"You can't really stop what you can't see," Oberting said. "And that's worked for us all year."

It was a combination of tough physical play that paid off.

"They sag in a little and our points were open," Oberting said. "We're pretty dangerous in the corners, and once they sneak in we start using our points and there is traffic in front."

Those shots got through because no one blocked them. Plenty of Crimson players were sliding on the ice yesterday, but few of them were sliding to block shots.

It's not that Harvard was lazy or lackadaisical on the ice. That would be a grossly unfair assessment after watching the Crimson play some of its best and most exciting hockey of the year in the third period.

It's just that Dartmouth was able to create traffic in front of the net and capitalize on it, while Harvard wasn't.

Part of that is a difference in styles of play. Harvard is a very skilled team that can create a lot of chances for itself and doesn't have to rely on hacking in garbage in front of the net.

"When they play a very tight, deep zone, most of our chances are going to be generated off fast breaks or breakouts," Shewchuk said.