Last week, Harvard men’s hockey coach Mark Mazzoleni said he didn’t want to rush sophomore forward Charlie Johnson back from his separated shoulder.

Mazzoleni expected Johnson would receive ice time against Vermont and Dartmouth but wasn’t sure how much. Johnson said he simply wanted “to get [his] feet wet again.” He did much more than that.

Johnson took regular shifts on the fourth line Friday before scoring two goals on a newly-formed second line with Tom Cavanagh and Tim Pettit in Saturday’s 4-0 shutout of Dartmouth.

Johnson tied a career high for goals in a game, set Dec. 13 against Massachusetts. After scoring four goals last season, he’s tied for second on the team this year with nine.

“I was excited right from the get-go to play with Timmy and Cavy,” said Johnson, who had missed five games because of the injury. “All three of us like to create a lot of offense out there.”

Pettit assisted on both of Johnson’s goals. Cavanagh had the primary assist on his first goal, at 6:26 of the first. After Johnson made an acrobatic spin to keep the puck in the zone, Cavanagh dug it out of the corner and zipped a backhanded pass to Johnson. Backchecking winger Jarrett Sampson whacked Johnson’s stick as he one-timed it, creating a knuckle-puck that eluded goaltender Dan Yacey to the far side.

Johnson’s second goal, which gave Harvard a 3-0 lead midway through the second, came on a rebound of Tom Walsh’s point shot after a clean faceoff win by Pettit. The line finished the night at plus-6—not bad for three players who had never skated together before the weekend.

“I thought it worked out really well,” said Pettit, who enjoyed his second four-point weekend of the season. “Charlie’s a playmaker, and Tommy and I have played together for a long time, so we know each other’s tendencies.”

The Johnson-Cavanagh-Pettit line was one of three new combinations Mazzoleni used Saturday. He thought it “worked well,” but stopped short of saying he’d use it during this weekend’s first round ECAC playoff series against Vermont.

Mazzoleni also moved senior winger Rob Fried from his place on the top line with Dennis Packard and Brendan Bernakevitch to an all-senior fourth-line with Blair Barlow and Kenny Turano for Senior Night. Freshman winger Ryan Maki took Fried’s place and scored his second goal in as many nights.

“I liked all our line combinations tonight,” Mazzoleni said Saturday. “I thought they all played very well.”

EMERGING YOUTH

It took Maki 26 games to score his first collegiate goal. He didn’t have to wait nearly as long for his second.

Maki scored for the first time in a Crimson sweater at 1:18 of the third period Friday night, then added career goal No. 2 late in the second period on Saturday.

The 6’2, 195-pound Maki has five points this season, but more importantly seems to have found his niche as a power forward with hands. You might call him a slightly smaller version of Packard, the 6’5, 215-pound senior who has gradually developed into one of the ECAC’s best defensive forwards.