Harvard freshman Jon Pelle and linemates Charlie Johnson and Andrew Lederman were not affected by Friday night's lineup shakeup.

Rust wasn’t the only reason that several of Harvard’s forwards passed as though they’d never played alongside their teammates on Friday night.

In many cases, they actually hadn’t.

Frustrated by his team’s performance at the Dodge Holiday Classic and in practice, Crimson coach Ted Donato ’91 scratched senior Rob Flynn and sophomore Kevin Du, in their places inserting freshmen Dave Watters and Alex Meintel into the lineup.

Donato then shuffled his third and fourth lines to produce two new trios, each with three skaters who do not regularly see time together.

“I was just trying to give us a little life,” Donato said. “I didn’t think we played very well the last couple of games, and guys that are working hard in practice and deserve an opportunity—I’m going to reward guys with the way they perform. I want it to be a competition at all times out there.”

While the new combinations—Meintel, Dan Murphy and Ryan Maki, in particular—generated a handful of quality chances, the Crimson lacked the offensive punch present during its 10-game undefeated streak the closing months of 2004.

ZEROES REWARDED

Just before Christmas, Harvard goaltender Dov Grumet-Morris earned his first shutout of the season, posting 37 saves against Northern Michigan in the Dodge Holiday Classic.

The fruits of his labor? A tie.

“Obviously, when your team throws a shutout, you expect to win,” Grumet-Morris admitted after his team was relegated to the consolation round by a sudden-death shootout.

Against Cornell, though, the Crimson rewarded Grumet-Morris for the clean slate with a 1-0 victory. The senior now has seven shutouts in his career, leaving him just two shy of Harvard’s record.

“It was a good goaltender’s duel,” said Big Red coach Mike Schafer. “Both goaltenders made huge saves when they needed it.”

Indeed, Grumet-Morris made the lone tally of the night stand up with a closing-minute stonewalling of the increasingly pressed Cornell offense.

“The majority of their Grade-A [chances] came in the third period, power play opportunities, and they pressed very hard at the end,” he said.

With 27 saves, the netminder improved his record to 8-4-2 and dropped his goals-against average down to 1.78, fourth in Division I.