Let's get ready to rumble.

After a disappointing first month on the ice, the Harvard men's hockey team will square off tonight against the team that started its slide on the first night of the season: Brown.

That's right, the Bears (6-1-0) are back in town, and tonight the Crimson (3-4-1) looks to avenge its close loss and reassert its supremacy in the ECAC, in an 7:38 p.m. meeting at Bright Hockey Center.

"They beat us down there [at Brown], so we'll be motivated," captain Ben Coughlin said. "We just want to go out there and punish them."

The last matchup was one the Crimson might rather just forget. Harvard fell in a shocker, 4-3, in Providence, never leading in the contest.

The game was characterized by defensive lapses, lost opportunities on two five-on-three situations, and a never-ending series of penalties that left the Harvard sin bin occupied for most of the evening.

Brown historically plays a physical game, and the Harvard meeting was no exception.

The game featured 10 hitting-after-the-whistle penalties, and a load of holding, hooking and cross-checking penalties that left both teams looking less like Ivy League squads and more like a prison detail.

This week will surely be different: last weekend's matches against Union and RPI may have given the Crimson a level of confidence they might have lost in that first weekend in Providence.

"Everybody's pretty encouraged," Coughlin said. "We dominated the third period [of the RPI game]. We all know we played well."

The Union tilt marked the end of 0-for-17 power-play slump on Saturday against Union.

Sunday's game marked the return of Geordie Hyland to the Crimson lineup after a month-long bout with mononucleosis.

"Just having his presence back is good," Coughlin said. "He's a confident player."

Fellow defenseman Bryan Lonsinger agreed.

"He played consistent defense," he said. "He'll be one of our best defensemen."