Comeback Game of the Year, Runner-Up: Men's Hockey vs. Boston University

As the National Hockey League languished in the final days of a lockout, a cross-town college rivalry took the hockey world’s center stage. NBC Sports had found a replacement for its regular Wednesday night January programming as the Harvard men’s hockey team paid a midseason visit to No. 8 Boston University for an out-of-conference match-up.

Hockey-hungry fans who tuned in were treated to an instant classic. The Crimson erased a three-goal third-period deficit to pull off an upset overtime win on national television.

“I thought our guys showed tremendous character,” Harvard coach Ted Donato ’91 said. “Coming back in a really wild and crazy game, I think beating a very good team like BU in their own building was really quite a tribute to our collective willingness to never give up.”

Early in the third, it appeared that the nationally-ranked home team would cruise to an easy win against a squad mired in a six-game winless streak. The Terriers led the Crimson, 5-2, with less than 15 minutes left in regulation.

But senior Marshall Everson buried a rebound from classmate Alex Fallstrom in the seventh minute of the third. Less than two minutes later, senior Luke Greiner outmaneuvered BU defender Ahti Oksanen before beating goaltender Matt O’Connor glove-side to draw within one on the power play. Suddenly, Harvard was back in business.

“Going into that third period, I feel that the mindset in the locker room was different,” senior forward Alex Fallstrom said. “All of the guys were all on the same page, and us having that mindset we just decided to go out and win it.”

Under four minutes to play in the frame, Colin Blackwell produced the tying goal off one of the prettiest plays of the season. Skating across the Terrier blueline, the senior lobbed the puck toward the goal and crashed the crease. The biscuit bounced off the pads of O’Connor before he could corral it, and Blackwell won the footrace to the net to bury the Crimson’s fifth goal of the game.

Blackwell’s highlight-worthy goal did not make SportsCenter’s Top Ten Plays. Connor Morrison’s did.

Morrison completed Harvard’s comeback with less than 50 seconds left in overtime. A stretch pass from sophomore Tommy O’Regan set up the senior on a breakaway that culminated in a winning shot from just inside the left faceoff circle. The play made No. 8 on ESPN the next morning.

“I was really happy for Connor that he got that goal; that’s a really cool experience,” Fallstrom said. “I think that’s something that he will always remember and cherish about his Harvard career.”

With the win, Harvard broke a five-year drought in the extra frame. Its last overtime victory—a 2-1 win on Nov. 20, 2007—had also come at BU.

The contest also lived up to its hype as a sibling rivalry game. Tommy O’Regan (1 goal, 2 assists) and BU freshman Danny O’Regan (2 goals, 1 assist) combined for six points on the night in the brothers’ first intercollegiate competition against one another.

It would take Harvard another five games to score its next six goals. The comeback, sandwiched in between six- and nine-game winless streaks, came during the Crimson’s toughest stretch of the season. But Harvard had the Terriers’ number this year. The Crimson beat BU in the Beanpot consolation game a month later, 7-4.

—Staff writer Michael D. Ledecky can be reached at mledecky@college.harvard.edu. Follow him on Twitter @mdledecky.