Special Teams Power Cornell Past Brown

Photo by DSPics.com

Boxscore

ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell men's hockey team struck for a pair of power play goals and killed off all six of Brown's man-advantage opportunities, including a 5-on-3 for 1:13 in the second period, skating to a 4-1 win over the Bears on Friday night at Lynah Rink. Raymond Sawada, Michael Kennedy, Blake Gallagher and Joe Devin scored goals for the Big Red, which improves to 9-7-2 on the year and 7-4-0 in ECAC Hockey play.

Cornell got on the board first with a pair of goals in the first period, led first by Sawada's second goal of the season. On the power play following a penalty to Brown's Sean McMonagle, Mike Devin took a pass from Topher Scott and roped a shot at Brown goaltender Mark Sibbald, who made the initial stop, but the rebound came off to Sawada, who fought off a defenseman and slotted home the puck into the back of the net in the 15th minute. Four minutes later, it was Kennedy's turn, taking a pass from Sawada and firing a laser beam into the net that came out just as quickly as it went in to put the Big Red ahead, 2-0, at the end of the first.

In the second, the Big Red got caught in an extended 5-on-3, with two of the team's defensemen sitting in the penalty box. An interference call on Jared Seminoff gave Brown the power play just 6:48 into the second, and a slashing call on Brendon Nash 47 seconds later gave the Bears their best chance at getting on the scoreboard. The Big Red penalty killing unit held, though, allowing just one shot during the 1:13 5-on-3, then allowed just one more as they killed off the remaining 47 seconds on Nash's penalty.

Brown (1-13-4, 1-7-3 ECAC Hockey) finally did crack into the scoring column as Ryan Garbutt led an odd-man rush on Cornell goalie Ben Scrivens. Garbutt fired a shot that was stopped by Scrivens, but the rebound came out and he was over-run, with Brown's Matt Vokes there to slot the puck into the open net, much to the dismay of the partisan Lynah Rink crowd.

In the third period, a cross-checking penalty on Brown's Devin Timberlake gave Cornell just its third power play of the night, and Blake Gallagher put the Big Red back up by two with his shot from the blue line handcuffing Sibbald and sneaking into the near post.

Freshman Joe Devin capped off the scoring late in the third period, taking a feed from Patrick Kennedy in the neutral zone and sprinted into the Brown zone ahead of the defense. While being chased down from behind, Devin calmly slotted the puck past Sibbald for his second goal of the year.

For the night, Scrivens finished with 25 saves, while Sibbald stopped stopped 30 shots in taking the loss for the Bears. The Cornell power play went 2-for-3 on the evening, with the only scoreless power play being a 14-second chance early in the second period. Cornell killed off all six of Brown's power plays, stretching its current streak to 22 consecutive penalties killed overall and 31 straight in ECAC Hockey games.

The Big Red returns to action on Saturday night, taking on Yale in a critical league matchup. The Bulldogs, 6-1 winners on Friday night at Colgate, currently trail the Big Red by just one point for fourth place in the league standings.