THE PUCK DROP
• For the first time since 2001-02, the Cornell men's hockey team ships up to Boston to square off against Boston University in the 50th all-time meeting between the two programs.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
• Senior forward Ben Berard and freshman forward Nick DeSantis received weekly honors from ECAC Hockey on Monday following last weekend's offensive explosion.
• Berard registered six points (2-4—6) on the weekend, which included a career-high four points in the Big Red's 6-4 win over RPI last Saturday.
• All five of DeSantis' points came on assists last weekend. DeSantis had a four-assist game against RPI, which was Cornell's first four-assist game since Yanni Kaldis and Brenden Locke each had four assists in a 9-1 win over Quinnipiac on March 9, 2018.
• The weekly award for DeSantis was his second in six days after being named the ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Week on Jan. 4.
THANKS FOR THE HELP!
• Behind his four-assist game last Saturday in Cornell's 6-4 win over RPI, freshman forward Nick DeSantis matched the Cornell program record for assists by a first-year player.
• Since freshman became eligible to play in the 1975-76 season, DeSantis is just one of four Big Red first-year players to log four assists in a game.
• The others to accomplish the feat previously were Roy Kerling (Feb. 4, 1978 vs. Dartmouth), Mark McRae (Feb. 11, 2000 at Clarkson), and former NHLer Byron Bitz (Feb. 13, 2004 vs. Princeton).
• DeSantis' four assists marked the 13th time a Division I players has registered four helpers in a game, with 12 of them coming against Division I opposition (Long Island's Patriks Marcinkevics had a four-assist game on Dec. 10 against Franklin Pierce, a Division III school).
• Of the 13 four-assist games this season, DeSantis is the sixth freshmen player (seventh occurence) to accomplish the feat.
• Wisconsin's Lucius Cruz, Sacred Heart's Marcus Joughin, Quinnipiac's Sam Lipkin (twice), Michigan State's Tiernan Shoudy and Karsen Dorwart as the lone first-year players with four assists in a game this season.
SEEING DOUBLE
• Senior forward Ben Berard has registered multiple points in each of his last four games (2-8—10), including his four-point game last Saturday at RPI (1-3—4).
• Berard is the first Big Red player to have four straight multi-point games since Morgan Barron opened the 2019-20 campaign with four consecutive multi-point peformances.
• With a multi-point game on Saturday against Boston University, Berard would be the first Cornell player since Barron in 2018-19 with five multi-point games in a row.
• Berard is the sixth player (seventh occurence) under Mike Schafer to have register at least four consecutive multiple points. The list of other players with multi-point game streaks of four-plus games under Schafer include: Barron (twice — 2018-19 and 2019-20), Mark Scollan and Matt Cooney (1995-96), Stephen Bâby (2000-01), and Riley Nash (2009-10).
NONE SHALL PASS
• Cornell enters this weekend boasting one of the nation's top scoring defenses. The Big Red has yielded just 33 goals allowed so far this year, which ranks as the fewest by a Division I program.
• The Big Red's 2.06 goals per game average ranks third in the nation, trailing Quinnipiac (1.71) and St. Cloud State (1.95).
• Historically, Cornell has boasted one of the stingier defensive units in Division I hockey. The Big Red has ranked in the top 10 in scoring defense in five of the last six seasons, with the lone year being 2020-21 (did not play — COVID-19 pandemic).
• Since 2016-17, Cornell has allowed an average of 1.97 goals per game, which ranks only behind Minnesota State (1.86).
• The Big Red's 356 goals allowed since the 2016-17 season stand as the fewest by a Division I program. Cornell's bitter Ivy League rival, Harvard, is 96 goals behind the Big Red (452).
THE SIXTH (GOAL) SENSE
• Last weekend, Cornell posted a pair of six-goal games against Union and RPI. The pair of six-goal games marked the first time the Big Red netted at least six goals in consecutive games since defeating Canisius, 6-2, on Dec. 30, 2017, and posting a 7-1 victory over Princeton on Jan. 5, 2018.
• With a six-goal performance on Saturday afternoon, it would be the first time Cornell has registered three consecutive six-goal games since doing so in four straight games in the 1985-86 season.
POINT SEGER
• Junior forward Gabriel Seger has been having a knack for finding the scoresheet as of late, registering at least one point in 11 of his 14 games played so far this year.
• He enters Saturday's game with points in his last five games, a career-long streak for the native of Uppsala, Sweden. Over his last five games, Seger has recorded an assist in each game, while posting eight points (two goals, six assists) — five of which came last weekend.
