With 16 seconds left in the first, Lannon was given a five-minute major penalty for butt-ending and a game disqualification. The Crimson was able to slip unscathed through those last 16 seconds skating 4-on-3, but the start of the second brought the promise of a 4:44 BU power play. It looked like that stretch would be the crucial part of the game, as the Terriers had a chance to bury Harvard. When the Crimson managed to kill off that extended man-advantage, the momentum swung toward Harvard.
Pressuring Fields, the Crimson took its first lead of the game at 8:33. Nowak had the puck along the lower boards in the BU zone. He pushed the puck along the boards to Kolarik, who looped towards the net, shielding the puck, and released a shot. Nowak and Kolarik both followed the shot and, after Fields made the initial save, Nowak poked home the rebound to give Harvard a 3-2 advantage.
After assuming the lead, the Crimson continued to control play, outshooting the Terriers by eight and winning 28 faceoffs to BU’s three in the second period.
But though Harvard had the momentum and was far superior at the dot, the second period would end tied after Brad Zancanaro skated into the Crimson zone down the middle of the ice. Flanked by linemate Ken Magowan and Skladany, Zancanaro took advantage of a free lane to the net, wristing a hard shot over Grumet-Morris’s glove but just under the crossbar.
“I don’t think there’s any question the Zancanaro goal was the biggest goal of the game,” BU coach Jack Parker said.
If nothing else, it helped dull some of the momentum Harvard had developed throughout the second. The rest of that momentum would soon vanish amidst the Terrier barrage at the top of the third.
Mazzoleni felt his team lacked the defensive intensity it needed to play BU, noting that the Crimson had some great individual efforts, but didn’t put forth a cohesive team effort. He particularly emphasized the role of Moore, who scored his 29th point in his last 13 games. The Harvard captain, who finished his career with 147 points—good for 11th all-time at Harvard—on the strength of that late-season run, was again the team’s most consistent offensive option.
“I thought Dominic Moore was exceptional tonight,” Mazzoleni said. “I’ve never seen anyone dominate a game the way he did faceoff-wise, and I thought he was just a force out there.
“I thought he was head and shoulders the best player on the ice,” Mazzoleni continued. “What you saw tonight shows you the kind of winner he is in the way he went out.”
—Staff writer Timothy M. McDonald can be reached at tmcdonal@fas.harvard.edu.