Big Green Gets Payback in Hockey Opener

HANOVER, N.H.—The last time Harvard faced off against Dartmouth, the Crimson offense exploded and the defense held firm in a 10-1 thrashing of the Big Green.

In the season-opening rematch, the score was once again lopsided, but this time it was Harvard (0-1, 0-1 ECAC) on the short end of a 5-2 score on Friday night at Thompson Arena.

With the officials calling frequent penalties, especially in the early going, it became evident that performance on the power play would play a large part in determining the final score, and the Crimson was unable to take advantage of any of the opportunities it received.

“They just made us struggle with the puck and struggle to make plays,” captain Dylan Reese said. “That’s what a good [penalty kill] does, but we should have been more prepared.”

During the first period, Dartmouth (1-0, 1-0 ECAC) was whistled for four penalties to the Crimson’s two, but Harvard found itself unable to apply offensive pressure despite having the extra man. Even when down two players, the Big Green was able to gain the offensive edge, launching several shots on goal during a 5-on-3 Crimson advantage.

“Not only did we not score, but we didn’t really create chances,” Harvard coach Ted Donato ’91 said of his team’s performance during the 5-on-3, adding, “We got outworked.”

While the power play remained problematic for the Crimson throughout the contest, Harvard was able to net the game’s first goal during a 4-on-4. When Dartmouth defender John Gibson mishandled the puck in his own zone, freshman winger Jimmy Fraser was there for the takeaway, sending the puck into the right side of the net at 9:34 for a 1-0 Crimson advantage.

From that point on, however, it was almost all Big Green. Dartmouth would tie the score before the period ended, then tack on four second-period goals to put the game out of reach.

“It just took the wind out of our sails,” Reese said. “The intensity was there, but we just played like individuals, and we really didn’t do all the things a team needs to do to win.”

Harvard did finally manage to break through on the power play 11:12 into the second period, but it required a lucky bounce in order to do it. Senior forward Ryan Maki set up along the left side and sent the puck skittering across the goalmouth, where it ricocheted off of a Big Green skate and across the goal line.

The score temporarily brought the Crimson within one at 3-2, but Dartmouth would respond with two goals under a minute apart to dash any hopes of a comeback.

Despite the Big Green’s scoring spree, Harvard goaltender Justin Tobe returned to the ice for the third period.

“I didn’t feel that pulling [Tobe] at any time was the right thing to do,” Donato said. “I don’t think that he had a lot of help back there—he would have had to be just short of miraculous for us to be in that game.”

Tobe, to his credit, was able to quiet the Dartmouth offense for the entire third period.

“You go out there and you give it your best every period, you get some bounces, you don’t get some,” Tobe said. “I couldn’t really give up any more goals, I was just trying to help keep the team in it.

While the Crimson actually outshot the Big Green 32-29, the bulk of Harvard’s attempts were low-percentage shots taken closer to the blue line, while Dartmouth was able to attack the Crimson net from a much closer proximity.

“We were on the periphery pretty much all game,” Donato said, later adding, “We didn’t want to really go into those tough areas of the ice and pay the price to make plays or to negate their plays.”

Harvard will return to action next weekend, taking on Clarkson and St. Lawrence at home. Until then, the team will do its best to correct the flaws that revealed themselves in the season-opening loss.

“We’ll have a very tough week of practice,” Reese said. “We’ll have about two days of critiquing this game, what went wrong, what went right, and be ready to go against Clarkson.”

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