Harvard captain Dan Ford and the men’s hockey team shutout Bentley in the Crimson’s season opener on Saturday for a 3-0 win. Harvard, which is predicted to finish fifth in the ECAC, starts conference play on Tuesday night on the road against media-favorite Rensselaer.

Senior Raphael Girard recorded a 43-save shutout and sophomore forward Kyle Criscuolo scored two goals as the Crimson opened its season with a 3-0 win over Bentley.

Girard stood tall in the crease for the Crimson despite the visitors controlling the flow for much of the first and third periods. While Harvard’s skaters were able to force most of Bentley’s opportunities to the outside, the junior from Quebec carried the team at times and made several tough stops in the final minutes to preserve the shutout.

“I thought Raphael Girard was outstanding all night,” said Crimson coach Ted Donato ’91. “We can’t count on that kind of performance in the net every night.”

Four days earlier, Bentley had been limited to just 13 shots on goal in a 4-3 loss to No. 9 Quinnipiac. On Saturday, the Falcons managed to get more than three times as many pucks to the net, but met a goaltender who was on top of his game.

“He did make some great saves down the stretch that we needed, some tips from the outside that were big plays that we’re going to need our goalie to make all year,” Criscuolo said.

Harvard put the game out of reach for the Falcons with two goals spaced 13 seconds apart in the second period.

Tommy O’Regan provided Harvard’s first goal of the season just under 13 minutes into the second frame, directing a drop-pass in the slot from freshman center Sean Malone past the shoulder of Bentley goaltender Branden Komm.

Criscuolo struck moments later off the next face-off, intercepting the puck in the neutral zone and firing a shot that deflected off Komm’s helmet and off the back glass. Criscuolo recovered the rebound and put it between the pipes before Komm could locate the puck.

“It took a funny bounce off the goalie’s head, and I was lucky to put it in,” Criscuolo said. “We went out there [after the first goal] with the attitude just to get the puck deep.”

Criscuolo’s third goal came with just over three minutes left in regulation off a 2-on-1 break with freshman center Alexander Kerfoot. Kerfoot won a faceoff and carried the puck into the Bentley zone before connecting with Criscuolo in the slot.

While a broken hand kept Criscuolo out for the entire month of January last season, the sophomore looked healthier than ever on Saturday.

“[Criscuolo] got a little bit of a generous bounce on the second one, but I thought he was working,” Donato said. “I thought that second period he was tremendous.”

Harvard started slow despite three power play opportunities in the opening ten minutes of regulation.

“I thought that in the first period we were just sloppy,” Donato said. “We were a little bit selfish with the puck; we just didn’t have the puck-movement that we’ve had all week in practice.”

In the second period, the Crimson overcame inconsistencies and turnovers on both sides of the ice to generate opportunities with a game-best 19 shots in the middle frame.

Bentley’s frustrations mounted in the third as the Falcons put 17 shots on Girard to no avail. In the end, Girard skated away with his third career shutout.

In addition to Girard’s veteran strength in goal, the Crimson welcomed new offensive talent Saturday.

Kerfoot and Malone tallied key assists in their first NCAA game. The only two NHL draft picks in Harvard’s class of 2017 provided a glimpse of their dangerous playmaking abilities on the Crimson’s first and second lines, respectively.

“[Kerfoot’s] a through-and-through playmaker,” Criscuolo said of his new linemate. “He’s always looking to find different guys. He made me and [sophomore forward Jimmy] Vesey’s lives a lot easier out there.”

Harvard’s nine-player freshman class will figure prominently into its season this year. Freshman forwards Devin Tringale, Luke Esposito, and Phil Zielonka comprised the Crimson’s entire third line on Saturday.

Notable absences from Harvard’s line-up included junior defensemen Max Everson and Patrick McNally and goaltender Steve Michalek. Players who withdrew from Harvard mid-season will have to sit out a certain number of games at the beginning of the year in order to retain four full seasons of NCAA eligibility.

Harvard participated in a team lift immediately following their win. The Crimson will lose a day in the weight room to travel to RPI for its ECAC opener on Tuesday.

In upstate New York, Donato will look for a more complete game from his squad.

“I think [Bentley] looked like they were more game-prepared than we were,” Donato said. “It’s our first game, I guess, so that’s something to be expected, but we’re going to have to be a lot better. We’re going to have to keep improving to continue.”

—Staff writer Michael D. Ledecky can be reached at michael.ledecky@thecrimson.com.