Entering this weekend, men’s hockey was averaging less than two goals per game and was 1-16 on power play opportunities.
On Friday night, success on the power play fueled the Red (2-3, 2-1 ECAC) to an offensive outburst in a 5-1 victory over St. Lawrence (5-4, 2-1 ECAC) in Canton, New York.
The Red went 2-5 on power plays with two goals from senior forward Max Andreev.
Cornell’s first goal of the game came on its second power play. Just past the halfway point of the first period, junior forward Gabe Seger set Max Andreev up in the slot. Andreev connected on a wrist shot to give Cornell a 1-0 lead.
Cornell briefly relinquished the lead after a miscommunication behind the Red’s net. Sophomore goaltender Ian Shane settled a puck behind his net and left it for sophomore defenseman Michael Suda to set up a breakout. Shane did not see St. Lawrence’s Reilly Moran closing in from behind, and Moran stole the puck and fed it to a teammate for an easy goal.
Cornell regained the lead 37 seconds after St. Lawrence’s goal on freshman forward Nick Desnatis’ first collegiate goal. Desantis was right in front of the crease to collect senior defenseman Sam Malinski’s rebound and bury it to put Cornell up 2-1 with just over two minutes left in the first.
The Red extended its lead by two goals in the second period. Halfway into the period, sophomore forward Kyler Kovich gave Cornell a 3-1 lead when he found the back of the net on a long rebound off the post. Two minutes later, Andreev scored his second power play goal of the game on another great feed from Seger.
Cornell protected its lead in the third period. Aside from the mistake by the Red in the first period, St. Lawrence could not find answers to Shane and the Cornell defense. Shane finished with 20 saves on 21 shots. On the season, Shane has stopped 100 of the first 106 shots he has seen.
Malinski sealed the game for Cornell with six minutes left when he scored from across the ice on St. Lawrence’s empty net.
Cornell will try to complete the six point weekend tomorrow night at Clarkson.