With less than two minutes to go in the first period, Princeton fired a hard one-timer from the blueline.
The puck went flying toward the net, until sophomore forward Jonathan Castagna went sliding across the face of the goal to block the puck and send it wide.
With No. 8 men’s hockey up in the score decisively, Castagna’s defensive effort is what got the Cornell bench cheering the loudest –– even after a three-goal first period. A complete effort on both sides of the puck resulted in a commanding 5-0 win over Princeton.
It was a perfect night between the pipes for senior goaltender Ian Shane, stopping all 21 of Princeton’s shots. His efforts came through on the penalty kill for Cornell, as the defensive unit killed all four Tiger power plays.
“He was outstanding,” said head coach Mike Schafer ’86. “He was strong down low when they were trying to bring some pucks to the net.”
The special teams game was much improved by Cornell, as the power play –– with some personnel changes –– went 2/5. After a disappointing night on special teams in the loss to Quinnipiac on Friday, Cornell rebounded nicely in front of a ruckus crowd at Lynah Rink.
“Special teams got the job done,” Schafer said. “This year so far we’ve lost every special teams game in every game except this one.”
As it did last night, Cornell took the game’s first penalty. However, the Red played stingy defense and allowed just two shots over the two-minute span. The second shot came with just seconds remaining on the Princeton man advantage, as Shane made an impressive stop on a point-blank opportunity just atop the crease.
Aided by an early penalty kill, Cornell appeared to be playing with more confidence and poise. Following an extended shift in its offensive zone, Cornell did something it hadn’t done in its last four games: score the first goal.
Junior forward Dalton Bancroft fired a wrist shot over a sprawled out Princeton goaltender to give Cornell the lead. Freshman forward Charlie Major found Bancroft in the slot for his fourth assist of the year.
With its shoulders dropped, Cornell continued to up the pressure offensively. Just two minutes after its first goal, and on the second straight shot Princeton’s Ethan Pearson faced, Cornell found the back of the net. A similar pass into the slot found sophomore forward Jake Kraft, who buried the puck five-hole to double the Red’s lead.
From there, Cornell controlled the pace of play. A late push in its offensive zone saw Cornell fire four shot attempts in 18 seconds, with two being stopped by Pearson. On the other end of the ice, Shane had an answer for all that the Tigers threw at him in period one, making eight saves in the opening frame.
Before the period’s end, Cornell cashed in once more to give it a three-goal lead. A weird bounce in the crease was cleaned up by senior forward Ondrej Psenicka just inches from the goal line. Senior defenseman Michael Suda was given the lone assist on the tally.
“I think the key was [finding] a new pulse,” Psenicka said. “The lines [were] mixed up a little bit. … I think that definitely helped give it new energy and it worked out well.”
After just one penalty was taken between the two teams in the first, Cornell and Princeton combined for 16 minutes of penalties in the second period alone.
Starting the second period with a three-goal lead, Cornell drew an early penalty as Princeton’s Jaxson Ezman headed to the box for slashing. The Red’s new-look top power play unit consisted of sophomore defensemen George Fegaras and Ben Robertson, Major, Psenicka and sophomore forward Ryan Walsh.
“I think guys get comfortable playing with the same players,” Schafer said. “Tonight, they had to get their heads up and read each other and look around and make some decisions that we didn’t do last night.”
The top unit, consequently changed up after Cornell’s 4.8 percent conversion rate on the man advantage over its first seven games, generated some great looks but failed to find the back of the net. Walsh took a slashing penalty of his own not long after the teams returned to even strength, leaving the Red to fend off a Princeton man advantage.
Cornell successfully held off the Princeton power play, but Shane tripped up a Tiger skater and sent his team right back to the penalty kill. The netminder made up for this blemish by making four saves on the kill, including a highlight-reel stop on a Princeton attacker waiting at the back door.
A stretch of four-on-four commenced just before the halfway mark of the period, after a scrum sent Fegaras and Alex Konovalov to the box for coinciding roughing penalties. With three seconds left, Ezman was sent off for the second time, allowing for three seconds of four-on-three and 1:57 of Cornell power play time.
Despite some good looks and an impressive save by Pearson on a Bancroft one-timer, the Red went scoreless on the power play once again. It got another shot after a Princeton interference penalty with 7:47 to go, but Pearson’s play behind his stout defensive unit barred Cornell from taking a 4-0 lead.
One final penalty kill by the Red concluded the second period, as both teams skated to their respective locker rooms with the score unchanged.
“I thought [the penalty kill] did unbelievable,” Shane said. “We’ve been put in some tough situations over the past few games on the penalty kill and took on some strong special teams. … Working on our smaller details was huge and I think it paid off tonight.”
A fourth power play chance for the Red would come 6:36 into the third period.
This time, Cornell would cash in.
A nifty feed from Robertson from the left circle found Walsh waiting at the far post, easily deflecting the puck past Pearson to make it a 4-0 game. Fegaras earned the other assist for his first point of the season. Walsh’s goal gave him a team-leading fourth of the year.
“We talked about getting pucks to the net [on the power play], and that play where Ben Robertson found Ryan [Walsh] on the back door. … It was good to see those guys get the job done tonight,” Schafer said.
A fifth power play for the Red came with under five minutes left, proving to be another successful man advantage. Robertson, after collecting the puck from a Cornell faceoff win, wristed the puck off the post and into the net for his second point of the night.
The 5-0 score would hold as Cornell earned a much-needed result both in the locker room and in the ECAC standings.
“As a team we played pretty well. It was a good bounce back after yesterday’s game,” Psenicka said. “We played as a team from the offensive to the defensive side.”
The Red will next take the ice under the lights at Madison Square Garden against Quinnipiac in New York City on Nov. 30. Puck drop is slated for 8 p.m.