Mazzoleni, who called Friday’s game Bernakevitch’s best of the year, said he thought the third line’s production on Friday was a good example of the Crimson’s team balance.
“We had tremendous balance from all four of our lines,” Mazzolnei said. “I thought our defense menplayed very assertively, and [we had] very strong goaltending.”
Getting Back to What Works
Two of the pillars of the Crimson offense, junior forwards Dominic Moore and Brett Nowak, were highly visible in Saturday’s win, tallying Harvard’s game-winning and tying goals respectively.
Moore’s game winner on Saturday night was highlight reel material, and a testament to his will and conditioning.
In circling the net quickly and controlling the puck in and out of traffic, Moore looked like he was moving at twice the speed of the Brown defense. His goal was a rarity in hockey—one of those watershed events where a single player takes over a game so completely.
Nowak’s game-tying goal at 5:30 of the third period greatly impressed Brown coach Roger Grillo, who called Nowak one of the best low post players he has seen in the last seven years. Mazzoleni attributed Nowak’s success in that area to his hard work and training at Harvard.
“He’s worked incredibly hard the past two years on his shot,” Mazzoleni said. “He gets the puck on net. I think that’s one of the reasons he’s starting to score goals now.”
X Factors
The Harvard special teams units were one of the keys to Friday night’s win, as the Crimson killed off all four of Brown’s power plays. With the man advantage, Harvard was able to score on two of three chances.
“One of the biggest factors, as we all know, was the difference in special teams,” Mazzoleni said. “We had two power play [goals] to their none. They were 0-4, I think we were 2-3.”
Another large factor in the Crimson’s win was its advantage in faceoffs. Harvard had Brown’s number in that department all weekend, especially on Friday, when a win off a draw led directly to one goal.
Eight seconds into a power play, freshman defenseman Noah Welch collected the puck at the blueline and fired a slap shot from the point for Harvard’s second goal.
Harvard just missed another score off a faceoff Friday, when another Welch slapper clanged off the post.
Besides special teams play and its dominance on faceoffs, the Crimson had one more advantage when Saturday’s game stretched into overtime. Mazzoleni said he thought that Brown was starting to get tired in the extra frames. He attributed the Bears’ tiring, in part, to Harvard’s hard-hitting tactics all weekend.
“We’re about a 40-hit per game team,” he said. “We had 76 [Friday] night. And over the long haul, when you continually play through the body, it wears their defensemen down.”
Hooked On a (Sore) Feeling
The Crimson will need to take the next five days to rest, with sophomore Dennis Packard and Kenny Turano both on the sidelines for Saturday’s game. Packard has been hospitalized with pneumonia, while Turano suffered back problems after sustaining a hard hit Friday.
Welch had a bothersome knee that he played through on Saturday and Tim Pettit had a severe case of flu that hindered his play as well.
Harvard, the No. 3 seed in the playoffs, will face off against Clarkson, the No. 2 seed, on Friday afternoon at 4 p.m. in Lake Placid, N.Y. The Crimson tied Clarkson 2-2 earlier this year at Bright and lost the rematch in the North Country, 4-1.