After going the first 23 games of the season without a point in back-to-back games, freshman winger Charlie Johnson is hitting his stride at the most important time of the season.
Johnson is on a four-game scoring streak and has five assists and a goal over that span, including a three-point effort in Harvard’s regular-season finale against St. Lawrence.
“At the beginning of the year, I had to adjust to the size of the guys,” said the 5’11, 180-pound Johnson. “The Christmas tournament in Wisconsin was really a turning point for me. I’m finally comfortable with the puck and contributing like I always knew I could.”
Johnson has also been a spark plug to his linemates, Moore and junior winger Kenny Turano.
Since Mazzoleni put Johnson on Moore’s wing, the captain has 25 points in 10 games.
“They complement each other well,” Mazzoleni said. “It’s different than our other lines. It’s our speed line. All three can skate very well and are very skilled. It’s the balance and chemistry which makes this line great.”
Johnson is also excited about his role on the Crimson’s second power-play unit, something that doesn’t get much attention and is often overshadowed by the top five of Moore, Kolarik, Nowak, junior winger Tim Pettit and sophomore defenseman Noah Welch.
“Coach has changed up the unit a lot,” Johnson said. “The recent addition of [junior defensemen Kenny] Smith and [Dave] McCulloch has added a veteran presence on the blue line.
“We run a different setup than the first power-play,” Johnson added. “They rely a lot more on finesse, whereas we’re trying to set it up and get in the right positions. Kenny and I work real well together on the power play. He’s great at digging for the puck, and I just have to be in the right place.”
If anyone might be in the right place at the right time, it could easily be Johnson.
Playing with Moore and Turano, he’s one player—a lot like Packard—who slips under some teams’ radars when they think of Harvard.
He may not go unnoticed for much longer, especially if you hear his name being called by the public address announcer after scoring an overtime winner in the playoffs.
—Staff writer Timothy Jackson can be reached at jackson2@fas.harvard.edu. Staff writers Eli Alper and Jon Morosi contributed to this report.