Postgame Thread: Yale 4 @ Cornell 3

Well, we've seen what can beat us now. Yale exposed several weaknesses.

They shoot accurately and follow the 2nd chances up very effectively. One of those "put the puck on net and see what we can make of it" teams. Absolutely great with open ice (three 4x4 goals were the back-breakers).

Defensively, they have a very strong and close forecheck which always gives us trouble. They also were able to read our board-play and cut off our usual passes.

They'll be a factor in the playoffs. Let's get Brown tomorrow night.

I saw about half the game, and was awfully impressed by Yale's speed and tenacity. Hard to imagine that they lost to Alabama-Huntsville.

I thought we came out great to start the second period, but didn't sustain our energy. Hopefully we'll come out focused tomorrow.

It was a generally well-played game from both sides. Yale's recent success in Lynah is no accident; Allain always has them ready to play. As RichH pointed out, it was indeed Yale's quickness and skillfulness that proved the deciding factor tonight, beating our defenders to loose pucks around the crease. Our breakout was decent and we were able to have a little puck possession advantage, but again it was Yale's speed in their defensive zone that prevented us from setting up as many quality chances as we would have liked. Credit their goaltender for several key saves. Scrivens may have looked shaky tonight what with all the rebounds, but it was precisely due to Yale's accurate shooting.

It was quite a frightening scene in the 3rd when a Yale player had his forearm cut open by someone's skate. He was taken out on a stretcher to an ambulance. I wish him the best.

We'll get Brown tomorrow night. LGR

Where was Justin Krueger in this game? We've missed our powerful defender!

He apparently was injured sometime in the first period. Came out for a couple of shifts after, but didn't play the 2nd and 3rd period.

RedWins11
Where was Justin Krueger in this game? We've missed our powerful defender!

He was hit in the defensive zone in the first. I don't know by whom, but he skated/limped to the bench. Hopefully he just tightened up in between periods and will be back tomorrow.

Brendan Nash was absolutely brutal tonight. He played the whole game like his head just was not in it.

His stickhandling was so bad that I saw him changing sticks at one point during the game. I guess he figured there was something wrong with the stick........I think the problem was at the top end of the stick.

imafrshmn
It was a generally well-played game from both sides.

I can't agree. We played terribly. I think the worst of our game was not being able to pick up our passes. So many times a pass would go to a stick and not stick. That leads to a turnover. Yale is faster and if you give them a chance they can blow buy you. I hope this was just an off night. I think our positioning was OK, but why we couldn't keep our passes I don't know. Yale was definitely the better team, we were lucky to make it a one goal game and make it look good.

On the other hand, we played one of our worst games and only lost by one, so?

Yale looks to really be one of the best ECAC teams, if they can ever find a way to win at home. Clarkson is obviously playing better and if this means they start to play up to their potential, we'll have a good race to the finish.

redice
Brendan Nash was absolutely brutal tonight. He played the whole game like his head just was not in it.

He had the nice shot for the 3rd goal, but at that point it just didn't matter. He was directly responsible for the 3rd Yale goal, as he fumbled the puck at the blue line, lost it to the Yale forward, fell down, got up, tried to hook the Yale player to prevent the breakaway, but missed. Schafer gives the kid a ton of ice time in big situations, so obviously he sees something in him I don't, but tonight he was awful. His stupid penalty (behind the play, directly in front of the ref) gave Yale the PP for their first goal.

Yale just outplayed us, and they were the better team. We could not handle their trap forecheck [still working on my hockey terminology], and that killed us in the breakout plays. They won the majority of faceoffs (it seemed), they won board battles. We played like we expected them to be a Union/RPI/Niagara type of team, a team that wouldn't challenge our guys too much and give them some good looks at net. That didn't happen. The Yale D was so dominant for stretches that it looked a lot like our D from 03 or 05.

That said, January 23 is not a bad time for our second loss of the season. Let's regroup tomorrow night and get back on track.

Outworked and outhustled is no way to go through a hockey game.

Seemed like every time we put on a hit, we just expected the Yalie to roll over and die so we could take the puck, and then got caught standing around surprised that the Yalie was still stickhandling. Away. Very fast. With the puck. Ugh.

We just never caught on that Yale was going to be in our faces all night - the only time in the game when we actually took care of the puck was after Scrivens was pulled. Other than that, we just never adjusted to the fact that there was ALWAYS going to be a Yale player in our face, ready to steal the puck at the slightest bobble. We just looked bewildered that a team would dare to be that aggressive with us...

