After regular season games, the Harvard Crimson (6-17-6, 6-10-6 ECAC) defeated the Yale Bulldogs (10-17-2, 7-13-2 ECAC) 2-1 in OT. Defeated and defeated. Brown (8-18-3, 6-14-2 ECAC) in the OT shootout. By holding Brown scoreless in a back-and-forth overtime period, the Crimson secured home rink advantage in Friday's ECAC playoff game against No. 9 Princeton.
The Crimson struggled early in the season after losing five of its leading scorers in the National Hockey League, and as a result, much of the talent displayed by a young team made up primarily of underclassmen went unnoticed. Despite several points-earning wins that were valuable to the ECAC standings, multiple games throughout the season went down as record ties. This included a season series against Dartmouth that first saw the longest shootout in Harvard history, lasting 18 rounds before junior defenseman Jack Barr scored the winning goal.
Harvard head coach Ted Donato praised senior goaltender Derek Malahy during Saturday's Senior Night game against Brown, speaking about the team's overlooked skills.
“I feel bad in the sense that I think so.” [Mullahy has] “We had some great games, but we weren't rewarded with a win because we weren't able to score timely goals or make plays when we needed it most,” Donato said. said.
This past weekend, the team was able to step up and make the timely plays needed to secure home rink advantage heading into ECAC postseason play.
Harvard University 2, Yale University 1
The intense game between the Ivy League rivals Harvard Crimson and Yale Bulldogs on March 1 was explosive. Plays ended with hard hits to the boards, not particularly skillful stick play, often leading to penalties. The Pacs also struggled to coordinate between both teams, which spoke to the intensity and nervousness of the players tonight.
“This rivalry and this game is going to be great regardless of where the teams are in the standings… [are] He was always very emotional, fought very hard and was very physical,” Donato said.
It was a wild and unpredictable game until the first period, but the score remained tied at zero and the number of shots on goal was nearly even with Yale at 12 and Harvard at nine. Two penalties were called against the Bulldogs, first for too many people at 19:10 and then for a cross-check by Harvard junior left wing Alexander Gaffney with 10:36 remaining. I fell down.
The offense was even with an overall lack of power on both sides of the ice. He stole the puck and took a shot, but it was well outside the goal area. Most of the zone time in the first half came from Yale's penalties, which unsurprisingly yielded little real results.
The early hard-hitting play became more refined in the following period. Although Yale's early power play failed due to a boarding minor by Crimson sophomore right wing Marek Hejduk, the players spent more time on the ice and converted it into points.
“Our ability to not turn the puck over, get clean out of our own zone and force them to stop and play defense,” Donato said of the strategy given to him in the locker room.[makes] It’s… it’s hard to be as physical as you are when you’re in your own zone. ”
That momentum was interrupted by a penalty on freshman right wing Ryan Fine, also due to boarding, with 14:09 left. During the penalty kill, the Crimson made several good plays and had a 2-on-1 chance, but was ultimately stopped by a missed pass from junior defenseman Jack Barr to Hejduk.
In the final seconds of the power play, Yale senior defenseman Ryan Conroy stole the puck on his last chance with an extra man and made a shot from the point to put the Bulldogs on the score sheet. Less than a minute later, when senior left wing Ryan Duclecq took a shot at the goaltender's glove side and the puck appeared to rumble around all three posts, Harvard quickly responded. It looked like he was reacting. After extensive review, it was determined that although the puck did not cross the goal line, it was one of the most notable plays seen this season.
Donato talked about Doucrec's performance and said he was one of the strongest players on the team, looking back at the seniors on the team.
“He's another guy who's played in some big games the last few years. He's also a very unselfish guy, a great teammate, and he's a great addition to our team on and off the ice.” I’m very proud of what I accomplished both on the outside,” Donato said.
Although the initial comeback failed, Fine was able to redeem himself late in the period by flipping over the skate of a Yale defender on the right side of the ice and taking a shot that slid under the netminder's feet.
Further contributing to Harvard's strong performance was junior defenseman Connor Sullivan's roughing penalty with 34.9 seconds left in the game against Yale. Harvard entered a period of strong play again, but struggled to maintain pace in the third game, after Yale got a bench minor early in the second minute due to too many people on the ice. However, they were still unable to score on the power play. The period ended with the score tied at one goal apiece.
The first sign of action came when sophomore left winger Joe Miller slid quickly up the ice and sent a shot wide of the goal as defenders closed in on him. The play attracted two other Harvard skaters and created a breakout opportunity on the other half of the ice. But sophomore goaltender Aku Koskenvuo stood tall, deflected the shot with his right pad and continued playing.
Captain junior defenseman Ian Moore talked about the pressure he expects to face on a team like Yale and his game plan to keep it close.