• Seger (4-11—15) is currently tied with senior forward Ben Berard (3-12—15) for the team lead in points. Joining the duo with double-digit point totals are freshmen forwards Nick DeSantis (5-6—11) and Dalton Bancroft (4-6—10), as well as senior forward Max Andreev (3-7—10).
KILL, RED, KILL
• Over its last 10 games, Cornell has successfully killed off 29 of its last 33 penalties (87.8 percent).
• All four of the power-play goals allowed by the Big Red since Nov. 18 came last Saturday at RPI, with three of the four markers coming on a five-minute power play.
• RPI snapped Cornell's streak of consecutive killed penalties, which stood at 25.
• Cornell currently ranks 10th nationally in penalty kill percentage (52-of-61 — 85.2 percent). The Big Red's mark is second in ECAC Hockey, only behind Harvard with its 85.7 percent clip (36-of-42).
SHANE'S WORLD
• Sophomore goaltender Ian Shane has been strong between the pipes for Cornell so far this year, posting a 1.67 goals-against average, which ranks third nationally.
• Shane trails a pair of his ECAC Hockey counterparts in Yale's Luke Pearson (1.53) and Quinnipiac's Yaniv Perets (1.65).
• Over his last nine games, Shane has posted a 7-1-1 record with a 1.56 goals-against average and a .913 save percentage (146 saves on 160 shots).
• During the stretch, Shane has registered a pair of shutouts which came against then-No. 6 UConn on Nov. 26 at Madison Square Garden, and on Dec. 3 against Dartmouth.
HELLO, AGAIN, NO. 7
• Cornell is playing the No. 7-ranked team in the country for the third time this season, having previously played Quinnipiac (Nov. 5 — L, 0-2) and Harvard (Dec. 2 — OTL, 1-2) when they were ranked in the same spot in the USCHO poll.
• Along with its 6-0 win over then-No. 6 UConn at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 26 in The Frozen Apple, Cornell is playing a top-10 opponent for the fourth time this season.
• This marks the second consecutive year and the third time in the last four seasons of competition (2018-19, 2021-22, 2022-23) that Cornell is playing at least four games against top-10 competition in a single season.
• Dating back to the 1997-98 campaign, Cornell previously has played a top-10 rank at least three times in a season on six other occasions. This is the first time Cornell is playing at least three games against the No. 7 team in the country. The others include: 2005-06 — Nos. 5 and 10; 2012-13 — No. 1; 2015-16 — No. 1 (five times); 2016-17 — No. 4; 2021-22 — No. 5.
JOINING RARE COMPANY
• With his successful penalty shot in last Saturday's victory over RPI, senior forward Zach Tupker joined an esteemed group of Big Red players in recording a penalty shot goal while donning the Carnellian Red and White.
• Tupker became the first Cornell player to score on a penalty shot since Alex Rauter on Nov. 26, 2016, against New Hampshire at Madison Square Garden in third implementation of the biennial Frozen Apple game.
• Being awarded a penalty shot has been a relatively rare feat as of late, as Tupker was the first Cornell player to attempt a penalty shot since Trevor Yates on Feb. 11, 2017, against Yale.
• The goal by Tupker marked just the third time a Cornell player has scored on penalty shot over the last 37 years, joining Rauter and Joe Nieuwendyk (Feb. 27, 1987 vs. RPI).
• There have only been six converted penalty shots in Cornell program history. Along with Nieuwendyk and Rauter, Tupker joins the likes of Carlo Ugolini (Jan. 20, 1973 vs. Toronto), Brock Tredway (Jan. 17, 1979 vs. Clarkson), and Len Jankowski (Feb. 24, 1979 vs. Northeastern).
SECOND PERIOD DOMINANCE
• Cornell has excelled in the second period this season, outscoring its opponents by 14 goals (24-10) in the frame.
• In comparison, Cornell has outscored its opponents by 10 goals, 32-22, in the other two periods of action.
• Along with its plus-14 goal differential in the second period, the Big Red have outshot its opponents by 77 shots in the period, 178-101.
• In the opening 40 minutes of play, Cornell has a plus-124 advantage in shots on goal (332-208). In the final period of regulation, the Big Red has a plus-24 advantage in shots (135-111).
SCHMIDT EARNS BRONZE
• Cornell equipment manager Sean Schmidt returned to Ithaca with a bronze medal after spending time with Team USA at the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championships.
• Schmidt, who is in his 13th season as the Big Red's equipment manager, was one of nine coaching and support staff members with a current connection to college hockey.
