Tonight on NBCSN: No. 8 Yale visits No. 18 Cornell in Ivy League mashup

Legendary Lynah Rink in Ithaca, NY sets the scene for this Ivy League clash.

No. 18 Cornell Big Red (8-7-2) vs. No. 8 Yale Bulldogs (11-4-3) — 7:30 p.m. ET

Every season sees the Cornell Big Red have high hopes for a national championship attached to them. It comes with consistently being at the top of the ECAC. This season has been a bit more of a struggle for them, however, and facing off against a Yale team that’s on a roll makes tough times a little harder.

The Big Red have lost four of their last five games (1-4-0) and now they’ll head into tonight’s tilt without stud sophomore and Team USA World Junior gold medalist Cole Bardreau. Bardreau fractured his neck last week against Rensselaer. In case you were wondering if he was a real hockey player, he finished the game (!!!).

At the very least, coach Mike Schafer is happy to be back into league action after his misadventures in Denver. One thing he has to make sure his team does is stay out of the box. Cornell is leading the NCAA in penalty minutes.

Meanwhile, Yale is on a tear having won four in a row including a 4-0 steamrolling of Harvard last week on NBCSN. Yale’s hot streak has gotten them into the top ten in both polls and to fifth place in the all-important Pairwise Rankings (the system used to pick teams for the NCAA tournament). Coach Keith Allain has the team rolling and looking like tournament teams of the recent past.

NHL prospects to watch

Cornell boasts a roster with eight different NHL draft picks. The tops of them is Kings prospect Joel Lowry (SO – F) who’s second on the team in points. Bruins prospect Brian Ferlin (SO – F) has picked up his game as well. Nick D’Agostino (SR – D – Pittsburgh) is their most rock-solid blue liner.

Others to watch: Joakim Ryan (SO – D – San Jose), John McCarron (SO – F – Edmonton), Braden Birch (SR – D – Chicago), Reece Wilcox (FR – D – Philadelphia), Kirill Gotovets (JR – D – Tampa Bay).

For Yale, the big one to keep an eye on is the team’s leading scorer, junior forward Kenny Agostino (pictured). The Penguins prospect has 9 goals and 14 assists on the year and he’s tied in points with undrafted senior Antoine Laganiere. You’ll also senior forward Andrew Miller having a big game last week against Harvard.

Others to watch: Gus Young (JR – D – Colorado), Rob O’Gara (FR – D – Boston)

(Photo: David Silverman via ECAC)