Playoffs Offer Squad Chance to Start Anew

Following last week’s losses against Clarkson (8-22-4, 4-15-3 ECAC) and St. Lawrence (15-13-7, 9-8-5), the Crimson narrowly lost home-ice advantage for the first round of the playoffs.

As it kicks off postseason play this weekend in Princeton (12-14-3, 8-12-2) at Hobey Baker Rink, Harvard hopes to leave missed opportunities in the past and start the playoffs with a clean slate.

The two Ancient Eight rivals will duke it out in a best-of-three series beginning on Friday and ending with a third game on Sunday, if necessary.

At the end of the regular season, the ninth-seeded Crimson and the eighth-seeded Tigers were separated by only one point in the ECAC standings.

Their last two meetings in November and January ended in a 3-3 overtime draw and 2-1 loss for Harvard, respectively. Needless to say, this weekend’s game promises to be a close contest.

Considered the underdog by some, the Crimson is looking to learn from its previous mistakes and set the pace of game play early on in the series.

But defeating Princeton will be no easy task. The Tigers staged an impressive late-season run to capture the eighth and final home-ice slot, shutting out Harvard. Princeton has been ruling the ice of late, scoring 18 goals in its past three games—seven of which came during last Sunday’s performance against Brown.

To stifle the Tigers’ momentum, the Crimson will have to dictate play from the first drop of the puck and capitalize on power plays and third period chances, two of the weaker aspects of Harvard’s game this season.

“If we get off to a good start and really get on [Princeton] fast in their own zone, we should be able to shut down their momentum,” junior forward Michael Del Mauro said.

The Crimson plans to respond to Princeton’s dominant offense with resolute defense.

“Aggressive forechecks, getting out of the zone, catching the other team in transition, and finding odd man rushes will all be crucial,” junior defenseman Chris Huxley said. “But we have to focus on the defensive zone. We have to keep it in their zone. That way, they have no chance to score.”

Harvard also has an offensive force in freshman Louis LeBlanc. On Tuesday, LeBlanc, the team’s leading scorer, was named to the ECAC Hockey All-Rookie team.

LeBlanc has 21 points this season, and his 11 goals are a league-best for freshmen and sixth-best in the nation among rookies.

In the past three seasons, the Crimson is 2-4-1 head-to-head against Princeton but boasts the overall series record at 145-53-10.

Additionally, of the Ivy rivals’ two post-season encounters, Harvard has a 2-1 advantage.

The Crimson’s one postseason loss against the Tigers came in the 2008 ECAC League Championship, when then 15th-ranked Princeton outskated Harvard, 4-1, drawing the Crimson’s late-season comeback to a close.

Last season, Harvard similarly experienced a mid-winter slump and executed key victories towards the end of the season, entering the playoffs with high morale.

But much to fans’ dismay, the Crimson’s postseason ambitions unexpectedly hit a roadblock, as the Bears knocked Harvard out in the first round.

“Last year, we were a higher seed, and just took things for granted,” Huxley said. “Anyone can beat anyone on a given night. This postseason, we know we’re playing an offensively strong team. We’re just more prepared and need to get off to a strong start.”

This time around, the Crimson seeks a much higher finish.

“We’re coming into the first round of the playoffs with a great week of practice,” Del Mauro said. “We played hard last week, and if we really battle this weekend, I definitely think we can pull out two wins a row against Princeton.”