But Grumet-Morris attempted to shuffle the puck into the corner rather than freezing for a draw inside the Harvard zone, and when Lush beat Reese to the passing lane, Grumet-Morris stood little chance.

The Golden Knights’ captain tucked the puck inside the left post, and all of a sudden, the Crimson was down 2-0 with just 2:29 remaining in the first.

Grumet-Morris saved the remaining six shots he faced over the final two periods, after seeing 10 in the first, thanks in large part to a tightened Harvard defensive effort following junior Tom Cavanagh’s equalizing tally.

“Guys sacrificing their bodies,” senior Dave McCulloch said, “that’s the kind of thing that makes the goaltender’s job a lot easier.”

And as the defense fell back to help, Grumet-Morris’ confidence came back. Never restless despite the extended periods of inactivity at his end, he wasn’t going to be caught off guard or beaten again, making sure that two was as high as the Golden Knights’ tally would climb.

It wasn’t what Mazzoleni expected, and it certainly wasn’t the performance Grumet-Morris wanted. But no one ever said the goaltending variable had to be optimized, nor that there would be nothing to offset Grumet-Morris’ troubles.

And in the end, that final calculation, 4-2 Harvard, was all that mattered.

—Staff writer Timothy J. McGinn can be reached at mcginn@fas.harvard.edu.