“They're a great team. They play really hard. They have a great forecheck. So we were just trying to keep it simple, trying to keep people off our net. Please. Let me cum. [Koskenvuo] Look at the pack and try to get it out as soon as possible. ”
As the game drew to a close, Harvard had another chance to make it 2-on-1. Junior center and captain Zachary Culpa first carried the puck into the neutral and offensive zones, then threw a pass wide right to fellow captain and junior defenseman Ian Moore, who tracked Moore's goal. At the time, he fired a shot into the open part of the net on the side of the goalie's stick. movement under the ice.
Harvard 1, Brown 1
On Harvard's senior night, the team improved early against the Bears, bouncing back from a slow start in the previous game against Yale, when the puck missed the net wide. The theme of the night for Donato's team was to shoot to get hot and shoot to stay hot, and the Crimson stuck it through that notch, notching its 11th shot before Brown nailed his second.
Despite the offensive onslaught, neither team hit paydirt in the first period, but the more notable action came from the penalty seat. He was given four penalties, two for each team. Through regulation and overtime, both teams combined for 11 penalties, seven of which came on the power play. The first was a five-minute lock-in major penalty on Brown junior defenseman Brett Bliss, who was hit from behind by Crimson junior forward Alex Gaffney as he carried the puck to the left corner boards. After an official review, Bliss was also given a game misconduct award.
Donato emphasized that his team will keep moving forward even after the number of wasted shots went up on the scoreboard.
“It looked like we had a lot of seemingly pending Grade A scoring opportunities that didn't translate into shots on net or opportunities. … So I think it's frustrating for us, but before ,” Donato said.
Entering the night, Harvard boasted a power play success rate of 25.0, ranking third in the ECAC, but was unable to score. However, the Crimson secured 10 shots, an important step in showing the team can apply pressure when given the chance against a close team like Brown.
Harvard senior forward Ryan Dokrek was then called for a similar hit, but was ejected for two minutes for boarding minors just over half the period. In the first 15 seconds of the penalty, a mishandling of the puck by the Bears near the left circle gave sophomore forward Marek Hejduk a short-handed breakaway opportunity that forced a trailing Brown defender to fend for himself. punished. At 3:27 into the game against Brown, he was penalized for the second straight year for high-sticking against freshman right winger Tyler Kopf.
Three more penalties were called in the second period, the first two at 14:56 for boarding against junior Crimson defenseman Cristian Jimenez and sophomore Bears right wing Zachary Tonelli. It was due to boarding. After the whistle blew on Tonelli's call, Miller received a minor suspension for taking a hit after the play. The final minutes of the period were played 4-on-4.
But just when it looked like the game would go into the third without any offensive success, the Brown Bears silenced Bright Landry. With time ticking down, Kopf picked up the puck and sent it weakly onto the net, but first-year defenseman Alex Pineault quickly converted the rebound.
A similar incident occurred in the final period, and freshman center Ben McDonald was found guilty of boarding. This was a five-minute major, similar to Bliss' penalty, but was later upgraded to a game misconduct penalty. Despite totaling 38 shots before the official whistle, not a single shot went on, and senior goalkeeper Derek Malahy was sent off with less than two minutes remaining.
With Donato starting the play during the timeout, all the Crimson needed was some strong faceoffs in the offensive zone and continuing their high offensive game with the extra skater. Sophomore center Casey Severo completed the first step knocking the puck out to junior defenseman and captain Ian Moore.
After a few cycles around the zone with the puck, first-year left wing Cameron Johnson made a quick wrister through traffic from the middle of the ice. When the puck was deflected in front of the net, both teams and Brown's netminders frantically searched for it. Gaffney was the first to see it and took a shot from a few inches away, tying the game with 1:19 left in regulation and sending the team into overtime.
Play in overtime was noticeably slower than in the hectic and intense regulation period, as both teams executed thoughtful passing sequences to create scoring opportunities. A strong call against Brown at 2:54 gave Harvard hope that a late comeback might be possible, but the offense was unable to score on the possession. Under OT regulations, neither team scored, so the match would be decided in penalties.
Brown sophomore center Ryan St. Louis' first attempt missed, and Gaffney's shot from center ice also missed. However, Brown's second straight goal and well-defended play ensured victory in his first best-of-three shootout series.
Although it was an unfortunate loss for Harvard, especially for the team's seniors, senior goaltender Max Miller praised Donato and his tenure with the team.
“We have a really great group of players, and everyone in the locker room is humble, talented, motivated, dedicated, and most of all kind, good people.” [people] And it's a really fun experience,” Miller said. “I wouldn't trade this opportunity for the world. I'm really happy to be a part of this team.”
The Harvard team will host No. 9 ranked Princeton in the ECAC at Bright Laundry this weekend in the first game of postseason play in the ECAC Tournament. The Crimson will play the Tigers on Friday at 7pm ET. The game will also be streamed on ESPN+.
—Staff writer Nate M. Bolan can be reached at nathan.bolan@thecrimson.com.
—Staff writer Owen Butler can be reached at owen.butler@thecrimson.com.
