To be or not to be was not the question for the Yale men's hockey. team last night.

How to stop Harvard's two "Killer B's"--second-line forwards Allen Bourbeau and Tim Barakett--was.

But neither Eli Coach Tim Taylor nor Yale's hounding defense, which held Harvard's other three lines scoreless, found an answer.

And the Crimson--capitalizing on two Bourbeau goals and a pump from linemate and honorary "Killer B" Ed Krayer--buzzed past the Elis, 3-2, at Bright Center.

Although the rest of the ECAC has felt the sting of the B's for awhile, Yale had yet to face a full game's worth of the formidable duo until last night.

And oh how the Elis felt it.

"Bourbeau's line made some very nice plays," Taylor said. "We tried to match our best lines against them. But it's a little tough."

Bourbeau's second goal, at 9:55 of the second period, proved to be the difference in the game.

With two players in the penalty box, Yale was scrambling to prevent a Harvard score.

And with time running out on the Crimson's power play, it looked like it might succeed.

But Bourbeau--standing 20-ft. from the Eli net on the point--faked a pass to Captain Scott Fusco, lurking to his right, and slapped a bullet past Eli netminder Mike Schwalb.

"A lot of times I give it to Scott on the right," Bourbeau said. "He usually tees it up and shoots. But I took the shot this time."

The Killer B's had their genesis in the third period of the first Yale-Harvard clash in early November, which the Elis won 7-5,.

And Harvard Coach Bill Cleary--the author of that union--has kept them together ever since.

"Bourbeau's line gives us added strength," Cleary said. "It's nice to have a group that can score like that."