PROVIDENCE, R. L.--Everyone has to get down to business sooner or later in reading period.
For the Harvard hockey team, that time came last night at Providence College, in a rematch of last year's ECAC championship game. Grant Blair personally made sure of it, stopping 40 shots to snap his team's seven game losing streak with a 2-0 victory.
Harvard had slipped to 4-6-1 in the ECAC, but the win keeps it within striking distance of the Ivy Division lead and the playoff spot that goes with it. To prevent this January from becoming one of many winless reading periods in Crimson history, Blair had to come up with his first shutout of this season, outlasting a strong effort by another of the East's best, Friar senior Mario Proulx.
After 10 minutes of Crimson pressure at the start, the Schneider Arena ice seemed to tilt the other way for a long time. The Friars pelted the visiting sophomore netminder with slapshot after threatening slapshot from the perimeter, outshooting Harvard, 37-21 the rest of the way (17-7 in the third period).
But the home team's edge was less imposing than it seemed. Providence Coach Steve Stirling noted the problem with his squad's challenging shots from the blue line. "The defense weren't shooting wide of the net so we could get tip-ins. They were shooting them right down the middle. You aren't going to score on those shots--you have to tip them in, or deflect them."
Blair had clear view of the shots from stick to pads, the Crimson defense consistently cleared the few rebounds he couldn't control. "They never got too many second opportunities," said Crimson Coach Bill Cleary.
Just one of those unobstructed blasts made it past Blair, when P C Co-captain Japes Orlando neatly slapped one between the Harvard goalie and the near post on a first period power play. The score was erased when the ref called a Friar for standing behind Blair in the crease. "I guess someone was in the crease, I don't know," was Blair's final verdict.
It was Proulx who provided the first goal-tending acrobatics. He somehow survived a Gary Martin cannonshot that ricocheted off his pads and the cross bar, and high up in the air before he caught it on the way down. Early in the second period, he closed the pads to rob Tim Smith from point-dash range.
Smith, who played forward on the fourth line, did better as a defenseman on a mid dash power play. Just as the interference penalty to Peter Taglianetti expired. Smith gloved down a clearing pass at the Friar blue line and slapped it off Proulx's blocking glove and into the twines for the go-ahead goal.
"I was due; put it that way," said Smith of his first goal of the season.
Down by one, the home team cranked up its barrage of slapshots, mostly off the stick of Taglianetti. Soon after Smith's goal. Blair made two difficult saves against the hard-hitting defensemen on a Friar power play. With 20 seconds to go in the period. Taglianetti came close again, and left wing Steve Rooney lifted the rebound over the cross-bar.
Things grew only tougher for Harvard in the final period, a drawn-out affair marked by 43 play stoppages. Face-offs inevitably played a big role, and with the hosts winning three-quarters of them. Blair had that much more to worry about.
With six minutes left it looked like an instant-replay machine on the ice Face-off, back to Taglianetti, shot, save. Face-off, again back to Taglianetti, another save. A half-minute later, another face-off, back to defenseman Nowel Catterall, slapshot, a great kick save. Less than a minute later, a slapper by Danny Wurst, and a rare rebound try, by left-wing John Deasey, before Harvard's Rob Ohno carried it out of the zone. A half-minute later, one more Taglianetti bullet.
Proulx had to abandon his post for a sixth skater with a minute remaining, but the Crimson had little trouble clearing Taglianetti made a sparkling save on Dave Connors's first--empty-net attempt, but the Harvard winger put the game away with 13 seconds left. H. Tim Smith (Tony Visone, Tim Barakett). 12:10; H. Dave Connors (Ken Code, Shayne Kukutowcz), 19:47. Saves--H. Grant Blair 10-13-17-40; P. Mario Proulx 14-7-6--27.
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