“I thought we had good chemistry with all of our lines tonight,” he said.
After both teams seemed to find their legs in the early moments of the second period, Harvard center Tom Cavanagh was pressured near the blue line but was able to work the puck along the boards to freshman winger Brendan Bernakevitch in the corner. Bernakevitch then made a perfect feed in front to sophomore forward Tim Pettit, who buried it for a 3-1 Crimson advantage at 3:03 of the second period. The lone goal of the second period was Pettit’s seventh on the year but his first in an even-strength situation.
Harvard extended its lead while working with a fresh sheet of ice and the man advantage to open the third period, as Dominic Moore’s blast from the top of the right faceoff circle hit Eklund’s glove before trickling past him for a 4-1 Harvard lead at 1:07.
The power play goal was the Crimson’s first on the man advantage since its 8-4 loss to Boston University on Nov. 20.
Less than two minutes later, Brown’s Tye Korbl was whistled for a blatant interference call on Harvard defenseman Liam McCarthy. The ensuing hack-and-whack literally included every player on the ice.
The scuffle lasted for roughly 20 seconds, and before all was said and done, eleven penalties were called at 3:01 of the third period: every skater on the ice for roughing in addition to Korbl’s initial infraction. The en masse penalty left the press box statisticians frantic and the Meehan sin bins looking like Green Line cars at rush hour.
Order was eventually restored, though, and the Bears mounted a threat soon afterward. With both teams back at even strength, Brown cut the lead to 4-2 on a blast from the slot by sophomore winger Adam Saunders at 7:18 of the third frame. Haggett was credited with an assist for his second point of the evening.
Harvard was able to seal the deal later in the period.
Working with the puck behind Eklund, Moore flipped a nifty pass behind his back to the cutting Tyler Kolarik, who deposited it for a 5-2 lead with 5:59 to play for the final margin of victory.
Brown coach Roger Grillo sounded very much like Mazzoleni after the season opener.
“I thought we had the early edge, but they responded well and capitalized on our mistakes,” he said. “We were careless with our passes. We just made too many mistakes. We beat them up there. They were prepared.”
Both Eklund and Harvard goaltender Will Crothers stopped 29 shots on the night.
Mazzoleni was pleased with Crothers’ performance.
“I thought Crothers played very well and was very timely for us,” Mazzoleni said in reference to a big stop as the third period opened. “He gave us a chance to win.”
Harvard travels to Ann Arbor for a matchup with Michigan this Saturday night, while Brown is off until its heads west for the Bank One Badger Showdown on Dec. 27.