It wasn’t the No. 11 Harvard men’s hockey team’s prettiest effort of the year. Not by a long shot. But the Crimson shook off two week’s worth of rust, a handful of questionable decisions by the officials, and a couple of unlucky bounces to down St. Lawrence 2-0 Friday night at the Bright Hockey Center and take a 1-0 lead in its best-of-three ECAC quarterfinal series.

“We were a little rusty because we hadn’t played in a while, obviously,” Harvard forward Mike Taylor said. “We didn’t have our best game today.”

And it showed throughout much of the second period. The Saints (17-18-2, 9-12-1) hemmed the puck in at the Crimson end and repeatedly tested Harvard netminder Dov Grumet-Morris, drawing two penalties in the process and a 5-on-3 at 11:42.

Though that two-man advantage came to nothing, St. Lawrence kept the Crimson (19-8-3, 15-5-2) back on its heels in the immediate aftermath of the minor’s expiration before generating its best chance of the evening.

With Harvard scrambling, Saints forward Kyle Rank, positioned behind the net, teed up linemate Max Taylor, who was uncovered in the slot.

His one-timer appeared headed for the underside of the crossbar, but Grumet-Morris snapped his glove back behind his shoulder to snare the goal-bound puck at 14:37, keeping St. Lawrence off the scoreboard.

Moments later, Saints forward T.J. Trevelyan was assessed a five-minute major for contact-to-the-head elbowing at 15:18, draining St. Lawrence of its momentum and handing control back to the Crimson. Just under a 90 seconds into the power play, Harvard forward Charlie Johnson swooped through the Saints’ zone, then dropped the puck off to captain Noah Welch at the blue line. Welch wasted little time in giving it right back to Johnson at the left faceoff circle, where the junior skated in and buried the game winner top shelf inside the far post at 16:44.

“I think the save [Grumet-Morris] made on Taylor in the second period was as good a save as you’re going to see,” Crimson coach Ted Donato ’91 said. “And, really, we go down and score on the power play two or three minutes later, and arguably that was the turning point in the game.”

Though still down a skater, St. Lawrence responded by ratcheting up the pressure in the Harvard zone—and on Grumet-Morris—twice knocking the Crimson goaltender down in pursuit of loose pucks, much to the chagrin of his teammates.

In the final 69 seconds of the period, four penalties were assessed—two charges for the Saints and two roughing calls against Harvard skaters protecting Grumet-Morris.

That intensity continued into the third as St. Lawrence continued to swarm Grumet-Morris’ cage. The Saints manufactured seven shots on net from the area immediately beyond the crease, including a wrap-around effort from Trevelyan he was so certain was in that he raised his hands in premature celebration. But Grumet-Morris was, in every instance, up to the task, recording 10 saves in the period—33 overall—en route to his school record sixth shutout of the season.

“We had some opportunities, like I said, but just couldn’t get the second and third chance,” St. Lawrence coach Joe Marsh said. “You’re not going to beat Dov on a lot of the first ones.”

And as the clock passed below seven minutes to play, the Crimson finally provided Grumet-Morris a little bit of breathing room just in case. Taylor stripped Trevelyan along the wall in the Saints’ zone, then dished the puck to fellow freshman Jon Pelle as he streaked towards the net. With a deft touch, Pelle lifted his shot over McKenna’s far shoulder and in to seal the victory. The goal was less the product of careful design than simple good fortune, both rookies admitted.

“I probably shouldn’t even have been out there,” said Taylor, who had hopped on the ice just as Donato called for the line after his to rotate in. “But I kinda looked back, and I said, ‘I’ve gone too far.’ So I just went down there and I got the puck and Pelle was breaking. He did most of the work.”

“I wasn’t supposed to be out there,” Pelle added. “Steve Mandes had had a long shift, and his line was out there and they needed a right wing so I just jumped out there. I came in a little bit late and Taylor made a great play on the forecheck forcing the turnover, made a great pass to me on my tape and I was just able to shovel it in.”

The Crimson was not so lucky in the opening period, failing to convert on either of two bona fide scoring opportunities.

Minutes after senior Brendan Bernakevitch bounced a one-timer off the post—missing a wide-open net in the process—Harvard’s stepped up pressure forced a turnover at the St. Lawrence blue line and a subsequent scramble in front. St. Lawrence netminder Mike McKenna attempted to guide the puck wide, but succeeded only in handing possession to Harvard forward Charlie Johnson at the left faceoff circle.

His wrist shot slipped between McKenna’s legs and trickled across the goal line just before referee Dan Murphy whistled the puck frozen. But because Murphy had no view of the puck and the red light had yet to come on, the officials disallowed the score at 9:55, leaving the two sides knotted at zero.

“They had some pretty good chances,” Marsh said. “I think we were fortunate to dodge a couple of bullets there in the first period.”

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