And yet, still managed a one-goal loss. It should have been worse - so perhaps we were the more "opportunistic" team last night....

I thought the D was having difficulty clearing pucks last night. On at least two of the Yale goals, it wasn't until a 2nd or 3rd effort was made that they put it home. On their second goal I believe, Scrivens made a wonderful glove save on the first chance, but there was no one in front to clear it. On the third goal, same thing, Scrivens made the initial play, but the Yale player picked up the loose rebound and tucked it under the crossbar.

I know that 4 on 4 doesn't occur too often, but the players need to be much more responsible than they were last night. Three 4 on 4 goals is completely unacceptable.

And, what is the record for 4-on-4 goals in a game. Three seems like an extraordinary number.

Our lack of speed and our ability to defend against speed in the open ice was exposed by this loss to Yale. Hopefully, thats not something that will transfer over to the Olympic sheet if we have to play on one later in the year.
Scrivens played well but would prefer more covers than rebounds.
That said, the team came back hard against an opponent that was outskating them for most of the game. A couple of conversions on the power play and we could have had a better outcome.

Yale made an impressive comeback against Colgate tonight and won 5-4 in OT. They were down 4-0 in the third period. Ryan Rondeau gave up 4 goals on only 13 shots and was pulled in favor of Alec Richards. Maybe he was re-injured during the Cornell game. Yale scored another shorty, their sixth of the year (RIT leads the nation with 8). They moved into second place in the ECAC with 17 points.

lynah80
Yale made an impressive comeback against Colgate tonight and won 5-4 in OT. They were down 4-0 in the third period. Ryan Rondeau gave up 4 goals on only 13 shots and was pulled in favor of Alec Richards. Maybe he was re-injured during the Cornell game. They scored another shorty, their sixth of the year. Yale moved into second place in the ECAC with 17 points.

Yes, this is discussed in the Saturday out-of-town scores thread.

Riley and Brendon Nash finally score in the same game.

Also, updated the Kennedy's contributions to the brothers scoring tally.

This is an interesting article:

[www.yaledailynews.com]

Jim Hyla
I think the worst of our game was not being able to pick up our passes. So many times a pass would go to a stick and not stick. That leads to a turnover. Yale is faster and if you give them a chance they can blow buy you.

Yale was playing a nasty trap, sending all five guys back with no forecheck. All the Cornell skaters up ice had a Yale player all over them. Cornell still tried to force the first pass, but it hardly ever worked. The Yale player almost always broke up the pass then used their speed and transition game to create a scoring opportunity. As the game went on, Cornell just kept trying a harder and harder first pass to try to force the puck past, but it never worked. For a team known for its offense, Yale played a brilliant (if somewhat boring and stifling) defensive game, exposing and exploiting an already weak portion of Cornell's game. Let's hope none of the other coaches see video of that game.

Early on in the Yale game - saw they were running 25 sec or slightly more shifts often; and really moving their feet and keeping up the skating speed. This goes along with what that article is saying.

Didn't feel like we deserved to win this game - as they out-hustled and outplayed us a good part of the game.

We looked better and picked up our play in parts of the last period but was a bit late then.

lynah80
This is an interesting article:

[www.yaledailynews.com]

Yale Daily News
And according to O’Neill, Yale’s speed eventually paid dividends in the final period against Colgate.

“Speed definitely helps because every line can skate, which wears down teams, especially late in games,” he said. “Colgate’s a pretty good example of that.”

But of course Colgate only skating with 4 regular defensemen just might have contributed to them wearing out.

CowbellGuy

Jim Hyla
I think the worst of our game was not being able to pick up our passes. So many times a pass would go to a stick and not stick. That leads to a turnover. Yale is faster and if you give them a chance they can blow buy you.

Yale was playing a nasty trap, sending all five guys back with no forecheck. All the Cornell skaters up ice had a Yale player all over them. Cornell still tried to force the first pass, but it hardly ever worked. The Yale player almost always broke up the pass then used their speed and transition game to create a scoring opportunity. As the game went on, Cornell just kept trying a harder and harder first pass to try to force the puck past, but it never worked. For a team known for its offense, Yale played a brilliant (if somewhat boring and stifling) defensive game, exposing and exploiting an already weak portion of Cornell's game. Let's hope none of the other coaches see video of that game.

