Harvard coach Ted Donato ’91’s message to his skaters this weekend was clear: Find the offense so visibly lacking in the Beanpot, and find it quickly.

Lines jumbled and its second-leading scorer benched, the No. 9 Crimson responded Friday evening, blitzing Clarkson for 42 shots on goal en route to a 5-0 victory before tossing the same numbers up on the scoreboard one night later in its 5-2 win over St. Lawrence, which clinched a first-round bye in the ECAC tournament.

“That’s the first stepping stone to getting that ECAC championship and also the automatic bid,” senior Andrew Lederman said. “We’ve got to just keep winning games.”

Any less and Harvard’s playoff outlook will take a decided turn for the worse.

Both No. 4 Cornell and No. 11 Colgate, with whom the Crimson is jockeying for position atop the conference standings, swept their respective series this weekend, negating Harvard’s four-point showing and all but locking up the top seed for the Big Red.

But thanks to a game in hand over the Raiders—tonight’s contest versus Brown—the Crimson could claim second with wins in each of its final three games regardless of Colgate’s results, and in so doing improve its standing with the NCAA tournament selection committee, since each of its remaining opponents qualifies as a “team under consideration.”

Just one loss, though, would likely relegate Harvard to third or fourth entering the playoffs and further jeopardize already fragile hopes for an at-large bid.

HARVARD 5, ST. LAWRENCE 2

The Crimson celebrated senior night in style before a sold-out crowd at the Bright Hockey Center Saturday, night, netting the first of its five goals just 2:59 into the opening frame before cruising to its eighth straight in-conference victory.

As against Clarkson, Harvard (17-7-2, 14-4-1 ECAC) dictated the pace of play throughout, peppering goaltender Mike McKenna with 13 shots from inside the circles alone, three of which resulted in goals.

“You’re not going to score goals unless you crash the net,” sophomore Ryan Maki said. “Pretty much all of our goals were right around the net. Everyone’s just working hard to get in there and go to the net, just doing what you’ve got to do.”

Maki—promoted to Harvard’s top line one day earlier—kicked off the scoring, battling to control a loose puck behind the St. Lawrence net which he subsequently fed to defenseman Tom Walsh at the point. The junior’s one-timer appeared headed well wide, but assistant captain Tom Cavanagh, perched in the slot, redirected the errant effort top shelf past McKenna to put the Crimson on the board less than three minutes in.

“It was nice,” Cavanagh said of his second tally in eight games. “It was just nice to start off the game with the lead. When you do that at home, it makes it a lot easier. And, it being senior night, it was special.”

Only McKenna’s stellar play between the pipes maintained that one-goal margin for the balance of the first period and prevented Harvard from making it any more special. Pressing to strike a second blow, the Crimson came tantalizingly close to sneaking another shot home, but the Saints netminder rebuffed both Dan Murphy and Tyler Magura from point-blank range within the first 9:15.

But in the face of Harvard’s relentless attack, McKenna’s success would be short-lived. Just 2:46 into the second, defenseman Peter Hafner’s wrist shot from inside the blue line kicked off a skater in front of the net and in, staking the Crimson to a 2-0 lead.