Said Danis: “That one, I should’ve had.”
The Crimson went up 3-1 about four minutes into the third on a vintage Cavanagh play. The native son (Warwick, R.I.) used his speed to turn a center-ice 3-on-2 into a 2-on-1 by the time he worked into the left circle. From there, he fed longtime linemate Tim Pettit, who hammered his ninth of the year into an empty top-shelf.
“It was one of those things where we read off each other,” said Cavanagh, who has a team-leading 32 points. “Timmy always goes to the net hard.”
With Cavanagh’s younger brother playing in the Rhode Island state tournament, his father Joe ’71—one of only two three-time All-Americans in Harvard hockey history— was the only member of the family at yesterday’s game. But he came away with plenty to tell his other eight children about, as Tom started the Crimson’s fourth scoring play, as well.
On the power play, he drew two men up toward the blue line before chipping the puck along the boards to Kolarik in the corner. Then it was tic-tac-toe from Kolarik to Dylan Reese to Brendan Bernakevitch, who was open on the doorstep for a gimme goal and 4-1 lead with eight minutes left.
Harvard finished 2-4 on the power play, only the third time this season it has scored twice on the power play. “We have so many weapons,” Welch said. “We’re finally using them all.”
Brown (15-10-5, 13-7-2 ECAC) had a 13-7 edge in third-period shots on goal, but scored only once, on Robinson’s power-play goal in the final minute. Harvard (15-14-3, 10-10-2) is over .500 for the first time since Dec. 13.
Grumet-Morris (28 saves) benefited from a bounce late in the first period when Nick Ringstad hit the post of an empty net. But aside from that and Robinson’s two goals, he had another strong effort that further distanced him from his early- and mid-season doldrums.
“He knows it, we know it: Dov had some tough times this year,” Kolarik said. “But the kid’s a warrior … He’s more polished now, and he’s really stepped up his game.”
Danis, meanwhile, finished with 23 saves. “Yann played OK,” said Brown coach Roger Grillo.
Friday was the most goals Danis has allowed in seven career games against Harvard. His previous high was three (along with an empty-netter) in Game 1 of the 2002 ECAC first-round series, a 4-1 Crimson win.
The night after that, of course, was Danis’ famed 66-saver. In other words, don’t bet on two straight down nights for Brown’s brilliant backstop.
“We’ll have to be better tomorrow night,” Cavanagh said.
—Staff writer Jon Paul Morosi can be reached at morosi@fas.harvard.edu.