Whitehead started Morrison in Game 1 of the Black Bears’ Hockey East quarterfinal series against Boston College, which Maine won, 7-3.

However, Whitehead felt the need for a change the next night and gave Yeats the call. He responded by leading the Black Bears to a 4-2 win and a spot in the Hockey East championships at the FleetCenter.

Whitehead stuck with Yeats for both games last weekend, a 4-3 win over BU and 3-1 loss to New Hampshire. Yeats earned Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week honors for his efforts, in addition to a spot on the All-Tournament team.

“I’m kind of surprised that Morrison didn’t play, but at same time if that’s what [Whitehead] thinks is in best interests of his team, he’s going to do that,” Crowder said. “But no matter who they put in there, they’re both good.”

The Bangor Daily News reported on Tuesday that Yeats would be the likely starter tomorrow, but that Whitehead wasn’t ruling Morrison out.

“We’re going to handle the goaltending situation the way we have all season,” Whitehead told Larry Mahoney of the Daily News. “We will finalize our lineup at all positions on the day before the game. It’s important to make sure, especially the more important the games are, that you play the goalie who is playing the best. But I wouldn’t rule out playing [Morrison] this weekend.”

Both Harvard and Maine are feeling good about their goaltending situations. In this type of situation, it’s going to come down to which goalie makes the fewest mistakes.

Special Teams

Harvard’s task in this area is a pretty simple one: Don’t make special teams an issue.

“Harvard’s going to have to stay out of penalty box because Maine’s power play has been excellent,” Crowder said.

The Black Bears have 12 power play goals in their last seven games—converting on a deadly 33 percent of their man advantage chances over that span. And Maine’s 25.1 percent efficiency throughout the year is the sixth best nationally.

Shields (seven power play goals this season) and Dimitrakos (five) are the players to watch for in these situations.

But the Crimson’s penalty kill has been superb as of late, allowing only three power play goals in the opposition’s 26 tries over the past seven games, an efficiency of just 11.5 percent.

And last weekend, each good penalty kill by Harvard seemed to spark its offense, and the Crimson was often able to sustain offensive pressure in the minutes following.

But given how hot the Black Bear power play is right now, Harvard should be sure to avoid giving Maine man-up chances at all costs.