Harvard had its most success with a man in the penalty box. The Crimson scored on a shorthanded goal in the first period by junior forward Tim Pettit—his fifth point of the weekend—and netted the game winner during four-on-four play with a goal by junior Dennis Packard.

The Golden Knights gave the Crimson its most physical game of the year. The contest was marred by 19 penalties, including 10 in the second period.

But neither side could take advantage of its numerous opportunities with the extra man, as the teams combined to go 0-for-13 on the power play.

Things threatened to get ugly with four minutes left in the second, when a collision between Crimson junior defenseman Dave McCulloch and Golden Knight goaltender Dustin Traylan set off a mass scuffle in front of the Clarkson goal. The incident led to a Clarkson power play, as Traylan was not penalized for his punch to McCulloch’s throat.

Harvard’s ability to kill that penalty proved critical, as Clarkson had owned the game’s momentum up until that point. Minutes earlier, the Golden Knights had tied the game at one, and their outstanding penalty kill (92 percent) had just killed off a 5-on-3 Harvard power play that lasted nearly two minutes.

While Clarkson continued to dictate the tempo in the second period, it was Harvard that scored the tiebreaking, and ultimately game-winning, goal.

The Crimson connected with just 12 seconds left in the period, when junior forward scooted the puck past Traylan into the net. Packard had little power behind his shot, but his stick-fake before shooting pulled Traylan out of position.

Harvard 6, St. Lawrence 1

So much for Harvard’s slow starts.

After scoring just one first-period goal in its first three games this year, the Crimson exploded for three in the opening frame Friday, cruising to a 6-1 rout of St. Lawrence.

“This was our best game of the year,” Mazzoleni said. “Our guys finished well, and we had balanced scoring from all four lines.”

Pettit led the Crimson scoring barrage, tallying two goals and two assists. It was a breakthrough performance for Pettit, who led the team in goals last season but had yet to score this year.

Pettit had a hand in Harvard’s first three goals, opening the scoring on a shorthanded tap-in at 5:11 of the first period, and laster assisting on a Kolarik tally.

“That first goal was something I really needed,” Pettit said. “At the beginning of the year I was shaky and wasn’t really sure if my shot would come back.”

Later, Pettit showed why he has the sweetest shot on the team. After hesitating with the puck between the faceoff circles just long enough for the Saint defender to skate himself out of the play, Pettit ripped a wicked slapshot high into the net, giving Harvard a 3-0 lead.