NOTEBOOK: Late Minutes Prove Hectic

After scoring goals with just four seconds remaining in the first period and only 47 ticks left in the second frame, the Harvard men’s hockey team squeezed past a scrappy Princeton squad for a 5-4 overtime win.

It was actually the Tigers who kicked off the end-of-period scoring. With Princeton down 1-0 on Kevin Du’s first of three goals, senior blueliner Brett Westgarth fired a shot through traffic past Crimson netminder John Daigneau’s glove and into the right-side netting.

After an opening frame in which Harvard dominated, the Tigers’ goal at 19:38 swung the momentum back in Princeton’s favor.

But the Crimson didn’t lose its lead for long. With a faceoff in the Tigers’ zone and only seven seconds on the clock, sophomore center Paul Dufault sent a draw over to linemate Dave Watters at the edge of the right circle.

Watters launched a powerful slapshot that surprised Princeton goaltender Eric Leroux and sailed past him into the top left corner at 19:56.

Like that, Harvard’s lead was back—just a mere 18 seconds later. Instead of heading into the locker room tied at one, the Crimson enjoyed a 2-1 cushion at the first intermission.

“We were resilient,” said Harvard coach Ted Donato ’91. “They made some good plays and scored some good goals, but we wouldn’t be denied.”

Similarly, the Crimson allowed a goal midway through the second period before striking in the final minute of the frame.

With Harvard on the power play, junior defenseman Dylan Reese fired an initial shot that was stopped by Princeton goaltender Eric Leroux.

But junior forward Ryan Maki, standing right at the edge of the crease, scooped the rebound and quickly fed it to Du at the left post.

Du slammed the puck past Leroux at 19:13, giving Harvard a 3-2 lead and setting himself up for a hat trick.

OPENING THE FLOODGATES

Du’s explosion was emblematic of a Crimson offense that has started to revive itself.

After firing 47 shots on goal in an overtime effort at Brown last weekend and launching 41 more in the Beanpot opening round against Boston University on Monday, Harvard peppered the Princeton net with 57 shots on Friday.

And after notching two goals against the Bears and adding three against the Terriers, the Crimson produced five scores in the matchup with the Tigers—its highest total since defeating crosstown rival Boston College by a 5-3 score on Nov. 15.

“The last few games, we’ve been getting tons of shots on goal and not much to show for it,” sophomore forward Jon Pelle said. “We knew if we just kept throwing pucks on net, we were eventually going to get a couple of bounces.”

Harvard’s power play also got back on track, scoring two goals, both by Du, in seven opportunities.

The conversions came as a relief for the Crimson, which had struggled with the man advantage over the past several weeks.

WINTRY MIX

The Harvard lineup featured some changes on Friday night as Donato chose to start a more youthful lineup.

Neither senior forward Charlie Johnson nor sophomore blueliner Dave MacDonald were in uniform, sitting out as healthy scratches.

With Mike Taylor still out of the lineup due to an injury suffered at Brown, freshman skaters Steve Rolecek and J.D. McCabe and sophomore Dave Watters got the nod.

“It’s going to be a situation where there has to be reward for effort, and the opposite also,” Donato said, adding about Taylor, “We don’t expect to see him for Monday, but [we are] not ruling out anything after that.”

FINAL TICKS

Dufault has tallied four points in the past two games, registering a goal and an assist against BU and adding two assists Friday night...Du’s three goals matched his season total coming into the contest against Princeton. His penalty shot in overtime was Harvard’s first this season...The Crimson is now 11-1-1 after scoring first and 3-0-2 in overtime play...Harvard has won seven of 10 home games this season and is 20-3-1 at the Bright Hockey Center since the start of the 2004-05 season...The Crimson will take on Northeastern in the Beanpot consolation match on Monday at 5 p.m. at TD Banknorth Garden. Harvard will be looking for its first Beanpot victory since the 2003 consolation game, when the Crimson defeated the Huskies, 4-1.

—Staff writer Karan Lodha can be reached at klodha@fas.harvard.edu