Junior Colin Blackwell led a balanced Crimson attack, tallying his first two scores in over two years.

UPDATED: March 7, 2015, at 12:35 a.m.

The Harvard men’s ice hockey team entered postseason play on Friday with a new look on its second line. So far, it looks good.

In just his second game on the Crimson’s second line after an extended injury, fourth-year right wing Colin Blackwell scored twice as sixth-seeded Harvard (16-11-3, 11-8-3 ECAC) beat 11th-seeded Brown (8-19-3, 5-14-3), 6-2, in Game 1 of the first round of the ECAC tournament. Junior forward Jimmy Vesey also had two goals and an assist to help the hosts pull away early.

“We were able to play with a lead and play an intelligent hockey game,” Crimson coach Ted Donato ’91 said. “[We did] not have to reach and take a lot of chances once we got the lead.”

After drawing an interference call on a rush up the wing, Blackwell found the back of the net for the first time in months. The San Jose Sharks draft pick fed sophomore linemate Luke Esposito at the point and then collected Esposito’s rebound in the slot before beating Brown sophomore goaltender Tim Ernst glove-side.

It was Blackwell’s first goal since Jan. 9, 2013, when he scored the tying mark in a 6-5 Harvard comeback at Boston University. Blackwell missed all of the 2013-2014 season and all but three games of the 2014-2015 regular season with concussion-related symptoms.

“He’s gone through a lot of trials and tribulations,” Brown coach Brendan Whittet said. “I don’t feel happy that he scored two on us, but you’re always happy when a kid can overcome those scary concussion symptoms and issues.”

Blackwell’s second of the night was another high-skilled tally—a near side finish from the right circle that put the Crimson up, 5-1, with under 11 minutes left in regulation.

“It is a credit to him that without the amount of games that it would take somebody to stay sharp, he’s worked very hard to play at that kind of speed and with that kind of skill,” Donato said. “It’s a tribute not only to Colin but also to the training staff.”

With the emphatic return of one star, Harvard lost another. Sophomore Alex Kerfoot left the game late in the first period after colliding with a player in the Brown zone and would leave the arena in a right sling.

An upper body injury in the first game of last year's conference tournament forced the first-line center to miss postseason play last year. His status for the rest of this tournament is unclear.

“I guess we’ll probably check in the morning, but hopefully it’s not too bad,” Donato said.

Criscuolo opened the scoring at 3:57 on the power play, tapping in a cross-crease feed from Vesey at the left post.

Vesey connected on a one-timer in the left slot a period later off a behind-the-goal-line feed from classmate Brian Hart. Sophomore defenseman Clay Anderson set up Vesey’s second strike—a breakaway from the blue line—with a stretch pass at the Crimson goal line at 14:15 in the third period.

“He’s been remarkably consistent,” Donato said of Vesey, who was named the Ivy League’s Player of the Year on Thursday. “You expect great players to be important at this time of year, and he certainly was great tonight.”