On Nov. 3, Harvard men’s hockey coach Mark Mazzoleni admitted that his team lost its poise against Brown in a 4-2 season-opening setback.

Against the same team on Saturday night, it was the Crimson’s savior.

The Bears (3-5-1, 3-4-1 ECAC) had control in the early going, thanks to Les Haggett’s tally at 3:16 of the first period, but Harvard (5-4-2, 5-2-2 ECAC) was able to regain its composure and coasted to a 5-2 win before 2,310 at Meehan Auditorium.

“We weren’t lethargic in the first ten minutes, but we were just kind of watching them. After that, we began to play our way and were much more decisive,” Mazzoleni said after the victory, which kept the Crimson in first place with 12 ECAC points. “They tried to trap, but we didn’t turn it over like we did in the first game. We executed extremely well….This is a good place to be after 11 games.”

The turnaround started midway through the first frame when forwards Dennis Packard, Brett Nowak, and Rob Flynn picked up their forecheck and forced a turnover behind the Brown goal line.

Nowak and Flynn were able to push the puck along to Packard, who was stationed to the left of Bear goaltender Brian Eklund. Packard then brought the puck out just inside the left faceoff circle and wristed it past Eklund from 15 feet to tie the game at the 12:08 mark.

“Flynn did a great job of pushing it along to me,” Packard said after the game. “I came out and wanted to get to the far post.”

That same line put the Crimson ahead in the closing seconds of the period.

Nowak took a shot from just above the right faceoff circle that was tipped in front by Flynn. The puck found its way to Packard, who slammed it past Eklund’s glove for a 2-1 Harvard advantage with just 28 left in the period.

Packard’s first multi-goal since high school was a long time coming, as he leads the team in scoring opportunities, according to Mazzoleni.

Packard attributed his success to good chemistry on his line.

“I’ve been playing with Brett for awhile, and I’m starting to get really comfortable [playing with him]. And [Flynn] does a great job of staying over the puck,” he said.

Mazzoleni agreed.

“They kind of play a similar style of hockey. They’re all smart, have good hands, and have a good feel for the game. They feed off each other very well.”

Mazzoleni was equally pleased with his other forwards Saturday night.