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Despite starting the season 3-0 going into a rivalry game against the Yale Bulldogs on Saturday, head coach Ted Donato thought that the No. 15 Harvard Men’s Ice Hockey team had only played “spurts of good hockey,” including Friday’s 5-2 triumph over Brown. However, after soundly defeating the Bulldogs 4-0, Donato saw signs that the team is starting to round into top form.
In their final home games until January 2023, the Crimson put up complete performances with an explosive power play, a smothering penalty kill, and strong team defense contributing to two convincing wins against ECAC Hockey competition, helping Harvard start 4-0 for the third consecutive season.
“I thought tonight was the first time we kind of put it together where we played fast, we simplified the game,” Donato said. “I think Yale came out strong as well, and I feel like we had to raise our intensity and I felt the guys did a nice job with that.”
HARVARD 5, BROWN 2
Despite struggling with slow starts during the preseason and the season opener against Dartmouth, the Crimson came out of the gates strong on Friday night, notching two power play goals in the opening frame. After killing off part of an early holding penalty to first-year defenseman Mason Langenbrunner, Harvard was handed just over a minute of power play time following an interference call on Brown forward Bradley Cocca, committed while the Bears were on the man advantage. The Crimson made the most of their abbreviated power play, quickly setting up into a 1-3-1 formation, and sophomore forward Matthew Coronato, stationed at the left faceoff circle, fired a hard pass into the slot, where junior forward Alex Laferriere redirected the puck past Brown goaltender Mathieu Caron for an early 1-0 Harvard lead.
“I think he was definitely harping on that all week,” said Laferriere regarding Donato’s emphasis on starting strong. “We have team meetings and stuff like that where we internally know that we have to do that in order to win games against good teams. And I think that's definitely something that we wanted to focus on this weekend.”
The Crimson power play and Laferriere struck again late in the first period, capitalizing on a tripping penalty called on Bears forward Zachary Tonelli. This time, a cross ice pass from Coronato at the left circle found junior forward Sean Farrell at the right circle, and Farrell quickly fed a soft backhand pass into the high slot, where Laferriere hammered a one-timer off the crossbar and into the net for his second goal of the game, extending the Harvard lead to 2-0. First-year goaltender Aku Koskenvuo, making his first collegiate start, only faced three shots on goal as the Crimson offense kept most of the play in the Brown’s defensive zone.
Early in the second period, Harvard kept the pressure on, as Caron was forced to make a series of key stops in the first minute of action, robbing Farrell of a sure goal while out of position during a chaotic netfront scramble and then denying Laferriere from point blank range with a strong glove save. However, just under three minutes into the second period, a poor line change by the Bears created open ice in the middle of the neutral zone, and senior defenseman and captain Henry Thrun found first-year forward Casey Severo for a breakaway. Despite being harassed by Brown defenseman Jackson Munro, Severo made a nice backhand-forehand move and roofed the puck over Caron’s glove for his first collegiate goal, stretching the Crimson advantage to 3-0.
Despite the deficit, the Bears did not go away quietly, answering back two minutes later. After a great play by Brown forward Gavin Puskar to keep the puck in the offensive zone and avoid an offsides, Puskar and forward Ryan Bottrill set up a give-and-go, with Bottrill sending a great pass through the slot to a cutting Puskar, who was able to tap the puck past Koskenvuo from right in front of the net, cutting the Harvard lead to 3-1. The Crimson maintained the edge in play throughout much of the second period, but Brown had a chance to get back into the game when Harvard was forced onto a 5-on-3 penalty kill halfway through the period. However, Koskenvuo and the penalty kill locked down, preventing any further damage and maintaining a 3-1 edge going into the third period.
“It's a commitment to try to put pressure on the other team, and we're blessed to have some defensemen that not only are strong but they’re fast,” Donato said regarding the penalty kill. “They're able to force the other team into some mistakes and we're in a position where we try to use a good number of guys on the kill to stay fresh and be able to put pressure on teams.”
Early in the third period, the Bears had another chance to get back into the game when Langenbrunner was penalized for tripping, giving Brown a critical power play opportunity. But the Crimson snuffed out the threat with the penalty kill and Koskenvuo keeping the Bears out of the net; after a Brown player fell down in the offensive zone, Coronato and Farrell broke out on a 2-on-2 rush, with Farrell flying past the Bears defense and sliding the puck through Caron’s legs for a shorthanded goal, his first goal of the season, and a 4-1 lead for Harvard. Brown answered just over a minute later when forward Nathan Plessis outmuscled the Crimson defense for a loose puck and found forward Lynden Grandberg in front of the net for the tap-in goal, cutting the Harvard lead to 4-2. However, strong shot blocking and goaltending kept the Bears at bay, and first-year defenseman Ryan Healey secured three points for the Crimson with a late power play goal, tallying his first collegiate goal and sealed the 5-2 victory.
