But the Huskies moved ahead to stay with about eight minutes left, when they skated through the Crimson’s flat-footed defense for another 2-on-1 goal, this one from Morris. “We didn’t pick up the guys we needed to pick up,” Smith said of the scoring play.

Gibson made the lead stand with three key saves on Harvard freshman Kevin Du—a kick save on a 3-on-2 chance with six minutes left, a sprawling deck stop with 3:15 left, and another 2-on-1 bid 15 seconds later.

The Crimson outshot Northeastern 6-1 over the final five minutes, but the Huskies had the only goal—Ray Ortiz’s empty-netter with 13 seconds left—beginning anew the search for answers that Harvard thought had ended in New Haven.

“We’re looking to catch a flame,” Reese said. “I don’t know what it is … It’s something we have to change going into the playoffs.

“We’re missing something, and we’re trying to find it. When we do, we’re going to be dangerous.”

—Staff writer Jon Paul Morosi can be reached at morosi@fas.harvard.edu