Crimson Stalled By Penalties, Inability to Convert in Offensive Zone

Harvard and Quinnipiac combined for 60 penalty minutes, 22 power play opportunities, and three power-play goals in the Bobcats’ 5-2 win on Friday night. Harvard amassed 28 penalty minutes and Quinnipiac had 32 in the Bobcats’ first-ever ECAC game.

Twice the Crimson was forced to play five-on-three after back-to-back penalties landed two Harvard skaters in the box. Each time, Quinnipiac responded with a power play goal—once with a five-on-four, just four seconds after Dylan Reese returned to the ice, and then once with the five-on-three, to go up 4-2 at 14:56 in the third period.

“As a team, we took too many penalties,” junior defenseman Dylan Reese said. “Their chances came off of us being shorthanded and two men down. I think they had four minutes of five-on-three. What are you going to do about that?”

And when Harvard did have the man advantage, the Crimson had just as much trouble keeping people out of the box. Harvard spoiled three power-play opportunities with whistles of its own Friday and then another one Saturday against Princeton.

“I think we shot ourselves in the foot the last two games,” Crimson coach Ted Donato ’91 said after a 2-1 win over the Tigers. “You can’t keep killing penalties and expect to, one, win, and two, score goals on your own.”

YOUTH SERVES, SAVES

Two Quinnipiac rookies shined in their ECAC opener Friday. Freshman forward David Marshall tallied the game’s first goal just over one minute into the contest and added another unassisted goal in the second period to put the Bobcats up 3-1.

“This was a big step for Quinnipiac tonight,” Marshall said. “Hopefully tonight caught the eyes of other people in the ECAC.”

Freshman goalie Bud Fisher earned his fifth win with a dominant 35-save performance against the Crimson. Fisher allowed just one power-play tally and kept cool when Harvard peppered him with 15 first-period shots.

POWER RANGERS

Harvard went on the power play 12 times against the Bobcats and six times against Princeton, but the Crimson scored just two man-advantage goals on the weekend.

Harvard had plenty of time in the offensive zone Friday, but the Crimson was hard-pressed to find the back of the net. The Quinnipiac defense collapsed on the net in each short-situation, blocking shots and limiting Harvard’s chances on rebounds from the net.

“We didn’t take what they gave us,” Donato said. “We had plenty of opportunities to shoot and we didn’t get enough pucks back. They made us shoot through them and get the pucks and rebounds and we weren’t able to do it.”

MR. HOCKEY

NHL legend Gordie Howe, 77, dropped the ceremonial first puck Friday in the Hartford Civic Center, delighting a crowd that had long mourned the departure of city’s NHL Whalers.

Howe played for the WHA’s New England Whalers from 1977-1979, and after the NHL-WHA merger, he played the 1979-1980 season for the Hartford Whalers. He was 51 at the time.

“There was a lot of stuff going on tonight, with Gordie Howe here—that was really special for the players,” Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold said.

BROKEN WING

Junior Ryan Maki did not travel with the team this weekend because of “a nagging injury,” according to Donato.

Junior Brendan Byrne and freshman Bill Keenan saw time on the fourth line as a result, the former Friday and the latter Saturday.

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

—Staff writer Aidan E. Tait can be reached at atait@fas.harvard.edu.