If you want to get a sense of what Age is talking about and didn't see the game, try to remember how Harvard has (for the most part) played us for the past few years. I think Allain went to school on some of those Harvard game tapes.

Alright, which one of you was this about:

Lynah Rink
Officer dispatched to take a report regarding a male individual that was acting in an irate manner.

[cuinfo.cornell.edu]

CowbellGuy
Let's hope none of the other coaches see video of that game.

And let's hope Schafer and the team do watch the video.

Jim Hyla
But of course Colgate only skating with 4 regular defensemen just might have contributed to them wearing out.

Cornell was only using 5 defensemen without Krueger, which I'm sure didn't help them.

Another issue was the power play. Yale is 13th in the nation in PIM (358 min). Cornell needs to exploit that and do better than 1/8 on the PP.

Lastly, when they visit New Haven next month, they should keep in mind that the mighty Yale offense was shutout by Alabama-Huntsville, at home.

redice
And, what is the record for 4-on-4 goals in a game. Three seems like an extraordinary number.

7


EDIT - before everyone asks how I know that, consider the following:

Doorman: Name?
Fletch: Ah... Irwin M Fletcher. Irwin Mahatma Fletcher.
Doorman: Address?
Fletch: 7.

I always just say 7 when I don't know the answer. It seems to be working well for me.

the first fletch book ranks up there with the best of all time.. too bad they messed the char up with the movies.

Junior defenseman Tom Dignard of Yale (5, 12, 17 +4), is listed as out for the season due to an injury at the Yale website.

He scored one of the 4 on 4 goals against Cornell and had a short handed goal against Colgate.

I never like to see anybody get hurt and wish him well.

RatushnyFan

redice
And, what is the record for 4-on-4 goals in a game. Three seems like an extraordinary number.

7


EDIT - before everyone asks how I know that, consider the following:

Doorman: Name?
Fletch: Ah... Irwin M Fletcher. Irwin Mahatma Fletcher.
Doorman: Address?
Fletch: 7.

I always just say 7 when I don't know the answer. It seems to be working well for me.

I always answer with 42 for obvious nerdy reasons*. But I guess that this wouldn't work well in this case.

*[en.wikipedia.org]

Roy 82
I always answer with 42 for obvious nerdy reasons*.

Nobody on eLF - and I say this with a lot of confidence - needed to follow that link.

Sadly, I am also sure that many people were compelled to click it anyway.

I'm not so sure about that. The day after DNA passed away, I'm pretty sure I didn't see anyone else walking around with a towel on campus.

CowbellGuy
I'm not so sure about that. The day after DNA passed away, I'm pretty sure I didn't see anyone else walking around with a towel on campus.

Anybody else?

ugarte

CowbellGuy
I'm not so sure about that. The day after DNA passed away, I'm pretty sure I didn't see anyone else walking around with a towel on campus.

Anybody else?

Hey, I was carrying a towel around Brownsville, TX. I even suggested we name the tape robot for our computer cluster Marvin.

jtwcornell91

ugarte

CowbellGuy
I'm not so sure about that. The day after DNA passed away, I'm pretty sure I didn't see anyone else walking around with a towel on campus.

Anybody else?

Hey, I was carrying a towel around Brownsville, TX. I even suggested we name the tape robot for our computer cluster Marvin.

Just because ugarte implied someone *else* was a nerd is no reason to take offense. Your nerdship isn't being questioned, JTW. No need to reassert yourself.

Men's Hockey Standings as of 2/13/09

8-0-0 Yale
4-3-0 Cornell
4-3-0 Princeton
4-4-1 Dartmouth
1-4-3 Harvard
0-7-2 Brown

lynah80
Men's Hockey Standings as of 2/13/09

8-0-0 Yale
4-3-0 Cornell
4-3-0 Princeton
4-4-1 Dartmouth
1-4-3 Harvard
0-7-2 Brown

Did you get these standings off of the Ivy League website? I checked last week and I think they have given Princeton credit for a league win from their non-conference game at Brown back on October 31. Princeton's schedule on USCHO shows that they still have Brown and Yale at home next weekend and then finish the season at Dartmouth and Harvard. Maybe Princeton's schedule goes to 11.

Yes, they are from the Ivy League Sports website and I added in last night's results. They do include non-ECAC games. I don't know what the official Ivy League rule is on that.