Special Teams Failures Prove Especially Critical, Dooming Harvard to Last Place

Once known for the strength of its special teams, the Harvard men’s hockey team was not-so-special in last night’s 4-1 loss against Northeastern in the consolation round of the Beanpot Tournament at TD Garden.

Although the Crimson had six man-advantage opportunities, including 86 seconds of 5-on-3 play, Harvard failed to score on any one of its chances, and only managed to tally three shots during twice as many power-play moments.

“I don’t think we were sharp on the power play, and at times we looked disorganized in what we were trying to do,” said Crimson coach Ted Donato ’91. “ We certainly were able to get the puck in control, but weren’t able to get the shots and get traffic and second and third opportunities.”

Northeastern, on the other hand, scored both a power-play goal and a shorthanded goal in its 4-1 thumping of the Crimson.

Called for back-to-back penalties with under five minutes left in the first period, Northeastern gave Harvard nearly a minute and a half of 5-on-3 play.

It would seem that the Crimson had a clear upper hand, but the squad only got one shot on net—a slapshot from the top of the right circle by sophomore Michael Biega—before the Huskies went on a clearing spree, sending the puck past the blue line three times to kill the first penalty.

Still holding a 5-on-4 man-advantage, Harvard’s special teams tried to establish its forecheck, but Northeastern winger Tyler McNeely picked up another clear, skated up the left boards and centered himself for a shorthanded goal, giving the Huskies a 1-0 lead over the Crimson.

“We had taken one penalty after another, back-to-back, to give them a 5-on-3, and obviously that’s not how you want to start a first period against any team, but Tyler’s goal was big,” Northeastern coach Greg Cronin said. “I mean, those shorthanded goals are bonus points, and I thought our team responded really well after that.,,Tonight, we were a little sluggish, but that goal obviously woke us up a bit. We got a little sloppy in the second, but that goal was a big goal.”

Despite Harvard’s additional opportunities, the Crimson’s special teams couldn’t capitalize on a single power play goal—nor could it stave off the Huskies, whose Wade MacLeod scored a third-period goal during another man-advantage play, boosting Northeastern’s lead to 3-1.

The Huskies’ goaltending was a big factor in Harvard’s power-play shutout. Northeastern netminder Chris Rawlings made 27 saves overall, and kept the puck close in those stops to limit the Crimson’s rebound attempts.

“We just didn’t move the puck and weren’t able to get shots through, but when we were, I thought Rawlings was solid,” Donato said. “He didn’t give us a lot of second and third chances.”

“The penalty kill has been terrific since [Rawlings] has been playing well, and usually the penalty kill runs through the goaltender,” Cronin added.

But Rawlings’ strength alone cannot explain Harvard’s struggle on the power play, as last night’s poor performance on special teams was not a one-time occurrence, but, rather, continued a season-long slump.

The Crimson currently holds a .175 conversion rate on the man-advantage, compared with the .226 average conversion rate of its opponents.

On top of that, Harvard’s combined special teams percentage (.418), which takes into account penalty kills and power play goals, is at the bottom of the Ivy League.

Compared to its historical strength on both sides of the power play—the Crimson was ranked second in the Ivies for the last two seasons, with combined special teams percentages of .544 in ’07-’08, and .552 in ’08-’09—Harvard’s current performance on special teams is dramatically sub-par.

That’s not to say that the Crimson hasn’t had its moments. Last Friday, Harvard killed 10 of 11 penalties and knocked in three power-play goals in its 5-2 victory against Brown.

But overall, the Crimson’s special teams has been lackluster. With a failure to capitalize on power-play chances and inconsistency on the penalty kill, it comes as no surprise that Harvard’s third-period rally was not enough to overtake the Huskies, leaving the Crimson in last place amongst its neighborhood rivals.

—Staff writer Courtney D. Skinner can be reached at cskinner@fas.harvard.edu.