Cornell 2 x BU 0 at MSG

Two quick goals and a textbook win for the Big Red, Terriers barely let out a yelp

New York, NY — This year’s edition of Big Red Hockey, the biennial rendezvous at Madison Square Garden between Cornell and Boston University, was a quiet but thorough two-goal shutout win for Cornell. The big, experienced Cornell squad made fairly short work of the Terriers, who were shut out for the second game this week after losing to Sacred Heart, 4-0 at home on Tuesday. In a sense, this game seemed to be representative for a trend in college hockey on the whole, where bigger, well-built teams can and do have their way against younger, fairly talented teams on the other side — as was also the case when North Dakota trounced Minnesota at Mariucci over the two nights prior. It’s hard not to feel that these recent results are indicative of the struggles many once-proud programs have had in this paradigm. Young but super-talented teams seem to be having very little success in this first half of the season.

When it comes to building a winner in college hockey the formula is that you need age (and experience) as well as a solid core of medium to high-end talent. Of course you need goaltending and a few other key pieces but that’s the jist of it. The Terriers, pound-for-pound, were the more talented team by a fair margin but they were out-classed tonight in a pretty well-attended game full of alumni and family members in the Big Apple. Cornell’s big and highly competent group of players (many of whom are older and will have opportunities in pro hockey as well), displayed a workmanlike approach and winning mentality, limiting most opportunities for the Terriers while playing a simple, effective and complete game. Based on how little offensive action there had been, the double salvo of two goals in a span of twenty seconds in the second period put the game in Cornell’s back-pocket and they cycled home with it for the remaining thirty minutes. You could almost hear the bus being turned on below the rink as the game slipped away from BU in slow motion. Cornell were harder on the puck, the play stayed alive on their sticks in 50-50 situations more often and they executed when the opportunities materialized while holding BU to just six recorded shots on goal in the final period.

The scoring plays (all Cornell) weren’t flashy but they were the type of play that can be repeated night-in and night-out: goal #1 came seven minutes into the second, a fat rebound off of BU’s Sam Tucker that Michael Regush made no mistake on. That was followed twenty seconds later by a strong pass behind the goal line by Ben Berard to Brenden Locke in the slot who fired it into the net. The Terriers took a time-out and were awarded a power play within a minute. There was no BU response as Cornell killed off the penalty and then killed off the remaining thirty-odd minutes of the game.

Prospect Notes

I’ll start out with the relatively mediocre (BU) and move on to the good (Cornell) at the end. There were some players that did well for BU, on defense Cam Crotty (despite taking two penalties) defended fairly well, Dom Fensore can really carry the puck up ice and towering athlete Alex Vlasic continues to show improvement (especially on the puck) but the on-ice product for the Terriers was pretty under-whelming. David Farrance, the Terriers best player, seemed determined to do it all himself — and nearly did on a few separate occasions — but Cornell, from the net-out, were too solid and BU got very little going of any substance. Many plays died early and a multitude of passes not received ultimately threw away what could have been an edge in shots/chances for the Terriers. Even if they hadn’t gotten in their own way, it’s not clear that the Terriers can execute at a level to properly play with this Cornell team. It was a jarring contrast seeing how they matched up here against the best of the ECAC tonight after seeing them open the season with a thrashing of the ECAC’s worst (Union) under two months ago. Even 9th overall pick Trevor Zegras, who had his moments, didn’t really get much going, nor did Pat Harper. In some respects, the red flags were there even in said Union game, as the Terriers weren’t challenged much in that one and yet for all their talent there were not many highlights. It was similar tonight except that the chances to finish were few and far between, though the Terriers were able to pull off their fair share of toe-drags.

The chances they did have were squandered. Alex Brink had a chance on a breakaway which was kind of a nothing, then somehow managed to draw a penalty well after the shot had been taken — and then, again, nothing doing on the man advantage. Also filed in the critical missed opportunities column, Jake Wise had a nice look in the second period when they were down by two and didn’t get it on net. Robert Mastrosimone (a local from Long Island) had a decent game and I liked the effort out of Matt Quercia, but they weren’t able to get much going either. Goaltender Sam Tucker had a decent game, he came up with a big stop on Alex Green early to keep things even. Tucker did let in a pair of goals over twenty seconds but he gave the Terriers a chance to win and kept the door closed for 57~ minutes including on a couple of very threatening opportunities over the course of the game. Meanwhile, Tucker’s counterpart for Cornell, Matt Galajda, earned his first shut-out of the year while hardly being tested, with some power play stops and then locking it down in the waning moments. The execution was lacking on BU’s end of the ice while being thoroughly present on the side of the Big Red, who move the puck decisively and to great effectiveness. It hardly felt like Cornell really had to defend, their relative physical maturity was evident, they protected the net and helped Galajda earn the shut-out while BU played pretty loose in front of both nets. Cornell didn’t let BU get much going while at times it seemed they could run whatever they wanted in the BU zone. Cornell are a serious team, deep, strong on the puck and big. They’re now 9-0 and seem like they would match up favorably against just about anyone, except maybe the North Dakota team that swept Minnesota over the last two nights. On defense, while BU has all the quote-unquote potential, Cornell has all the ability today.

On the Big Red:

Defensemen Alex Green and Yanni Kaldis (save for a hit from behind in the first period) were poised and strong all game long. Sam Malinski can really run a power play — giving even BU standout David Farrance a run for his money when it comes to QBing at the point. Michael Regush had a good game up front for the Big Red, with the opening goal, two shots and a number of very effective shifts. Freshman forward Matt Stienburg had a pretty solid game too. While Stienburg wasn’t able to get on the board and missed some opportunities, he was around the puck a lot and engaged physically early. Coming out of prep hockey (St. Andrew’s College), the third-round pick of the Colorado Avalanche looks like another imposing athlete up front who will be a force in many future wins to come for this Cornell program. New York Rangers pick Morgan Barron (also of St. Andrew’s College), skating in his future rink, also had a fine game and netted a secondary assist on the opening goal. Barron caught an interference call very early in the game which gave BU one of their first opportunities on the man advantage. Penalties were even, 4 for each team with one set matching — so each team had three chances on the power play. The last penalty of the game came during those matching penalties (4x4) in the third period when BU alternate captain and senior forward Pat Harper took a holding penalty. The Terriers 4x3 penalty kill was spirited and got the job done, but when that penalty expired there was just five minutes left for them to pull two goals out of their hat. They didn’t even really come close.

Both teams have two NCAA games left in 2019 before winter break:

Cornell (9-0) play Harvard and Dartmouth next weekend on the road. Both games are available to stream live on ESPN+.

BU (4-6-5) also play Harvard, this Tuesday, followed by Northeastern the following Saturday: both games are at home and available to stream live on CBS All-AccessCBS All Access.

Two third-period shots of the game and crowd, which was pretty loud and engaged for a neutral site a good distance from either school, are included below.