Power (Station) Plays at Bright Center

"Some like it hot, and some sweat when the heat is on," Power Station

Make that first "some" Yale and that second "some" Harvard, and you've got a fair picture of tonight's men's hockey game at Bright Center.

When these two teams first faced off back in November, the site was cozy Ingalls rink, superheated to help the ponderous but powerful Eli forwards turn the corners into a matched set of hydraulic presses that spat out flattened Crimson players all evening.

The result was a 7-5 Crimson loss and a bad start for a Harvard squad that had been ranked in the top four in the nation before it had played a single game.

At 7:30 tonight, the rivals go at it again. The Crimson is rejuvenated, now 10-4-1 overall (10-2 in the ECAC and 5-1 in the Ivy League). The squad is ranked in the top five nationally and sits atop the ECAC with more than half the league schedule played.

The Elis have been falling since their opening-day victory over Harvard.

"We've gone downhill since then," Yale Coach Tlm Taylor says. "We haven't played with the same emotion or intelligence."

The Elis are now 12-6 overall, fifth in the ECAC at 8-4 and 4-2 in the Ivy League after losses to Princeton and Cornell. The Bulldogs have also fallen out of the national polls after several weeks in the second five.

And, if we believe Power Station, the Elis will be the ones sweating tonight. Cozy little Bright Center will be cooled down to give the Crimson the slick ice it needs to skate circles around the hulking Elis,

Bright should be packed to the rafters. All reserved seats have long been sold out and the standing room tickets that go on sale before the game should go quickly.

And regardless of the crowd, regardless of the cool ice, the players will be plenty heated for a battle that has come to be one of the biggest on the Harvard schedule.

"We're confident we can knock Harvard off," Eli Captain Scott Webster says.

"I don't think there's a doubt in anyone's mind that we should win this game," Crimson Captain Scott Fusco says.

The Crimson lost the last showdown between the clubs thanks to six power play goals by the Elis. The Crimson took 10 penalties and paid for most of them.

Since then the Harvard power play has found itself and the Crimson has upped its penalty killing percentage to over 71 percent with 15 straight penalty kills.

"It's gonna come down to power plays," Taylor says.

Because of exams, the Crimson hasn't seen action since its 7-0 rout of St. Lawrence three weeks ago. And traditionally, Harvard has not done well in the game immediately following the break, posting only a 7-7 record during Coach Bill Cleary's tenure.

But this year's club sees only the positive aspects of its long recess.

"The rest has given us a chance to heal," forward Tim Smith says. "And I think it has helped us get things in perspective. Everyone's hungry again. The intensity is back."

And the more than 3000 roaring spectators will add to that intensity.

"When the fans are very vocal it's like having a sixth skater out there," Smith says.

"We haven't lost at home all year." Fusco adds. "The crowd gets you pumped up a little."

A team on a slide is unlikely to beat Harvard at home--something Yale hasn't done in three years. But the Elis may stem the Crimson tide by abandoning their aggresive tactics for a more tempered strategy.

Yale has been burned recently on power plays and doesn't want to fall into the same trap against Harvard, especially with top ECAC guns Fusco (11 goals, 21 assists) and Allen Bourbeau (14 goals, 14 assists) blasting shots on the Eli net.

"I played with Scottie in high school," Webster says. "We respect his speed."

To win, Yale must limit the number of Crimson power plays while capitalizing on its own one-man advantages.

But that would mean committing few penalties, not an easy task for a physical squad like Yale.

"They're a big team and they'll try to bang us up," Harvard forward Lane MacDonald says.

For its own part, the Crimson must stop Yale scoring threats Bob Logan (15 goals, 15 assists) and Randy Wood (16 goals, 14 assists) while overpowering Eli netminder Mike Schwalb, owner of a 4.16 goals-against average.

Harvard goalie Grant Blair--who leads the ECAC with a 2.67 goals-against average--and the Crimson's swarming defense should be able to hold Logan and Wood in check.

And if, Smith, MacDonald and the notorious "Killer B's" (Bourbeau and forward Tim Barakett) have kept their shots tuned during the long layoff, Schwalb should get plenty of work.

"We're going to have to contain two great lines," Taylor says.

And if Taylor were betting on the game?

"Harvard has to be the favorite at this point," he says.