HARVARD 4, YALE 0
The Crimson dominated the first period right from the opening puck drop, outshooting the Bulldogs 13-1 in the first 20 minutes. Only four minutes in, Laferriere, coming off a two-goal performance on Friday against Brown, broke into the offensive zone and found linemate sophomore forward Alex Gaffney speeding down the left wing. Gaffney accelerated to the net and fired a hard wrist shot through the legs of Yale goaltender Nathan Reid, giving Harvard an early 1-0 lead. The Crimson kept their offensive attack moving after the early goal, with first-year forward Philip Tresca narrowly firing a one-timer from the slot wide to Reed’s left, and several other chances enabled by big rebounds allowed by Reid. With just over six minutes remaining, the line of Laferriere, sophomore forward Zakary Karpa, and Gaffney struck again, as Laferriere made a power move to force his way down the right wing and behind the net. He then fired a behind-the-back pass to Gaffney, who shot the puck off of Karpa’s leg and into the net, extending the Harvard advantage to 2-0 going into the first intermission.
“I think last year, obviously being a first-year in college hockey, you’re kind of a little nervous, don't wanna throw the weight around a little bit, but then you kind of know what you have to do in the offseason,” Laferriere said. “I put on a lot of weight in the offseason, so I think I'm just trying to use that to my advantage now.”
The Crimson’s offensive onslaught continued in the second period, backed by a raucous student section, with Harvard recording a 47-17 advantage in shot attempts at the end of two periods of play. Less than a minute into the period, first-year forward Joe Miller connected with Coronato for a breakaway chance, but Coronato hit the post to keep the Crimson lead at 2-0. The line of Farrell, Miller, and Coronato continued its strong play with a behind the net feed from Farrell to Miller in front of the net, but Reid was able to slide across to make the save. Just over five minutes into the period, Harvard’s red-hot power play had a chance to extend the lead, but the Bulldogs’ penalty kill was able to keep the Crimson at bay, largely keeping Harvard outside of the prime scoring areas. At even strength, however, the Crimson attack kept humming, as Laferriere bodied a Bulldogs defender off the puck before finding Langenbrunner in the high slot for a shot that hit the right post, and first-year forward Marek Hejduk’s wrap around after a burst of speed around the net just missed the far post. Laferriere and Hejduk produced strong shorthanded chances midway through the period, and Hejduk was able to tally his first collegiate goal after a great hand-eye play along the boards enabled him to race in for a breakaway, putting Harvard up 3-0. The Crimson also picked up a power play goal at the end of the period, as Laferriere maneuvered to the slot and roofed a backhand over Reid’s shoulder, giving Harvard a 4-0 lead at the end of the second period.
“It's obviously really fun to have all of them there supporting us,” Thrun said regarding the student turnout. “Obviously, Harvard-Yale is something far bigger than just our game on Saturday night. It's been a rivalry for hundreds of years. So I think to just be a part of that is something pretty unique.”
Despite taking three penalties in the third period, the Crimson’s penalty kill was up to the challenge, keeping Yale off the board and only allowing the Bulldogs to tally six shots on goal in the period, for a game total of 10. Coronato, Farrell, and Miller continued to click, as Farrell hit Harvard’s third post of the night after receiving a great pass from Coronato. Yale was able to generate more offense in the third period than it had all night, with Bulldogs forward Ian Carpentier also hitting the post just after a Yale power play had expired. However, despite only facing four shots on goal through two periods, senior goaltender Mitchell Gibson stayed sharp in the third period, making some strong saves with his pad to preserve a shutout performance and a 4-0 Crimson victory. After the game, Laferriere was awarded the Tim Taylor Cup, given to the best player in the Harvard-Yale hockey game played at Bright-Landry Center every season.
“It feels pretty good, I think I got lucky with a couple good plays by [Alex Gaffney] tonight,” said Laferriere after winning the Taylor Cup. “He played really well, Karpa played really well. So those guys definitely helped me out tonight.”
The Crimson will be on the road next weekend for two ECAC games, as it will take on the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Engineers on Friday before facing the Union College Dutchmen on Saturday. The team will not return to Bright-Landry Hockey Center until New Year’s Day, when it takes on the Northeastern University Huskies.
-Staff writer Aaron B. Shuchman can be reached at aaron.shuchman@thecrimson.com.
