"Yale always gets tougher toward the end of the season," goes an old hockey saw. Tonight Harvard travels to New Haven to see just how much there is in this ominous adage.

The Crimson must win tonight and then beat Princeton and Yale next week if it hopes to have a crack at the Ivy title. It boosted its league record to 4-3 with a 6-5 overtime victory against Brown last Saturday, and has been idle since.

Dartmouth, the current Ivy leader at 6-1, plays in Princeton tonight, and then meets Brown and Cornell. The Indians must lose twice to give Harvard a chance.

Coach Cooney Welland plans to use essentially the same lines tonight that beat Brown last week. Gene Kinasewich, who picked up the 100th point of his Harvard career against the Bruins, will line up with Bill Fryer and Baldy Smith on the first trio.

Ike Ikaunkis, Billy Lamarche, and Barry Treadwell will team up again, but Well-and will have to juggle the third line a bit. Gordie Price is ineligible for academic reasons, and John Stevens will play at least part of the time in a defensive slot.

The Elis whipped Princeton Wednesday to boost their Ivy record to a rousing 1-7. But the Yalies--not completely impotent--last week knocked off a Colgate squad which had just licked powerful Clarkson.

A Yale upset tonight is doubtful, though. Harvard, realizing it must win everything in sight to boost its chances in the Ivy race and in the post-season ECAC tournament, has no intention of dropping one to the bumbling Bulldogs.

The Crimson comes into tonight's game with a 14-6 overall record and an 11-6 mark in ECAC competition, probably good enough for a berth in the tournament but too weak for a spot among the topseeds.