Cornell split its weekend series, which was not unexpected, but the surprise
here was that the Big Red came together and played perhaps their best game
of the season in beating Clarkson in OT Friday night, then followed that up
with a poor performance in getting blown out by a Saints team that had lost
15 of their previous 17 games. As a result, Cornell wound up slipping a
notch to eighth place in the standings. Some more notes below:
Cornell 4, Clarkson 3 (OT)
The comeback that nearly happened at Cheel Arena three weeks ago
happened for real here, as the Big Red scored twice in the third period
to erase a 3-1 deficit, then took advantage of a lucky bounce (frankly,
one of the few they've gotten all year) to win the game in OT. This
was Clarkson's first overtime loss of the season, while Cornell has now
gone into OT seven times this year without losing any of them. Only
Mass Lowell, with eight, has played more overtime games without losing
any.
Goaltending was the story line for both teams in this one, especially
for the Big Red, as Andy Bandurski starred between the pipes. He
stopped 38 of 41 shots in finally picking up his first victory of the
season. At the other end, Clarkson's Jason Currie put up some solid
numbers of his own (32 saves) and was there to deny Cornell on a number
of scoring opportunities, but he also wandered a bit too much and was
caught out of the crease several times. If Cornell had a real sniper,
Currie would have been picked apart.
The Golden Knights got off to a bad start when they messed up their
first line change of the evening and were called for too many men on
the ice a minute into the game. The Big Red wound up not doing much of
anything with the power play, however, and Clarkson started taking pot
shots at Bandurski soon after it expired. The Cornell goaltender
stonewalled the Clarkson attack until there was 3:43 left in the first.
Jean-Francois Houle slapped one that Bandurski got a pad on, but the
rebound floated out to the blue line, where Ed Henrich sent a rocket
through a screen and into the back of the net for his second goal of
the year.
Mike Sancimino jumped on a Tim Shean rebound and poked it past a diving
Currie to tie the game at 7:06 of the second period, but the Knights
responded with a pair of goals later in the period to seemingly take
control of the game. Chris DeRuiter skated behind the Cornell net and
surprised Bandurski with a wrap-around at the 14:18 mark. Clarkson's
Craig Conroy almost had a short-handed breakaway in the game's final
minute, but Steve Wilson grabbed him and broke it up. Wilson was
promptly called for holding, and with the teams skating 4-on-4, Patrice
Robitaille centered the puck for Marko Tuomainen, whose one-timer flew
over Bandurski's shoulder just 29 seconds before intermission.
The Big Red was understandably discouraged after that, but Clarkson
came out for the third period and did what they have done way too often
this season -- they played back on their heels. A couple of dumb pen-
alties gave Cornell the chance to get back into the game, and the Big
Red converted on the second one to cut the lead in half at the 6:57
mark. Steve Wilson fired a hard shot that Currie got a pad on, but the
rebound bounced out right in front of the net, where Jamie Papp was
waiting. He slipped and fell, but still managed to bat the loose
biscuit home. After a Shawn Fotheringham - Matt Cooney dustup a minute
later, the Big Red seemed to catch a break at the 8:32 mark when Tuo-
mainen went off for tripping. Cornell had some good chances against
Currie during the ensuing power play, but the senior goaltender stopped
them all. His performance during the penalty kill apparently sparked
Clarkson, because when they returned to full strength, they started to
pepper Bandurski. The Cornell netminder was kept very busy for the
next several minutes, but try as they might, the Clarkson offense just
couldn't get one by him.
With about three and a half minutes left, P.C. Drouin won a battle for
the puck along the left boards and slid it over to Mark Scollan, who
skated in with Vincent Auger and wristed one just inside the post to
tie the game at the 16:45 mark. Bandurski preserved the tie with a
couple more great saves near the end of regulation, and then it was on
to overtime.
And it was the infamous Zamboni door at Lynah that set up the winning
goal. One of the doors to the Zamboni entrance doesn't hang quite
right. This is normally not a factor in a game, but every once in a
while, when a puck rattles around the boards just so, it bounces neatly
in *front* of the net rather than behind it. It's not an easy bounce
to get, but it usually results in about one goal a year for Cornell,
and this one was it. Chad Wilson wound the puck around the boards, and
Currie started to go behind the net to stop it off, but the puck
bounced in front instead, leaving P.C. Drouin all alone with an open
net to shoot at. He casually flipped the puck over a diving Currie,
and the game was over at 1:12 of the extra session. It was Cornell's
first regular-season win over Clarkson in six tries.
St. Lawrence 8, Cornell 4
The quotes were flowing fast and furious after this one. Various Cor-
nell players were quoted as saying either, "We came out flat" or "We
weren't mentally prepared," while Saints coach Joe Marsh was under-
standably enthusiastic after his team's big win. A couple of samples:
"The first period was probably our best period of the year" and "We
haven't scored eight goals since the Battle of Hastings." (That one
isn't entirely true; the Saints got eight in a game at Minnesota-Duluth
back in October, which only SEEMS like a lifetime ago.)
This gives you an idea of what happened: St. Lawrence, a team which
had not shown much life over the past few months, came out and went
nuclear from the opening faceoff, and Cornell never got into the game
until it was too late. The Saints' first two shots of the game crossed
the Cornell goal line, starting with Brian McCarthy's 30-footer at 1:24
of the opening period. Off a 2-on-1 break with Scott Murphy, McCarthy
unleashed a high wrister that caught the net just inside the crossbar.
