For his part, BU coach Jack Parker was impressed with how Harvard has played, both against his team and in the ECAC Tournament.

“[The earlier two meetings] were both well played games by Harvard,” Parker said. “And they played great in their tournament. I think they could have easily walked out with a 3-1 win [over Cornell].”

But the Terriers have also improved since the Crimson last saw them. Beginning with its Beanpot win over Harvard, BU has been on a 9-3-1 tear, which included a Beanpot victory over BC and a march to the final of the Hockey East Tournament.

“We’ve come together as a team [since the Beanpot],” Parker said. “We’re well-focused.”

A large part of that focus has been a renewed commitment to aggressive defense. The Terriers have been successful in utilizing defensive pressure to create turnovers and quick outlet passes to start breaks.

“BU is a very tight-checking team, and their defensemen step up a lot,” said sophomore forward Brendan Bernakevitch.

To counteract that defensive pressure, the Crimson will have to penetrate into the BU zone, and avoid turnovers near the blue line and shots from a distance.

“You’ve got to be able to penetrate to their net,” Mazzoleni said. “You’re not going to beat people if all you’re doing is relying on a perimeter game.”

The difference between perimeter and point-blank shots was apparent against Cornell. Facing the best goaltender in the country, Dave LeNeveu, and the Big Red’s suffocating defense, Harvard settled for perimeter shots for the first half of the contest. And a good goaltender like LeNeveu or BU’s Sean Fields—one of the best netminders in Hockey East—will stop that first shot.

The Crimson became successful in the second and third periods when it took shots from in close, and had forwards crashing the net looking to poke home loose pucks.

“Getting to the net, looking for rebounds—it’s going to take some ugly goals on Friday night to get it done,” Moore said.

While BU is certainly favored to defeat Harvard, with two victories over the Crimson under the Terriers’ belt, Harvard enters the game with a different attitude and the memory of last year’s first round NCAA loss to Maine.

“The main difference, it’s the underdog mentality versus the confidence we have this year,” Moore said. “We came up on the short end of both the BU games, and we’re looking forward to having a shot at them again.”