Former Cornell men’s hockey star goaltender Ben Scrivens ’10 started his first two NHL games over the weekend, kicking off his professional career with mixed reesults.
In his first game in net, Scrivens started for the Toronto Maple Leafs, finishing just one goal shy of a shutout. Toronto’s starter, James Reimer, is out with concussion-like symptoms, and Scrivens was able to relieve backup Jonas Gustavsson of a game last Wednesday night against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Scrivens stopped 38 pucks over the course of his debut, finishing with a .974 save-percentage.
After earning the victory in his first game, Scrivens earned another chance between the pipes on Saturday when the Leafs played the Boston Bruins. Toronto fell to the defending Stanley Cup champions in a blowout, 7-0. The Maple Leafs currently lead the Northeast conference with 19 points, while Boston sits at the bottom of the division with 10 points.
Although the Leafs outshot the Bruins, 25-20, Boston’s offense proved too much to handle for Scrivens, who played for 35 minutes before Gustavsson took over. The Cornellian allowed five goals on 14 shots. In sharp contrast to his first srtart, Scrivens earned a .643 save-percentage, which brings his average down to .887. Gustavsson holds a save-percentage of .880 through eight games this season.
Original Author: Sun Staff