Friday Night Frenzy: Men’s Hockey Conquers The Tigers In Overtime

Fresh off a massive upset on Tuesday, Harvard men’s ice hockey earned another storybook ending, putting down the Princeton Tigers 3-2 in overtime while shorthanded, thanks in no small part to exceptional netminding from freshman goaltender Rudy Guimond.

Captain Matthew Morden’s game-winner gave the Crimson (4-2, 2-1 ECAC) an important leg up over the rival Tigers (2-3, 0-3), who split the season series with Harvard last year. The victory builds momentum for a squad looking to rebound under new head coach Rob Rassey, while continuing Princeton’s conference misfortunes.

The Crimson and the Tigers played to the tune of a chippy opening period, highlighted by exceptional play from Guimond, who registered 13 saves. Going into the season, reinforcement between the pipes was a focal point for Harvard — standout junior goaltender Ben Charette started all 34 games last year — so Guimond’s performance was a welcome sight.

Freshman forward Justin Graf found the first dangerous scoring opportunity, facilitated by sophomore forward Richard Gallant and junior defenseman Lucas St. Louis. The blueliner fired a stretch pass to Gallant, who made an impressive between-the-legs dish to Graf, but the Lincoln, Mass., native couldn’t capitalize.

The Crimson lit the lamp not long after, though. Nine minutes in, freshman defenseman Alex Huang circled the top of the point and fired a quick wrister towards Princeton senior goaltender Arthur Smith. Huang’s shot then deflected through traffic before finding the stick of senior forward Ben MacDonald, who tipped it past Smith’s left pad to make it 1-0.

Guimond stood on his head to keep the Tigers from immediately responding, which was an issue in Tuesday’s thriller against BU. After receiving a centering pass from senior forward Michael Young, freshman defenseman Ethan Mittelsteadt tried to stuff a shot past Guimond, but to no avail.

Princeton took a volume-first approach to offense throughout the contest, testing Harvard and Guimond early and often in search of equalizers.

The end of the opening frame saw a burgeoning pace with odd-man rushes for both sides. The Tigers created a three-on-one opportunity, which was again snuffed by Guimond, before Crimson junior forward Mick Thompson created a three-on-one of his own with a spinning dish to captain Michael Callow, who was stoned by Smith accordingly.

While Harvard started picking up steam, both teams struggled to maintain consistent puck possession. The game remained choppy and physical, highlighted by quick transitions and north-to-south play.

Princeton freshman forward Jake Gudelj got the best chance of the frame off a broken play in front of Guimond. Sophomore forward Seamus Latta deflected a shot from captain Ian Devlin, and the rebound then found the stick of Morden. However, Morden was pickpocketed by Gudelj, whose eventual try took two deflections off Morden and the left post before somehow staying out — much to the dismay of the hometown crowd at the Hobey Baker Rink.

After both squads exchanged rush opportunities and even better saves, Harvard’s fourth line, which has been incredibly effective to date, scored the insurance marker. With his line buzzing and the Tigers reeling, sophomore forward Aidan Lane tallied his team-leading fifth goal of the season off a centering dish from St. Louis, extending the Crimson’s lead to two.

Much like the first period, the game opened up in the closing minutes, with Smith notably denying Callow thrice in tight on one end and Guimond stopping Latta at the other.

Harvard blinked first in the final frame, though. A defensive miscommunication between Callow and sophomore defenseman Drake Murray led to Princeton freshman defenseman Max Lavoie gaining possession at the blue line. With the Crimson out of position, Lavoie’s subsequent shot gave senior forward Joshua Karnish an uncontested rebound in front of Guimond. The netminder had no chance, and Karnish made no mistake, cutting the lead to 2-1.

Amidst the host’s growing momentum, coach Rassey leaned on the fourth line of Lane, junior forward Justin Solovey, and fellow junior forward Will Hughes to establish a strong forecheck. Later, in the final six minutes, the group had yet another strong shift, with Lane nearly finding his second of the game off a turnaround attempt.

With time waning and desperation rising, freshman forward Shaan Kingwell and Lavoie poked around Guimond’s pads looking for a rebound, leading to a physical altercation. Crimson senior forward Ryan Fine was sent to the sin bin along with Karnish, which initiated the game’s third four-on-four.

Seizing the moment, Tigers head coach Ben Syer pulled Smith with over three minutes remaining, and his gamble paid off. After multiple Harvard tries at the empty net, Kingwell was left all alone in the left circle, where the forward rifled the puck perfectly over Guimond’s shoulder, knotting the game at two apiece.

But the Friday the 13th madness was far from over. Crimson standout sophomore forward Heikki Ruohonen, who has been snakebitten thus far this season, was denied by Smith at the left post before Callow took an unfortunate high-sticking infraction in the last two seconds, putting the visiting team on the back foot heading into overtime.

In sudden death, Guimond came up big yet again, giving Solovey a shorthanded breakaway on the other end of the ice. Crashing towards Smith, the junior was tripped up by Mittelstaedt and lost control of the puck. Seeing the referee’s hand go up to indicate a penalty, Princeton’s defenders were lulled to sleep, and Morden took advantage, roofing the loose puck past a stunned Smith for the game-winner, sending Harvard’s bench into a frenzy.

The Crimson will look to continue its winning ways with a tough ECAC matchup against No. 5 Quinnipiac (7-2, 2-0) on Saturday, Nov. 14. The game will be available to stream live on ESPN+.

—Staff writer Kai I. Russell can be reached at [email protected].