{shortcode-63380a3a231a104f7e783ee34dfa10ec33c88f83}

­While most of its ECAC opponents were competing in the first round of the conference tournament last weekend, the No. 2 Harvard men’s hockey team was enjoying a well-deserved bye week—its first week off since winter break gave the Crimson a four-week hiatus between games.

“I think the challenge is always trying to stay sharp,” Harvard coach Ted Donato ’91 said. “We went very hard when we did go, but I think we mixed in plenty of days off...I thought it was well-earned for the guys and we wanted to make sure they were rested and fresh.”

Among the teams in action was Yale (13-13-5, 7-11-4 ECAC), whose 2-0 sweep of Dartmouth earned the Bulldogs a best-of-three series this weekend at the Bright Landry Hockey Center. The two historic rivals will play games 255, 256, and—if needed—257 of their all-time series in what will be their fourth ECAC playoff meeting over the past six seasons.

In its most recent playoff clash with the Bulldogs, the visiting Crimson (22-5-2, 16-4-2) stole a double-overtime victory in Game 3 and bounced then-third seed Yale from the tournament as part of its 2015 ECAC championship run.

“I would put [that Game 3] up there...amongst [my] top most memorable moments,” Donato noted nostalgically. “The length of the series, the closeness of the games, all the emotions that were at stake…. Familiarity breeds contempt, as they say.”

By Sunday night, the teams will know which foe is headed to Lake Placid to vie among the ECAC’s final four for a Whitelaw Cup and an automatic NCAA tournament bid.

This weekend’s matchup was made possible in part by Princeton junior Eric Robinson, who scored a last-second goal with the Tigers on the brink of elimination in Game 2 of their first round series against Colgate. The strike forced overtime, and Princeton, after forcing a third game with an extra-frame winner, seized the deciding contest from the Raiders.

Because the Bulldogs finished behind the other three first-round victors, Princeton included, they head to Cambridge this weekend for a dance with the well-rested Crimson, owners of the top seed in the ECAC tournament for the first time since 1994.

“We tried to find a good balance, I think. We definitely got some rest days,” said co-captain Devin Tringale about the team’s bye week. “But we did put in some good work…. It wasn’t too much of a rest week, but we definitely were smart and are a little bit healthier because of it.”

Harvard has reached the ECAC finals in each of its past two campaigns, emerging victorious over Colgate in 2015, and looks to return to the big stage at Herb Brooks Arena once again. The Crimson owns a 10-4 overall record against the Elis in the tournament and an 8-1 mark when hosting the ECAC playoff matchup. But before this year, Harvard had not beat the Bulldogs during the regular season since 2012.

“In the past, [Yale] has had some really good defense and goaltending,” Tringale reflected. “I think that our strength and our depth allows us to infiltrate that a little more than we have been able to in the past. Having said that...when it’s Harvard-Yale, anything can happen.”

Concluding the campaign with a 10-game winning streak and over a month of unbeaten play, the Crimson finished the regular season with the NCAA’s highest winning percentage at .793 and posted a league-best goal margin of +57.

Harvard’s sheer dominance this season was further underscored when it swept the Ivy League end-of-season awards: sophomore forward Ryan Donato earned the Player of the Year accolade, freshman blue-liner Adam Fox received Rookie of the Year honors, and Donato was recognized as the Ivy League’s premier bench boss.

Co-captain Alexander Kerfoot and junior netminder Merrick Madsen joined in the ceremony of the Crimson’s regular season, as they earned spots alongside Donato and Fox on the All-Ivy first team.