NOTEBOOK: Early Slump Stumps Harvard

Early in the season, the Harvard men’s hockey team needed to fix its problem with late-game lapses.

Mission accomplished.

Friday against Princeton, the Crimson had the opposite problem, as a sluggish first period proved to be the difference-maker.

“I think we could’ve been a little bit more determined early in the game,” said Harvard coach Ted Donato ’91.

The Crimson seemed to lack its usual speed early in the game, which allowed the Tigers to get some odd-man rushes and man-up situations and put the pressure on junior goaltender Ryan Carroll early.

“We got behind the eight ball up in the first,” Donato said. “We kind of let them get some odd-numbered situations and pin us in the zone a few times.”

Heading into the game, one would have expected the Crimson to have the momentum early, as it was riding a four-game unbeaten streak—having knocked off two ranked teams in the process. But it was Princeton who took control from the opening faceoff, outshooting Harvard, 15-11, in the first.

“I thought we started off very flat,” captain Alex Biega said. “Especially in our rink when we’re at home, we usually try to get some momentum on our side and have a great start and go from there.”

Instead, the team found itself playing catch-up after Dan Bartlett scored midway through the period.

The goal proved to be a wake-up call, as Harvard picked up its speed and intensity for the remaining two periods. But all it took was one small defensive lapse to put the Crimson away for good, forcing it to make tough decisions late in the third.

The teams’ even play in the second and third periods couldn’t compensate for the slow start.

“Unfortunately, we just played two of the three periods to our capabilities,” Biega said. “We’ll take it for experience and hopefully move on from it.”

SECRET’S OUT

The Crimson has six NHL draft picks on its roster, but there wasn’t any question which one Princeton feared the most: freshman Louis Leblanc, who had found the back of the net in three of Harvard’s past four games heading into the weekend.

A large part of the Tigers’ game plan seemed to be to protect goaltender Zane Kalemba from Leblanc’s stick.

“He’s going to get special attention,” Donato said. “Especially with a lot of the other guys out of the lineup, even more so.”

But the freshman found a way to use heavy coverage to his advantage in the second period, when he moved the puck through swarming Tigers onto the stick of a wide-open Morrison, who put the puck past Kalemba.

“[Leblanc] made a beautiful play on the first goal, and he had a bunch of chances in and around the net,” Donato said.

In the third period, Leblanc seemed determined to shoulder the Crimson’s load as much as possible, battling in the corners for loose pucks and looking to roll the crease.

But Princeton was always there.

“I thought he was all over the place in a good way,” Donato said. “He does not get turned away easily, he just keeps coming.”

The scoring phenom has distinguished himself over the course of his career with his willingness to engage in physical play.

Perhaps it was fitting, then, that the game closed out with a penalty on Leblanc for roughing. It was the freshman’s 12th penalty of the season.

“He just never gives up,” Donato said. “I thought it was another very strong game by him.”

—Staff writer Christina C. McClintock can be reached at ccmcclin@fas.harvard.edu.