Ivy League first team enters the weekend tied for third in scoring from the blue line with an average of 0.85 points per ECAC Hockey league game.
•  Not only has Cornell surrendered just 24 even-strength goals this year (an average of 0.89 per game), it also ranks fifth in the nation with 2.74 points per game for defensemen.
•  Junior defenseman Alex Green (#6, 7-9–16, plus-20), a fourth-round pick of the Tampa Bay Lightning, has already more than doubled his point production from his first two collegiate seasons combined. His average of .167 goals per shot on frame is best in the nation among defensemen.
•  Travis Mitchell (#10, 2-9–11, plus-19) ranks second among the nation's freshman defensemen in rating.
•  Sam Malinski (#24, 3-11–14, plus-12) ranks eighth in scoring among freshman defensemen in the nation with an average of 0.61 points per game.

Goaltending, Inc.:

•  Junior goaltender Matthew Galajda (#35, 21-2-4, 1.64, .928, 4 SO) has started every game to date. He ranks third in the nation in goals against average, having surrendered just 24 even-strength goals through 27 games.
•  With shutouts last weekend at Yale (17 saves) and Brown (19 saves), Galajda enters this weekend on a shutout streak of 138 minutes, 20 seconds. It was the fourth time in his career that Galajda has posted consecutive shutouts.
•  With 18 career shutouts, Galajda now ranks tied for second in program history alongside David McKee (2003-06). He now trails the leader, Ben Scrivens '10 by just one.
•  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 started a game yet this season, he was an All-Ivy League first-team selection last year.

Honor Roll:

•  Cornell has laid claim to eight of ECAC Hockey's weekly awards already this season. Five came in the first five weeks of the Big Red's season, and Cornell also collected a pair monthly awards for November. 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 in November 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 St. Lawrence:

•  The Saints (4-24-4, 2-17-1) just broke a 21-game winless skid with a 6-3 victory over visiting Harvard last Saturday. It was just the second time this season that St. Lawrence scored more than three goals in a game.
•  Sophomore winger Zach Risteau (#20, 7-15–22) leads the team in scoring and has three of the squad's four game-winning goals. Junior center Keenan Suthers  (#27, 9-5–14, 3 PPGs), who stands 6-foot-8, leads the team in goals, power-play goals and shots on goal (90).
•  Junior defenseman Bo Hanson (#12, 4-14–18) ranks second in team scoring.
•  All three goalies have played in at least seven games, with senior Daniel Mannella (#30, 3-9-2, 2.94, .911, SO) leads the way with 15 starts.
•  The Saints have yielded fewer than two goals in a game just three times this season.
•  St. Lawrence's scoring is evenly distributed throughout games, but its opposition tends to score more frequently as the game progresses. The Saints have conceded just 26 goals in first periods, 35 in the second and 45 in the third.
•  Brent Brekke is in his first year as head coach at St. Lawrence after spending one season as an assistant at Clarkson. He was an assistant coach at Cornell from 1999-2008.

The Series vs. St. Lawrence:

•  In a series that began during the 1926-27 campaign, Cornell holds a 65-45-8 all-time lead and enters Friday on a seven-game winning streak and an 13-4-1 record over the last 18 in the series.
•  Cornell won the first meeting between the teams this season, 6-1, on Nov. 16 at SUNY Canton. The teams entered the second period tied at 1 before the Big Red rattled off three second-period goals to seize control.
•  The Big Red won, 3-1, in last season's meeting at Lynah Rink on Feb. 9, 2019. Michael Regush and Morgan Barron scored power-play goals in the first period for Cornell.

Scouting Clarkson:

•  The Golden Knights fell out of first place in the league after a 5-2 loss to Harvard last Friday, but rebounded with a 4-0 blanking of Dartmouth on Saturday. Senior Frank Marotte (#40, 23-7-2, 1.71, .940, 4 SO) made 27 saves for his fourth shutout since graduate-transferring in from Robert Morris.
•  Senior winger Haralds Egle (#18, 14-18–32; 6 PPGs) leads the team in scoring, returning to action last weekend after a two-game absence.
•  Egle used to play on the same line as Clarkson's next two leading scorers, senior Devin Brosseau (#14, 8-21–29) and sophomore center Josh Dunne (#21, 13-14–27; 8 PPGs) — but the trio was not reunited after Egle's return last week.
•  Junior Connor McCarthy (#2, 9-11–20) leads all ECAC Hockey defensemen with six power-play goals.
•  The Golden Knights' penalty kill leads the nation with a 91.9% success rate.
•  Clarkson ranks fifth in the country with an average of 1.22 goals per first period, but they have only won one game this season in which they trailed at the end of any period.
•  Casey Jones '90 is in his ninth season as the head coach at Clarkson after serving as the associate head coach at Cornell from 2008-11.

The Series Against Clarkson:

•  The Big Red owns a 67-56-19 record against the Golden Knights after a 4-2 victory in this season's first meeting on Nov. 15 in Potsdam. Cam Donaldson scored the winner on Cornell's lone power play of the game with 9:34 left in the third.
•  The teams split three games against each other last season — though Clarkson got the biggest win, 3-2 in overtime, in the ECAC Hockey Championship game.
•  Cornell is 12-7-6 against Clarkson since Casey Jones '90 became head coach.

Perfect Turns 50:

•  Last weekend marked 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. The Big Red wore special commemorative jerseys for Friday's game at Dartmouth that listed the team's list of accomplishments from a memorable 1969-70 season that featured a sterling 29-0 record.
•  Festivities dotted the weekend, culminating with a ceremony to honor the returning members of the team during the first intermission of last Saturday's game against Harvard.

One Crown Down:

•  Cornell locked up its third straight and 20th overall Ivy League title with its 4-0 victory over Yale last Friday.
•  The Big Red is 24-3-4 in its last 30 Ivy League contests.

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.

Draw Drama:

•  Cornell ranks tied for 13th in the nation with a 52.0% success rate of faceoffs, but that's well down from its standing of sixth at 53.4% on Jan. 23.
•  The Big Red is just 213-224 (48.7%) on faceoffs over its last eight games.
Junior forward Brenden Locke (57.3%) leads the team on draw efficiency and with 344 faceoffs taken. Junior forward Morgan Barron ranks second (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 479 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:

•  The Big Red's average of 4.29 goals per game in February ranks fourth in the nation.
•  Cornell is one of the last two remaining teams in the nation to not have a short-handed goal for or against in a game yet this season (Rensselaer is the other). 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 five even-strength goals inside five minutes of any period this year – none of which have occurred in the first period.
•  In four-on-four play this season, Cornell has outscored its opposition, 2-0 (Tristan Mullin on Nov. 23 vs. Princeton; Michael Regush Jan. 17 vs. Northern Michigan), after holding a 6-1 advantage in those scenarios last season.

Up Next:

•  After enjoying a highly-coveted bye through the first round of the ECAC Hockey Championship playoffs, the Big Red will host a best-of-three quarterfinal series against an opponent yet to be determined. Games 1 and 2 will be at 7 p.m. March 13 and 7 p.m. March 14, respectively. If necessary, a winner-take-all Game 3 would be at 4 p.m. March 15.