JONNIE ON THE SPOT: Harvard Set To Make Playoff Run

After four months of random-walk hockey, Harvard’s icemen have found their way.

For a moment, let’s forget about Friday’s 6-4 loss to Vermont, a nightmare of special teams shortcomings and bonehead penalties. Saturday night is worth savoring. The Crimson played aggressive, mistake-free hockey, from start to finish, against a quality opponent for the first time all year, ending Dartmouth’s six-game unbeaten streak with a 4-0 shutout.

Before a Senior Night crowd at Bright Hockey Center, Harvard displayed a suffocating, opportunistic forecheck, lock-tight defense and dazzling goaltending. In contrast to Friday, captain Kenny Smith didn’t see his mates taking “dumb penalties.” The chemistry among the forward lines was unmistakable, the penalty kill relentlessly efficient.

“That,” Smith declared, “is the type of stuff that wins championships.”

Of course, it did take them a full regular season—29 games, 13 of them losses—to figure it out, but let’s not be nitpicky. This is like writing a couple awful thesis drafts before finally saying what you want to say, precisely how you want to say it. The Crimson Cadillac may have been grimed up for four months, but after Saturday, it’s looking shiny and spit-polished.

The win was a collaborative effort of the highest degree. Just look at the goal-scorers: Charlie Johnson (two goals), Kevin Du and Ryan Maki. That’s a sophomore and two freshmen. Three guys you might call role players, and they’re scoring against one of the league’s best teams. We’ll call that a good omen.

Of course, they didn’t do it by themselves. Tom Cavanagh had a nice backhand feed to set up Johnson’s first goal. The other three directly resulted from point shots by defensemen Dylan Reese, Tom Walsh and Ryan Lannon.

Everyone got in on the act. There was Dennis Packard, blocking a slapshot with his hand. There was five-foot-nuthin Steve Mandes, mixing it up with 6’5 Hugh Jessiman. There was the fourth line of seniors Rob Fried, Blair Barlow and Kenny Turano, skating, agitating and defending superbly.

And then there was goaltender Dov Grumet-Morris. Friday, he was shaky. Saturday, he was scintillating. Harvard coach Mark Mazzoleni called him “the difference in the game.”

By the time every deserving player had been patted on his rear, the list of contributors was longer than your friends list on thefacebook.com.

And, unlike third-period comebacks at Union and Yale, they didn’t just turn it on for the last 20 minutes. This was Harvard hockey, the way we all knew it could be played, from end-to-end, buzzer-to-buzzer. “The elusive 60-minute game we’ve been talking about for so long,” said the relieved captain Smith. “The guys were willing to do anything to win.”

‘A LACK OF DISCLIPLINE’

After a season of frustration, underperformance and question marks, this team gave us a glimpse into its awe-inspiring potential Saturday night—which, of course, makes games like Friday night’s that much more frustrating.

Harvard took a slew of ill-advised penalties against the Catamounts—22 minutes in all—and surrendered three power play goals, as well as the first shorthanded goal against the Crimson in over two years.

Three penalties were for hits after the whistle. Two were for unsportsmanlike conduct. Junior Noah Welch, an all-American defenseman last season, was hit with a roughing double-minor after landing a right hook or two in a scuffle with Jaime Sifers.

Smith admitted his team showed “a lack of discipline.” Mazzoleni apparently agreed.

He sat Welch against Dartmouth. “You know why,” Mazzoleni said.

On Saturday, Harvard allowed the Big Green eight power plays, including two five-on-threes. Dartmouth had half of its 40 shots on goal while up a man.

But the difference between the two nights was threefold: First, the penalties on Saturday were aggressive, not over-the-top. Second, the penalty kill was exceptional. And third, Grumet-Morris played one of his best games of the season.

If this is any indication, the Crimson is capable of playing with an edge and taking a good penalty or two, because its penalty kill and goaltending are good enough to bail it out. And, as long as the Charlie Johnsons and Kevin Dus are there to support the Tom Cavanaghs and Tim Pettits, you can bank on three or four goals a game.

So how does Albany sound for the third weekend in March?

‘DESPERATION HOCKEY’

Oh, right. The playoffs. How quickly we forget that Saturday night’s goodwill is good for nothing if the Crimson can’t turn it into a tournament run.

Vermont will be back in town Friday for a best-of-three series. To a man, Harvard players are happy with the draw—but not because they expect the Catamounts to roll over. No way. Because of past and present events, the Crimson knows the opposite to be true.

UVM has won five of its last six and, even as the No. 11 seed, could be one of the tougher teams in the tournament. On top of that, the Cats have a penchant for first-round upsets. As a 10th-place team in 2001, they eliminated top-seeded Clarkson. And last season—again as the No. 10 seed—they swept the seventh-place Golden Knights on the road.

Adding to that is the residual chippiness from Friday’s game. Both sides pawed at (and sometimes punched) one another after whistles, and UVM took nine penalties of its own. That physicality gives a healthy sense of rivalry to the series. After all, what’s playoff hockey without one team disliking the other?

The Crimson must be careful, though, not to get too caught up in the extracurricular activity. Harvard lost Friday because it played into Vermont’s hands and was often caught retaliating by referee Joel Dupree.

And who can blame the Catamounts for throwing bones the Crimson’s way? In two games against Harvard this season, they’re 6-13 on the power play.

So it wasn’t good for Welch to get himself into trouble Friday and have to watch Saturday’s game from the press box. But he’s a smart guy. He knows how talented he is, and how it hurts his team when he’s in the box, rather than on the ice. You can bet he’ll adjust accordingly this weekend.

The Crimson will also need Grumet-Morris to be at his best. It was no accident that Harvard lost when he struggled Friday, then won when he shined Saturday. In the ECAC, a league that includes four of the top six scoring defenses in the nation, goaltending is your meal ticket. Grumet-Morris was living proof of that two years ago, when he had a 1.70 goals-against average, .932 save percentage and 4-1 record in Harvard’s run to the NCAA tournament. After a 40-save shutout on Saturday, he could be primed for a similar postseason performance.

But more important than any one player will be the Crimson’s ability to play consistently over the course of two (or three) nights. Harvard did not sweep a regular-season weekend this season—the first time that has happened since 1996-1997—and if it can’t win two of its next three games, the coming-out party will end only a few days after it started.

Of course, the possibility of losing wasn’t even a thought outside the Crimson dressing room Saturday night. There, Harvard players—especially the seniors—wore their biggest smiles of the season. These were real, genuine, ear-to-ear grins, brimming with relief and confidence.

They knew they had just put together a masterpiece, after months of papers balling up in the waste basket. And, with consecutive NCAA appearances in their back pockets, they were keenly aware—and confident—about what comes next.

“We play our best hockey when we play desperation hockey,” said senior Tim Pettit. “Now it has to be that way. We’re playing for our season for the rest of the way.”

—Staff writer Jon Paul Morosi can be reached at morosi@fas.harvard.edu.