That was before the Black Bears staged an offensive tour de force in the third.

About four minutes into the period, Jon Jankus found Mike Hamilton open, high in the slot. A quick wrister later, and it was a 4-2 game.

Twelve seconds later, a goal-mouth scramble in front of Grumet-Morris resulted in Tyler Kolarik going off for obstruction-holding. Things went from bad to worse when, in arguably the game’s most critical non-scoring play, Rob Fried was whistled for slashing on the same shorthanded rush on which Kevin Du nearly restored Harvard’s three-goal lead.

That gave the Black Bears 35 seconds on the 5-on-3. Just after Kolarik rejoined the play Prestin Ryan picked up a rebound in the slot and made it 4-3.

The momentum had shifted completely and permanently.

"When it was 4-2, it was fine," Mazzoleni said. "When it was 4-3, they really started to come at us...and we didn’t have an answer. That’s the bottom line."

Grumet-Morris admitted he saw Ryan’s shot, but said he was screened on the tying and winning goals.

The first came from Michel Léveillé, with only 7:13 left in the third. In transition, he pulled up just after he crossed the blue line. It deflected off a skate—maybe two or three—and beat Grumet-Morris low to his left side.

Heartbreak came with 4:10 remaining. Kolarik had the chance to play a loose puck along the boards, but unknowingly turned the wrong way. That fed Moore, who dug it out from the dasher and fired a slapper that eluded Grumet-Morris low to his left side.

Bedlam in the Black Bear section. Dead, foreboding silence for the Crimson contingent.

The change in mood wouldn’t have been so striking if it hadn’t have been so strong the other way mere minutes before. Harvard was playing its best hockey of the season and getting contributions from everyone.

How about Reese? The freshman from Pittsburgh hadn’t scored a goal all season. But playoff hockey tends to make heroes out of the unlikeliest players, and here was Reese, sending a just-barely-good-enough snap shot over the purportedly error-free glove of Howard with 2:59 left in the first.

As unexpected as Reese’s goal was, Harvard’s second goal was equally shocking.

Howard had not allowed an even-strength goal in his last 11 games, dating all the way back to a Dec. 5 outing against Merrimack. That changed with 16.5 seconds left in the period, when top-line hosses Dennis Packard and Brendan Bernakevitch bull-rushed the net. Bernakevitch followed Packard’s shot in front with his 11th goal of the season and team-leading 11th postseason point. Any mystique Howard had left after the first goal was gone.

How about this for a first period summary: