PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Junior Matthew Galajda made 19 saves for his fourth shutout of the season, and the Cornell men’s hockey team wrapped up the road portion of its schedule with a 3-0 victory over Brown on Saturday night at Meehan Auditorium.
It was the seventh straight victory for Cornell (21-2-4, 16-2-2 ECAC Hockey), which maintains sole possession of first place in the league by a two-point margin entering the final two games of the regular season next weekend. But unlike the first six victories in the current streak, Saturday’s win didn’t feature a multiple-goal for the Big Red after the first period.
It wasn’t for lack of effort, it was for the inches’ difference between clearing the goal line and the framework. Junior forward Morgan Barron hit the post on a one-timer during Cornell’s first power play, then pelted another shot off the crossbar on the second. Moments later, junior defenseman Alex Green became the third Big Red player to hit iron inside the first 10 minutes of the game.
Cornell finally broke through on the next shift, when senior forward Jeff Malott’s rush from inside the defensive zone deep into Brown territory set up freshman forward Matt Stienburg for his second goal of the weekend.
For the next 40 minutes, the teams traded jabs during even-strength play and a few hooks on power plays – but the score remained unchanged. Galajda’s best saves came on Brown chances on the man advantage. The first came on Justin Jallen’s toe drag and shot from the slot late in the first period; then the second came on Michael Maloney’s shot off a broken play that required Galajda to alertly sprawl to his right.
The Big Red, which entered its road trip ranked second in both the USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls for a third straight week, then got welcomed breathing room with 7:21 left in the third period when freshman defenseman Sam Malinski’s attempted pass caromed off a Brown defenseman’s skate and into the net.
Barron capped the scoring with an empty-netter that pushed his team-leading goal total to 14 on the year and extended his point-scoring streak to seven games. In addition to Malott, senior forward Noah Bauld, and junior forwards Tristan Mullin and Kyle Betts collected assists on the night.
The shutout was Galajda’s fourth of the season, and it was the fourth time in his collegiate career that he’s posted consecutive shutouts. It also marked the 18th shutout in his career, which pulls him into a tie for second place on the program’s all-time list alongside David McKee (2003-06). Galajda now trails the all-time lead of 19 by just one, set by Ben Scrivens ’10.
How The Goals Were Scored:
Cornell’s 1st Goal
1st period, 10:23 • Stienburg 4 (Malott) • Cornell 1, Brown 0
• Brent Beaudoin entered the Cornell zone on a two-on-two for Brown and looked to make a pass, but left the puck in his wake. A backchecking Malott scooped up the puck and looped around to start up ice. He chipped the puck past a defender and Stienburg helped steer it into Malott’s path as he motored up the left wing and into the Brown zone. Malott drove wide on his defender until he was next to the net. As Brown goalie Gavin Nieto committed to what Malott was going to do, Malott chipped the puck back toward the slot for a crashing Stienburg to bury into an empty net.
Cornell’s 2nd Goal
3rd period, 12:39 • Malinski 3 (Mullin, Betts) • Cornell 2, Brown 0
• The Bears attempted to break the puck out of their own end along the wall, but Betts created a turnover before heading to the front of the net. Mullin took the puck and drifted back toward the right point before leaving it for Malinski coming down the wall. With Betts wide open in front of Nieto, Malinski slotted a pass in that direction – but it ended up going between Betts’ legs, then caromed into the net off the left skate of a Brown defenseman.
Cornell’s 3rd Goal
3rd period, 17:27 (en) • Barron 14 (Bauld) • Cornell 3, Brown 0
• With Nieto on the bench in favor of an extra attacker for Brown, Crossman powered a shot from the top of the right circle that was helped wide of the far post by Galajda’s stick. The puck hugged the boards until Bauld chipped it from the half wall, high into the neutral zone. The Brown defenseman on that side of the ice appeared to lose sight of the puck for just long enough to lose his momentum, and Barron took that extra step and motored past him into the neutral zone before converting into the empty net.