Twenty-three seconds later, Spencer Meany skated in and blasted one
under goaltender Andy Bandurski's glove from the right point, and the
Saints were off to the races.
A rarity occurred at 6:47 of the first period. St. Lawrence's Mike
McCourt closed his hand on the puck behind the Cornell net and was
actually whistled for delay of game, a legitimate call I haven't seen
very often in that situation. This was the second in a series of three
overlapping penalties against St. Lawrence that put the Big Red on the
power play for almost five minutes, but even though they were able to
generate some pressure here and there, Cornell could not get very many
good shots on Saints goalie Jon Bracco. The missed opportunities would
come back to haunt them, as St. Lawrence made it 3-0 at the 12:20 mark.
Bandurski blocked Mike Allain's drive from the right side, but the
rebound floated over to Scott Stevens near the left circle, and he
popped it into the open net. At that point, Bandurski was pulled and
Eddy Skazyk came into the game. The crowd cheered loudly, which wasn't
entirely fair to Andy. He did have a bad game, but he wasn't getting
any help from the defense, and he had had a terrific outing the night
before. It turned out not to make a difference who was in the net
anyway.
Meany got called for slashing in front of the Cornell net at 13:44 of
the first period, and he threw his stick after the call -- one of at
least three occasions when I was surprised that he didn't get a miscon-
duct. At any rate, he struck again to put the Saints up 4-0 with just
23 seconds remaining in the first period. During a St. Lawrence power
play, a Cornell clearing pass was knocked down in the slot, leading to
Meany's high slapper over Skazyk's shoulder from the left side.
Cornell was way down after that -- the fans as well as the players --
but Vincent Auger lifted the Big Red's spirits early in the second with
an outstanding effort that resulted in a short-handed goal. A bad
Saints pass in the Cornell end led to Auger getting control of the puck
near the blue line, and he worked his way through two St. Lawrence
defensemen and skated in alone on Bracco. Auger faked a shot, causing
Bracco to drop to the ice, and then Auger sent a backhander over the
goalie's leg to put Cornell on the board at the 3:34 mark.
At 5:06 of the second, referee Peter Dawes made a call that was wildly
unpopular with the Lynah Faithful. Meany was on top of Auger at center
ice, pushing his head down, and when he finally got off the Cornell
forward, Meany tossed Auger's stick away -- and Auger got called for
holding. In retrospect, Auger might very well have been holding on to
Meany's stick. At any rate, Dawes followed that one up 25 seconds
later with a cross-checking call on Steve Wilson, which frankly looked
like it was set up by a dive. (I also didn't see anything remotely
resembling a cross-check -- tripping, I might have believed)
Things looked bleak for Cornell, facing a 5-on-3 lasting 1:35 with two
good penalty-killers in the box, but the Big Red was able to kill it
off, thanks mainly to three great saves by Skazyk. However, St. Law-
rence lost little time in converting after Auger's penalty ended.
McCourt got the puck in the slot from McCarthy and fired one over
Skazyk's left shoulder at 7:15 of the second. The Saints had a golden
opportunity to get their sixth goal midway through the period, when a
giveaway near the Cornell net set up Dan Skene and Brian Kapeller on a
2-on-1, but Skene's wrister was gloved by Skazyk.
Mike Sancimino almost single-handedly got the Big Red back into the
game by scoring the next two goals. He got control of a Geoff Bumstead
pass in the right circle, skated behind the St. Lawrence net, and
stuffed a backhander through Bracco's pads at 12:39 of the second. At
the 13:03 mark, the Saints' Tom Cullen threw what looked like a solid
hip check that sent a Cornell forward flying near the benches, but
referee Dan Murphy though otherwise and called Cullen for tripping.
Sancimino and Auger combined to convert the Big Red power play 42
seconds later. During a scramble in front of the Saints net, the puck
came loose near the right post. Auger rushed in, dove to the ice and
managed to knock the puck into the air, where Sancimino batted it into
the net over a prone Bracco.
The Saints responded by making it 6-3 with 3:20 left in the period,
when Cullen and Stevens combined on a 2-on-1 break. Cullen got the
pass behind Cornell defenseman Chad Wilson, skated to his left, and
poked the puck past a sprawling Skazyk. Yet another 2-on-1 break
resulted in St. Lawrence's seventh goal 4:45 into the third period --
this time it was Stevens and Burke Murphy. Stevens drew Skazyk to the
right side of the net, then passed to a wide-open Murphy near the left
post for the tap-in. Jamie Papp made it 7-4 just over a minute later,
as he corralled his own rebound and slapped the puck past a diving
Bracco.
Meany closed out the scoring, getting his hat trick with 2:27 remaining
in the game. Skazyk blocked the initial shot by McCarthy, but the
rebound floated to his left, where Meany was waiting. Meany got off a
tough-angle shot that rolled behind Skazyk and into the net. Skazyk
ended up stopping 15 of 20 shots in relief of Bandurski, who made six
saves. Bracco looked shaky at times but overall had a terrific night,
finishing with 33 saves.
--
Disclaimer -- Unless otherwise noted, all opinions expressed above are
strictly those of:
Bill Fenwick | Send your HOCKEY-L poll responses to:
Cornell '86 and '94 (.5) | [log in to unmask]
LET'S GO RED!!
Congratulations, Dan Jansen!
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