Action Jackson: Maine Damage Was Wreaked Early On

PORTLAND, Maine—The 6,894 fans at the Cumberland County Civic Center were expecting a sequel to last season’s playoff overtime thriller between current No. 1 Maine (13-1-2, 5-0-1 HE) and No. 11 Harvard (9-4-1, 9-2-0 ECAC). What they got instead were three early goals from the Black Bears and 45 minutes of Maine cruise control.

What promised to be an exciting game quickly lost its edge just 45 seconds in when Black Bear junior Colin Shields gave Maine a 1-0 lead it would never relinquish. A pair of power play goals built the Black Bears a 3-0 cushion by the 15:03 mark of the first period and the game appeared like a rout in the making.

Although the rout never materialized, it was fairly obvious after Maine’s third goal that this game was over. The Black Bears are a perfect 12-0-0 when scoring first and 10-0-0 in games scoring three or more times. Harvard has rallied just once and is 1-4-1 after the opponent nets the first goal.

“We knew coming in how good their power play was,” said Harvard coach Mark Mazzoleni. “So when you take five penalties in the first period and they pop two power play goals, that’s tough to come back from. We dug ourselves a major hole.”

That was unfortunate because it denied the fans a chance to see two good hockey teams play 60 minutes of competitive hockey. It also denied the Crimson a chance to further gauge its progress against top nonconference competition.

It is no secret that teams play very differently with the lead than when tied, and with a three-goal versus a one-goal advantage.

Since Harvard accumulated eight minutes of penalties in the first 14 minutes and trailed 3-0 by the 15-minute mark, there wasn’t much chance for the Crimson to skate with Maine at even strength while the score was close.

With a three-goal lead, the Black Bears tightened defensively and took fewer chances in the offensive zone. After taking 19 shots and attempting 30 in the first period, Maine recorded just 18 shots on goal through the final two periods.

In the third period, the Black Bears did not even make a credible effort to score, with six of seven shots coming from poor angles along the left-wing boards.

It would have been interesting to see how this game would have played out without the early penalties. It was a 2-2 game at even strength, and Harvard actually outscored Maine 2-1 through the final 45 minutes.

Since the Black Bears were protecting a lead, it would be wrong to read too much into those statistics, but it still proves that this game at least had the potential to be a close competitive contest.

It would have been nice to see.

Traffic Problems

The Crimson spent yesterday attacking Maine from the periphery.

Despite taking 34 shots on goal, Harvard had few quality scoring opportunities. The Crimson recorded 21 shots in the second and third periods but only three from inside the face-off dot.

Harvard failed to generate enough traffic in front of Maine freshman goaltender Jimmy Howard.

At the other end of the ice, sophomore goaltender Dov Grumet-Morris was screened, bumped, and distracted by the Black Bear forwards.

As soon as Maine gained the zone and established control, one of the Black Bears would immediately park himself squarely in front of Grumet-Morris.

The formula worked perfectly for Maine. The Black Bears fired 36 shots, including 19 in the first period, mostly through heavy traffic.

Whereas all four Maine goals came from sustained pressure in the offensive zone, Harvard needed to get both of its goals on the rush and failed to capitalize while cycling in the Black Bear zone.

One Line Too Many

Harvard coach Mark Mazzoleni deserves a lot of credit. His team, featuring five players averaging at least a point per game, stands at No. 11 in the country with a legitimate shot at back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances.

Nevertheless, you have to question Mazzoleni’s decision not to alter his line combinations when facing top-caliber opposition.

In conference play, the Crimson can roll four lines, get balanced scoring from its top three and expect to put up solid—often spectacular—offensive numbers.

In games against opponents that have been nationally ranked this season, however, Harvard is averaging just 1.2 goals per game.

As balanced as yesterday’s top three lines were, with 27, 30 and 34 points apiece on the season, they were equally ineffective.

When facing solid defensive teams, there is some point at which you have to abandon the pretense of balanced scoring and depth to get one or two lines that can consistently put the puck in the back of the net, regardless of the opponent.

—Staff writer Timothy Jackson can be reached at jackson2@fas.harvard.edu.