Another element working in the Crimson’s favor is the youth and inexperience of the Elis, who have yet to face the class of the ECAC.
“We haven’t played some of the iron in the league yet,” Taylor said. “We’ll see. This is a big weekend for us.”
This road trip, the seventh and eighth away games of the young season for Harvard, marks the Crimson’s last conference contests before the holidays. A win would give Harvard some breathing room atop the league standings in the race for the regular season title.
A sweep, however, will not be easy. The Tigers’ history and home-ice advantage combined with a likely sold-out crowd at Yale’ Ingalls Rink will put pressure on the Crimson, which could break into the top ten nationally with back-to-back wins.
“This is always a huge game,” Taylor said. “It’s a great athletic event down here every year. It’s a sellout two times over, a standing-room-only crowd. The Harvard-Yale game means a lot to our community in any sport, and in hockey, it’s particularly big.”
—Staff writer Timothy McDonald can be reached at tmcdonal@fas.harvard.edu.