UNH also regularly skates on an Olympic-sized rink at its home arena, the Whittemore Center, which should give the Wildcats a slight edge over Harvard, which rarely plays on a large sheet and will be forced to make the necessary adjustments.

Weaknesses: UNH’s defense isn’t quite as bad as its offense is good. But it’s close.

The Wildcats have allowed 2.70 goals per game and have surrendered four scores or more in 10 of their 40 contests thus far this season, hitting their nadir in a 9-8 loss to Dartmouth on Jan. 12.

Coach Dick Umile has alternated his goaltenders throughout the season, rotating freshman Kevin Regan and junior Jeff Pietrasiak every other game. Neither has distinguished himself and each has a goals-against average well above 2.00.

Pietrasiak is particularly streaky. He has posted the Wildcats’ only two shutouts this year, but has also given up five tallies or more three times, including all nine of the Big Green’s.

If Umile stands by his rotation, though, Regan will likely get the start tomorrow. Either way, UNH has little to fall back upon in the event that its offense runs into a brick wall in Dov Grumet-Morris.

Perhaps worst of all for the Wildcats, they have posted just a 2-4-2 record against tournament teams since Feb. 4, a discouraging indicator heading into single-elimination play with Harvard and Denver likely on the radar.

Key To Victory: If the past two weekends are any indication, UNH would be best served by getting to the net and depriving goaltender Dov Grumet-Morris of his space.

St. Lawrence, Colgate, and Cornell each went out of their respective ways to repeatedly bump into Grumet-Morris and knock him to the ground, which, at least in the ECAC’s final weekend, made the Hobey Baker candidate appear awfully uncomfortable at times in net.

And as the Big Red proved in last weekend’s ECAC championship game, screening Grumet-Morris is the key to scoring on the Crimson.

Though Cornell was able to notch one of its three scores in a 2-on-1 break, Grumet-Morris didn’t see either of the other two tallies from the point.

Regardless of whether that strategy is successful, UNH must dictate the pace of play and knock the Crimson defense back on its heels.

Though that matchup doesn’t lean in either direction, preventing Harvard’s offense from gaining any traction will be crucial to a Wildcats victory and a shot at advancing to the regional final.

DENVER: THE DEFENDING CHAMPS