The Falcons ended Harvard’s streak at 17:01 in the second period with a 5-on-3 power play goal on a redirect from sophomore forward Max French. However, the Crimson penalty kill gave Bentley few opportunities to score on the 5-on-4, turning away all five of the visitors’ chances.

“I thought we did a good job on the 5-on-4,” Donato said. “The 5-on-3…we thought we could pull it out…but [Bentley] made a nice tip. I think that’s a good hockey team, and we were happy to get out to a lead and really establish the way that we wanted to play.”

Donato likes to say that junior goaltender Steve Michalek is Harvard’s best penalty killer. Michalek took the first star of the game with a 28-save effort, a steady performance that has become commonplace for the Minnesota Wild draft pick this season.

The Falcons forced Harvard to play a more even game in the final two periods. Both Donato and Horton see plenty of room for improvement as the team enters a challenging nonconference road double at No. 2/3 Boston University and No. 5/5 UMass-Lowell.

“It was a good game, [but] it wasn’t exactly the way we want to be playing,” Horton said. “We know we can play better."

—Staff writer Michael D. Ledecky can be reached at michael.ledecky@thecrimson.com. Follow him on Twitter @mdledecky.