Role Reversal

In a weekend that saw two shutouts on the Bright Hockey Center’s ice, the No. 14 Harvard men’s hockey team (4-3-1, 3-3-1 ECAC) looked impressive in a 3-0 win over St. Lawrence but looked decidedly less so in a 3-0 loss to Clarkson the following evening.

That loss snapped a three-game winning streak for the Crimson, which despite preseason prognostications of greatness stands tied for third place in the ECAC. All three of Harvard’s losses this season have come on home ice.

Clarkson 3, Harvard 0

In stark contrast to Harvard’s win over St. Lawrence was the team’s blanking at the hands of goaltender Dustin Traylen and the Clarkson Golden Knights (6-4-3, 3-3-1). The Knights 3-0 win marked the first time the skaters from Potsdam, N.Y. have ever shut out the Crimson.

Harvard fired 31 shots at Traylen, five more than the number they sent at Saints goalie Mike McKenna, but the team was unable to find the back of the net.

“I thought our goaltender played very well tonight,” Clarkson coach George Roll said. “He made some key saves, especially early on during the five-on-three in the first period. He gave us some momentum.”

“It comes down to your goaltender...[Traylen] made some unbelievable saves,” Roll said.

Traylen was helped, in large part, by Harvard’s inefficient power play, which recorded nine shots on six man-advantages, and resulted in no goals.

“It’s very difficult to score when you don’t capitalize on the power play,” Harvard coach Mark Mazzoleni said. “We had a five-on-three situation in the first period. We had numerous opportunities thereafter, and we didn’t finish.”

The first opportunity that Mazzoleni referenced was an extended Harvard power play in the early moments of the first period. At 4:04, Clarkson’s Mike Nagai was whistled off for holding, and he was joined in the box right after when Chris Brekelmans was whistled for roughing. The two penalties gave the Crimson 1:32 of a five-on-three advantage, but the Crimson couldn’t capitalize and Clarkson gained confidence and momentum thanks to its strong penalty killing.

“I don’t know how many power plays they had, but I really thought our penalty kill did a great job,” Roll said.

Before coming up empty against Clarkson, Harvard’s power play had begun to look like the potent unit of a year ago, scoring a special teams’ goal against St. Lawrence and two against Boston University.

“[Clarkson] played really aggressive,” Crimson captain Kenny Smith said. “They were all over us in all three zones.”

That pressure showed in the number of odd-man rushes that the Knights had on junior goaltender Dov Grumet-Morris, who came up with two spectacular saves on breakaways to hold Clarkson to one goal and to keep Harvard in the game.

The Golden Knights first got on the scoreboard in the first period when their own power play unit took advantage of a failed clear. Junior center Mac Faulkner fired a pass cross-ice to Chris Blight at the face-off circle on the left, and Blight one-timed a hard shot over Grumet-Morris’ right shoulder.

Clarkson added its second goal off the stick of right winger Jay Latulippe at 16:55 in the third, and Latulippe added empty-net insurance with 14 seconds to go.

All in all, though, it wasn’t the Crimson’s defense or its goaltending that had Harvard on the sour side of a 3-0 decision, but rather the team’s inability to convert on special teams.

“You’re not going to win many games when you don’t score a goal,” Mazzoleni said.

Harvard 3, St. Lawrence 0

Grumet-Morris made 26 saves to record the shutout and sophomore winger Charlie Johnson and senior winger Tyler Kolarik assisted on each other’s goals as Harvard posted a 3-0 win over St. Lawrence (3-10-3, 2-5-0) Friday night for its third consecutive win.

Johnson finally broke through with the game-winner with one second left on a carry-over power play 14 seconds into the second period after the Crimson let 14 shots fly at McKenna without scoring in the first.

Johnson got his stick on a slapshot from senior defenseman Dave McCulloch and deflected it by McKenna. Kolarik also assisted on the play.

The goal was Johnson’s third of the season. All three have come on the power play. Harvard has scored five power-play goals this season.

Meanwhile, Grumet-Morris kept St. Lawrence off the score sheet even though the Saints found room to operate behind his net in the first period and then tested him several times in the second.

Grumet-Morris was forced to slide across his crease to stop a one-timer from Kyle Rank on a St. Lawrence power play early in the second and made a big save after a Harvard giveaway just a few minutes later.

“I thought it was [Grumet-Morris’] best game of the year,” Mazzoleni said. “He was in total command of the position.”

The Crimson has allowed just two power-play goals in its last five games. Its opponents are 2-24 on the power play during that stretch.

The shutout was Harvard’s first since a 5-0 blanking of the Saints on March 1 of last season.

The Crimson has outscored St. Lawrence 14-1 in the teams’ last three meetings.

Senior winger Dennis Packard gave Harvard a 2-0 lead at the 13:44 mark of the second off an assist from classmate and linemate Tim Pettit.

The Crimson added a third goal at 18:29 of the third period when Johnson broke in alone on McKenna. McKenna made the save off the initial shot, but Johnson slid the rebound to the following Kolarik, who deposited it in the back of the net.

After the game, the Harvard players agreed that while it wasn’t their most aesthetically pleasing performance, they didn’t mind too much.

“Did I think we were incredibly sharp? No. I’ve seen us play better,” Kolarik said. “I just thought we competed. There’s no secret to Harvard hockey. When we compete, we’re a tough team to beat.”

—Staff writer Alan G. Ginsberg can be reached at aginsber@fas.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer Timothy M. McDonald can be reached at tmcdonal@fas.harvard.edu.