ALBANY, N.Y.—Happy Birthday, Jimmy Howard. But weren’t you supposed to be the one receiving gifts, not coughing them up?

Maine’s star netminder—who turned 20 on March 26, the day of the NCAA East Regional Semifinal—had little time to celebrate, coming under heavy fire from Harvard’s feisty forward lines during the opening minutes of the first period. The Crimson whipped 17 shots at Howard during that initial frame, preventing the sophomore from settling in between the pipes.

For the opening 15:42, though, the much-hyped Howard lived up to his billing as the nation’s top goaltender, preternaturally snagging slapshots ripped high to his glove side; with shoulders squared to the puck as it moved cross-ice, he left little room for a rebound and even less to sneak the puck across the line.

But when Harvard’s power-play unit skated its first shift, that technical precision quickly collapsed under the scrutiny of five shots launched in quick succession. With Crimson skaters angling for position at Howard’s doorstep, the Black Bears’ bulwark allowed soft shots to trickle free for second and third opportunities.

As the man advantage passed its midway point, freshman Kevin Du lifted a rebound off the doorstep and sent it behind the net to sophomore Charlie Johnson, who redirected the puck to freshman Dylan Reese at the right circle. Reese’s one-timer snuck over Howard’s far shoulder, and the meltdown was on.

The goal was just the ninth Howard had allowed in more than 700 minutes of action—all of them coming on the power play—but he was clearly unsteady, pacing uneasily in his crease in an attempt to reclaim his confidence after the tally.

But the suddenly fidgety Howard could hardly stand still, let alone reel in a loose puck. On the Crimson’s next scoring opportunity, Brendan Bernakevitch poked home his own rebound to extend the Harvard lead to two while ending Howard’s even-strength shutout streak, active since Dec. 5.

“We got traffic to the net,” Crimson coach Mark Mazzoleni said. “No goaltender handles all his rebounds and I thought we were able to get our stick, if you want to call it, in the paint and create second-chance opportunities. And we scored on them.”

Howard would never recover, allowing two more power-play goals and several additional rebounds before being pulled for the first time in his career at the conclusion of the second period.

The four goals allowed equaled his worst performance of the season, against Boston College on Nov. 7, and the total for his last seven games.

PENALTY KILLED

While it was Bernakevitch’s even-strength tally that rattled the normally-unflappable Howard, the Crimson’s potent power-play unit brought Maine to the brink of defeat, converting on three of four opportunities.

“I thought we were very well prepared for them,” Mazzoleni said. “We attacked them the way we wanted to.”

From its first chance late in the first period—capped by Reese’s goal—through its fourth opportunity three-quarters of the way into the second, Harvard crisply worked the puck through the Black Bears zone despite the best efforts of Maine’s speedy defenders to breach the passing lanes.

Those carefully crafted passes yielded ample time for Crimson sharpshooters at the point to pick and choose their moments, rather than rushing to simply throw anything they could manage on net. Though none of the resulting efforts found the twine, the attempts handcuffed Howard on more than one occasion, creating scramble opportunities in the crease.

Already overwhelmed by Harvard’s puck movement, the Black Bears’ defenders consistently lost the battle for those rebounds to the Crimson’s crashing forwards, further complicating Howard’s task.

Bernakevitch, senior Dennis Packard and freshman Ryan Maki all earned lunch-pail goals from just outside the goalmouth off rebounds surrendered by Howard, who was left helpless when his blue liners were beaten to the net by Harvard’s skaters.

“That was ideal,” Maki said. “We knew we had to get things going on the power play, but I don’t think it was expected.”

The Crimson made a concerted effort as shots were released to dominate positions that provided unfettered access to Howard, ensuring there would be a logjam in front at every opportunity. Relatively small compared to Harvard, Maine could do little to help its goaltender once a skater was placed in the box, so the Black Bears made the one adjustment they could: They stopped committing penalties.

Infraction-free for the entirety of the third period, Maine undercut the Crimson’s primary point of attack and never looked back.

SHOT DOWN

As the playoffs unfolded, blocking shots emerged as Harvard’s calling card defensive strategy thanks to Crimson skaters who more effectively cut down on lanes to Dov Grumet-Morris than at any other point this season.

Against Dartmouth and Clarkson in the ECAC’s championship weekend, Harvard dropped low to the ice to weather difficult stretches while easing the burden on goaltender Grumet-Morris’ shoulders.

Back on its heels during the middle 10 minutes of the first period against the Black Bears, the Crimson relied on the same tactic, stopping 13 of 33 shots squeezed off before they ever came close to threatening Grumet-Morris, who already had his hands full with 15 that did find their way on target.

“It’s nice to see guys coming together and doing whatever it takes,” Maki said, “[especially] blocking shots.”

The junior netminder eased into his comfort zone as a result, despite two shaky performances in NCAA tournaments past in which he had averaged five goals against.

But Maine did not relent in applying heavy pressure, firing 55 more shots in the game’s final two periods. Of those, Harvard blocked 11—still a sizeable percentage of the Black Bears’ total output—but 31 found their way to Grumet-Morris, leading to five goals.

SHIPPING OUT

Five days after his final game as Harvard’s captain, Kenny Smith signed an amateur tryout contract with the Toronto Roadrunners, the AHL affiliate of the Edmonton Oilers, who drafted Smith in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft.

While not a full contract, the agreement allows Smith to join the Roadrunners for the remainder of the season. Smith said he will most likely not see game action, but will gain professional experience before next season’s training camp.

The Roadrunners have three regular season games remaining and should qualify for the Calder Cup playoffs, which last about two months. Smith will remain enrolled in the University and plans to graduate in the spring.

“So far, my teachers have been accommodating and I will stay [with Toronto] as long as I can,” Smith said. “I won’t let my grades or graduation come into jeopardy.”

Smith had four goals, seven assists and a minus-1 rating in 34 games this season, but had one of the team’s highest plus-minus ratings (plus-6) after exams. He posted an 11-30—41 line in 121 career games.

BRIEFLY

The loss was Harvard’s first in eight games. Entering the contest, the Crimson shared the nation’s longest winning streak with Maine at seven. The Black Bears extended theirs to nine with an overtime win against Wisconsin the following evening...Dylan Reese’s goal was his first collegiate tally.

—Staff writer Jon Paul Morosi contributed to the reporting of the story.

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