HANOVER, N.H. — Junior goalie Mitch Gillam spent plenty of time watching his older brother, Josh, play with Dartmouth — but now he has a special memory of his own from the ice at Thompson Arena. Gillam made 33 saves for his sixth shutout of the season, and junior forward Jeff Kubiak’s goal proved to be all the offense the Cornell men’s hockey team needed in a 1-0 victory on Saturday night. With the win, Cornell (13-8-6, 8-7-5 ECAC Hockey) has clinched a home playoff series in the ECAC Hockey Championship playoffs.
Cornell killed off a full two minutes on a two-man disadvantage midway through the third period behind yeoman’s work from a primary trio of junior forward Eric Freschi, junior defenseman Patrick McCarron and senior defenseman Reece Willcox. And even when Dartmouth broke through for two shots on goal during the opportunity, Gillam was equal to a long one-timer from Ryan Bullock and a back-door feed setting up Troy Crema from in tight.
Dartmouth (14-12-1, 11-9) had one last gasp with 2:30 remaining in the third period on a clean two-on-one, but Gillam got a piece of Tim O’Brien’s shot. His sixth shutout of the season is tied for third-most in the country.
After a scoreless first period in which the Big Red generally got stronger as more time elapsed, the visitors seemed to carry that momentum through the intermission. Sophomore forward Alex Rauter stripped the puck from a Dartmouth defender on a breakout just 25 seconds into the period and forced a save up high on goalie Charles Grant.
But Cornell capitalized just a minute later with Kubiak’s eighth goal of the saeson. The play started with a pass between defensemen Alec McCrea and Dan Wedman in the Big Red zone, then Wedman sent a cross-ice pass into the neutral zone in Kubiak’s direction. With speed and a long reach, Kubiak poked the puck around one defenseman at the Dartmouth blue line, then toe-dragged the puck as he approached the other in the slot before ripping a shot over Grant’s glove.
Grant shut the door on a handful of other quality scoring opportunities in the second, including Matt Buckles’ breakaway just a minute after Kubiak’s goal. Gillam also was called upon to make a pair of saves on odd-man breaks to keep the Big Red ahead entering the third. The first came at the 5:10 mark on Crema; the second on O’Brien’s offering on a two-on-one with a minute left before the intermission.
After Cornell iced the game in the third period, it gained a crucial two points in the muddled middle of the ECAC Hockey standings. The Big Red, which entered the weekend ranked 16th in the country in the USCHO.com poll, moved into sole possession of seventh place with 21 points. Cornell now trails Dartmouth and Rensselaer by one point for fifth place, and St. Lawrence by two points for fourth place — which carries with it a bye week through the first round of the ECAC Hockey Championship playoffs.
Cornell returns home for its final two games of the regular season. The Big Red hosts Union at 7 p.m. Friday, then will hold its Senior Night ceremonies following at 7 p.m. Saturday game against Rensselaer.
