HAMDEN — Just shy of two months ago, then No. 11 Cornell men’s hockey secured a shootout win over then No. 18 Quinnipiac at Madison Square Garden. 

Since that day, the Big Red hasn’t just fallen in the conference, they’re no longer ranked. As for the Bobcats, well, they’re navigating through a strange plateau, swimming between the last five slots of the USCHO poll.

That doesn’t mean Cornell didn’t give Quinnipiac trouble, forcing head coach Rand Pecknold’s team to come from behind and settle for a 2-2 tie Saturday night with the Big Red unofficially winning in a shootout yet again.

“I think they’re an excellent hockey team,” Pecknold said. “Last year they were one goal away from going to the Frozen Four, and they lost one player.”

Sophomore defenseman George Fegaras manned Cornell to an early 1-0 start on the power play, taking the thin lead into the second frame.

Two minutes in, freshman forward Tyler Borgula hit a sailing one-timer off a back-angled pass by sophomore center Victor Czerneckianair who slid the puck in front of the crease from the boards.

The Bobcats held possession for most of the middle period, outshooting the Big Red 15-6 and playing arguably one of their strongest 20 minutes this season.

Following Borgula’s blast, freshman forward Chris Pelosi finished a feed from sophomore wing Mason Marcellus as he skated behind the net to take a 2-1 lead heading into the third.

With nine minutes on the clock, all Quinnipiac needed to do was defend and it would have secured the weekend sweep against two tough teams from upstate (Colgate 6-3 on Friday).

“I thought our guys played a good weekend,” Pecknold said. “Obviously disappointing with the shootout but we had our chances. We really needed to get that third goal and we just kind of sat back a little bit.”

With that, the Big Red tied it, bringing the matchup to overtime and then a shootout — familiar territory some may say. However, there almost wasn’t a shootout, Quinnipiac has freshman netminder Dylan Silverstein to thank for that.

The Calabasas, California native blocked a myriad of shots as overtime wound down, making an unreal save on the ground with his left pad on the edge of the net to keep his team alive.

Quinnipiac pauses conference play next Friday to face No. 17 UConn in the CT Ice Semifinals at Sacred Heart. Puck drop is set for 4 p.m.