Third-Period Collapse Dooms Men's Hockey in 6-5 Loss to BU

For 55 minutes, it looked as if the No. 5/4 Harvard men’s hockey team would be able to notch a statement win against its crosstown rival, No. 11/11 Boston University.

In the blink of an eye, it all slipped away.

Three Terrier goals over a 129-second span turned a comfortable two-goal lead for the Crimson into a one-goal deficit. BU associate captain Ahti Oksanen managed to find space in the slot and beat sophomore goaltender Merrick Madsen just over the left pad with less than two minutes remaining to complete the furious Terrier comeback, bringing the predominantly BU crowd to its feet.

“They’re an excellent team, and I think they showed that,” Harvard coach Ted Donato ’91 said. “I think there were times later in the game where we needed to respect that fact….and we didn’t enough, and that’s why it came back to bite us.”

Halfway through the third, the Crimson’s most potent goal-scoring duo connected to push Harvard’s cushion to 5-3 on a goal that seemed to put the Crimson (9-2-3, 4-1-3 ECAC) in cruise control for the rest of the tilt. Senior forward Jimmy Vesey skated behind the net and found classmate Kyle Criscuolo streaking in front of the crease, and Vesey’s fellow co-captain beat senior goaltender Sean Maguire glove-side to answer a Danny O’Regan goal that had cut the lead to one just three minutes prior.

But with 4:11 left in the contest, fifth-year senior Colin Blackwell incurred an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty along the boards that awoke the Terrier offense. BU (11-6-3, 4-3-2 Hockey East) capitalized on the ensuing power play, as captain Matt Grzelcyk cut the deficit to one with just 13 seconds into the man advantage on a slapshot from the point.

Less than a minute later, O’Regan stunned the Harvard bench with an equalizer. The Needham, Mass., native received a pass from defenseman Charlie McAvoy on the doorstep and calmly put it in the back of the net with Madsen drawn out of the crease by the defenseman from Long Beach, N.Y. Just over a minute later, Oksanen notched the game-winner.

“You just watched the game evolve, and we got better as the game went on,” BU coach David Quinn said.

O’Regan has a knack for scoring timely goals against the Crimson. The former Roxbury Latin standout delivered the game-winner in the 2015 Beanpot semifinals to eliminate his brother Tommy O’Regan ’15 from the annual tournament in his final season at Harvard.

“Danny O’Regan is a very talented guy,” Donato said. “He can pass the puck, he can score. He’s dangerous.”

Co-captain Jimmy Vesey scored the Crimson's first goal of the night on Thursday, but it would not be enough in a 6-5 loss to the Terriers. By Marinda R. Horan

The Crimson was unable to respond late as it did in Minnesota last Saturday to force an overtime period. Criscuolo found space streaking towards the net and tried to find Vesey in the waning seconds, but Vesey could not maintain possession, and the puck sailed out of the attacking zone just prior to time expiring.

“I had no clue what to expect tonight—the last game we played was the 12th of December,” O’Quinn said. “We haven’t had a practice as a full team for almost a month.... But we got better and better and stayed in the moment.”

Harvard’s response to Terrier goals was much different in the first half of the game.

Two times on the night, BU closed one-goal deficits on relatively weak scoring chances, with Madsen letting a weak wrister from Matt Lane slip through his legs to open the scoring for the Terriers in the second frame. On both occasions, however, junior forward Sean Malone stole the lead back within a minute of BU’s equalizers to push the Crimson back in front for the time being.

The Sabres prospect crashed the net on a rebound for his first and received a pass in front of the net from junior forward Tyler Moy for his second after the Nashville prospect drew multiple defenders with his drive towards net.

Harvard opened the game controlling the flow of the puck on offense, not allowing BU to register a shot on goal for the first 15 minutes of play. But despite the 18-2 shot differential in the first 20 minutes, the Crimson only managed one goal—a putback off the back boards from Vesey, his 10th of the season.

“Their goaltender made some enormous saves early on to keep the game within one or two,” Donato said. “I give them credit—they stuck with it and found a way.”

Harvard was unable to keep this pace for the rest of the game, however. The Terriers outshot the Crimson 20-8 in the third period to pull out the victory, snapping Harvard’s seven-game unbeaten streak.

—Staff writer Kurt T. Bullard can be reached at kurt.bullard@thecrimson.com.