NOTEBOOK: Lineup Shakeup Doesn't Last for M. Hockey

Rust wasn’t the only reason that several of Harvard’s forwards passed as though they’d never played alongside their teammates on Friday night.

In many cases, they actually hadn’t.

Frustrated by his team’s performance at the Dodge Holiday Classic and in practice, Crimson coach Ted Donato ’91 scratched senior Rob Flynn and sophomore Kevin Du, in their places inserting freshmen Dave Watters and Alex Meintel into the lineup.

Donato then shuffled his third and fourth lines to produce two new trios, each with three skaters who do not regularly see time together.

“I was just trying to give us a little life,” Donato said. “I didn’t think we played very well the last couple of games, and guys that are working hard in practice and deserve an opportunity—I’m going to reward guys with the way they perform. I want it to be a competition at all times out there.”

While the new combinations—Meintel, Dan Murphy and Ryan Maki, in particular—generated a handful of quality chances, the Crimson lacked the offensive punch present during its 10-game undefeated streak the closing months of 2004.

ZEROES REWARDED

Just before Christmas, Harvard goaltender Dov Grumet-Morris earned his first shutout of the season, posting 37 saves against Northern Michigan in the Dodge Holiday Classic.

The fruits of his labor? A tie.

“Obviously, when your team throws a shutout, you expect to win,” Grumet-Morris admitted after his team was relegated to the consolation round by a sudden-death shootout.

Against Cornell, though, the Crimson rewarded Grumet-Morris for the clean slate with a 1-0 victory. The senior now has seven shutouts in his career, leaving him just two shy of Harvard’s record.

“It was a good goaltender’s duel,” said Big Red coach Mike Schafer. “Both goaltenders made huge saves when they needed it.”

Indeed, Grumet-Morris made the lone tally of the night stand up with a closing-minute stonewalling of the increasingly pressed Cornell offense.

“The majority of their Grade-A [chances] came in the third period, power play opportunities, and they pressed very hard at the end,” he said.

With 27 saves, the netminder improved his record to 8-4-2 and dropped his goals-against average down to 1.78, fourth in Division I.

And as for his .942 save percentage? It leads the nation.

WHISTLE WOES

Schafer was loathe to criticize the referees after Saturday’s game, though he did admit that it was “real tough to get things going with all the penalties.”

The Big Red drew three penalties in the first period, while the Crimson went unwhistled. Harvard had skated on four power plays before Cornell was granted its first, though neither team would convert with the man-advantage all night.

“I don’t know. It’s hard to get in the flow of a hockey game, especially offensively,” Schafer said. “I don’t think we saw our first power play [for a long time].”

“But I’ll stay away from commenting on the officials tonight,” he concluded.

SLAPSHOTS

With wins over Union and Rensselaer, No. 14 Vermont leapfrogged the Crimson for first place in the ECAC. Harvard, which has played two more league contests than the Catamounts, sits one point behind...The Crimson followed up a 1-for-6 performance on the power play against Colgate with an 0-for-5 showing against Cornell, dropping its conversion rate from 23.1 to 21.3 percent, 10th-best nation wide...Friday night’s officiating conjured images of the season’s opening weeks, when referees doled out penalties at a high rate to crack down on obstruction. Harvard and Colgate combined for 17 penalties on the evening.

—Staff writer Timothy J. McGinn can be reached at mcginn@fas.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer Rebecca A. Seesel can be reached at seesel@fas.harvard.edu.