Harvard's varsity hockey team is favored to open its regular season with a win over Northeastern at 8 p.m. tonight at Watson Rink.

With very little effort, the Crimson coasted to an easy win over St. Nicholas Hockey Club of New York Saturday night and demonstrated an explosive offense.

Last year Northeastern had a miserable 3-20 record, but its new coach, former Bruin captain Fernie. Flaman, has tightened up the squad. The results were obvious as the Huskies outlasted stubborn Penn, 6-4, Saturday night.

Northeastern unveiled a top-notch line of sophomore Les Chaison, Paul Scherer and Bill Cotter who combined for five goals. The backbone of the defense is goalie Dan Eherly, who was second team All-New England last year and who stopped 62 Quaker shots.

Harvard should not have too much trouble with the Huskies' defense, and its three lines should keep pressure on Eberly all night. The performance of the sophomore line- Boh McManama, Dave Hynes, and Bill Corkery- promises a good balance in the Crimson attack.

Hit 'em Hard

What should determine the outcome of the game is how well the Crimson can contain Northeastern's offense. Against St. Nicholas. Harvard relied too heavily on goalie Bruce Durno. To beat the Huskies the wings are going to have to help the defense more than they did Saturday, and the defense is going to have to be persistent in keeping the opponents away from the front of the net.

In the Penn-Northeastern game, the Huskies jumped to a 5-0 lead before the Quakers closed it to 5-4 in the middle of the third period. Much of the Northeastern lapse was due to a large number of penalties, and with Flaman's emphasis on contact the Huskies will be hampered by penalties all season. Captain Joe Cavanagh leads a good Harvard power play.