The Bobcats entered the game with the top penalty-killing unit in the nation, successfully fighting off 91.9 percent of opponents’ power plays. That percentage would only increase as Quinnipiac managed to kill all four penalties that it surrendered to Harvard.

In fact, over the course of the Crimson’s four advantages, Harvard could only muster four shots on net—all from sophomore forward Jimmy Vesey. With less than nine minutes remaining in the game, the Crimson finally generated a few scoring chances on its final power play, but the Bobcats maintained their one-goal lead.

“They’ve given a lot of teams trouble [on the penalty kill],” Harvard coach Ted Donato ’91 said. “It’s tough to even get the puck in the zone…They don’t miss a lot of opportunities on their clears, and there’s a reason why they’re the top team in the country [in that regard].”

Meanwhile, Harvard’s penalty-killing unit kept pace with that of its opponent. Carrying the 12th best penalty-killing percentage in the nation at 85.2 percent, the Crimson also staved off each of the Bobcats’ four power plays.

Tuesday’s showing marked a major improvement over the team’s performance on the penalty-kill against Boston University last Saturday. Harvard did fight off a BU power play in the waning minutes of regulation with the game on the line, but prior to that, the Terriers had scored on each of their first three man advantages.

Quinnipiac remains atop the nation in penalty-killing percentage after its strong performance against the Crimson, while Harvard’s four stops fittingly move the team up four spots into eighth place.

—Staff writer Jake Meagher can be reached at jmeagher@college.harvard.edu.