As mentioned over the past few days, I returned to MSG this weekend to catch Cornell against Harvard - the 153rd all-time meeting between the schools, but the first-ever one at MSG, as the teams had previously faced each other largely on their respective campuses, with the occasional game in either the old (pre-1996) Boston Garden, or Albany/Lake Placid, NY; they also met in Atlantic City, N.J. a few years ago, when the ECAC Hockey conference moved its conference championship weekend to the famous Boardwalk Hall building there, but, again, despite Cornell setting up a bit of a "residency" at MSG these past few years, they've faced BU every other year, and rather unfamiliar opponents (by Cornell's standards, at least, being an ECAC/Ivy League program) such as Michigan/New Hampshire/Penn State in the rest of those games, the scheduling of this weekend's Cornell-Harvard game at MSG, after over a hundred games between them historically from the late 1800s through the present day, sure set up quite the amount of anticipation going in!
It took Harvard the first five minutes of the game to register its first "official" shot on goal, although that's honestly part of the "human element" of sports statistics; meanwhile, Cornell opened the scoring about five minutes into the game on a shot through tons of traffic between the blue line and the Harvard net, maybe, even, off a skate or two on the way through, and, also, in a long-standing tradition in the rivalry, a fish got tossed into one of the corners of the rink, presumably leading to the fan(s) who did so getting removed from the arena, but after that goal, Harvard soon recovered to keep its opening period deficit at just that goal, along with just about evening up the shot totals through the first intermission; the "script" would get "flipped" later on in the game from the opening period, though, as you'll (most likely) end up noticing during the rest of this recap!
After a penalty each way early in the middle frame, first on Harvard, which ended up completely expiring, then another against Cornell, Harvard ended up tying the game as the two-minute Cornell penalty time kept ticking away, specifically on a rebound that popped way out from the crease to just about in between the circles in what was, during that period, the Harvard offensive zone, which got put "between the wickets" of a few Cornell defenders and into the back of the net, allowing Harvard to tie the game during its first "man advantage" of the night, and Harvard would use that goal as a "springboard", of sorts, the rest of the way, taking the lead on the scoreboard just about halfway through the period after killing off a full minor penalty via a little "pitch-and-catch" passing sequence that just beat out an unsuccessful diving attempt at clearing the zone by a suddenly desperate Cornell defense; after that, things mostly remained about even each way, although, by then, Cornell suddenly seemed to start taking "potshots" from wherever in an attempt to tie the game again, which would end up fruitless, as Harvard remained ahead 2-1 after 40 minutes!
The final 20 minutes, then, saw a mere continuation of Cornell's desperation, as it continued "peppering" the Harvard net with shot after shot, although that would eventually only lead to another Harvard goal, as one of those shot attempts saw just about everybody wearing white suddenly get caught "pinching" way too deep offensively, allowing a slow, yet steady, backhanded glide past everybody but Cornell's goaltender, which, indeed, ended up getting put home to double the Harvard lead, at 3-1, and, by then, as the crowd that had largely been rooting for Cornell started filing out of the stands, sensing almost nothing going right, Harvard suddenly went into what essentially amounted to a "prevent" defense, waiting for Cornell to pull the goaltender for an extra skater; after what seemed like a million icing calls against a Harvard group that simply seemed content by then to float the puck away as often as possible, and winding as many seconds off the game clock as possible, one of those attempts on the empty net ended up getting converted from just before the center-ice face-off dot, giving Harvard what would end up being its winning scoreline at 4-1!
I know I mentioned earlier that the crowd was largely pro-Cornell, but, at the same time, it seemed like Harvard actually got more of its fans at MSG than even most of its actual home games in Cambridge, MA, as even Arizona State, of all teams, got quite a few fans into Harvard's rink during a weekend doubleheader there last weekend; I guess there were quite a few Harvard alums and/or MA "ex-pats" close enough to Manhattan who were able to take more than a few of the (announced) 15,000+ sold seats, and, sure enough, they very much ended up making their presence felt late in the game, as all the Cornell fans started filing out once the Harvard lead became 3-1 late in the final period, and the Harvard band occasionally played throughout the game, as both the Cornell and Harvard bands traded a few play stoppages, with the rest, as always, being filled by the MSG sound system; now that I've returned there, and have a few other places to compare it to, I can positively state, I feel, that MSG might as well be almost like a "library" sometimes, with how quiet it can get when its "home" (Knicks/Rangers/St. John's college basketball/Cornell hockey this decade) teams fall behind, and even with all the technology "built-in" to the building after its renovations early this decade that make its sound/video systems about as modern as possible in just about every sense, from some "noise-cancellation" stuff sort of "muffling" the announcements/"pre-recorded" music that occasionally gets played (especially in contrast to places like Hartford and Princeton, which I believe I've already mentioned), along with the lights being dimmed during play to create an almost "Broadway show"-esque environment (another thing I believe I mentioned previously), and the video screens hanging from the middle of the roof/advertising displays in the middle of each end of the seating bowls being bright, yes, but not so much as to almost blind everybody but the most "sensitive" of people to those types of things, which I, for one, am thankful for!
Cornell highlights/recap
Harvard highlights/recap
...also, the Lord & Taylor location along 5th Avenue is up to 40-70% off now, with some items reaching up to 90% off, but the place, unfortunately, has more "liquidation signs" plastered all over the place now instead of "holiday displays", of which there are only three left in what has ended up becoming the last "holiday season" there after over a century, but, in better news, the "new" FAO Schwarz location in the former "NBC Experience" at 30 Rock just opened last week, and will, most likely, end up getting slammed by people there to see the famous Christmas tree all throughout the next month and "change"; it'll be open 9a-9p M-Th; 9-10 F/Sa., and 11-8 Su., creating some interesting situations with the NHL store being about two blocks away, and the Nintendo store being right next to the re-opened FAO location, in my opinion!
...in other retail headlines, watch out for these common scams; "cozy" sweaters are expected to be the most popular items this "holiday season"; the J. Crew and Lowe's websites were both down for "maintenance" this past weekend; Kmart/Sears and four other retailers will all face "critical" months/weeks ahead in the foreseeable future in order to ensure their survival beyond just these next few years!
Well, up next is Penn State v. Princeton at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia right at the middle of next month in what should still end up being a dual top-20 matchup, barring upcoming results, so I encourage you to "stay tuned"!
