Men's Hockey Preview: No. 8 Harvard at No. 19 St. Lawrence

The nation’s third best offense versus the ECAC’s top defense: something will have to give tonight in North Country.

At 7 p.m., the offense—that of the No. 8 Harvard men’s hockey team—will look to get the better of the defense—that of No. 19 St. Lawrence, at Appleton Arena. The Crimson (6-2-1, 2-1-1 ECAC) has averaged 4.22 goals per game so far this season, but the Saints (8-4-4, 5-0-2) have surrendered just a goal a game in conference play.

In fact, propelled by its defense, St. Lawrence has yet to drop an ECAC game this season, and its seven-game run—which includes two shutouts against No. 5/7 Quinnipiac—has the Saints currently sitting in first place in the conference.

Largely because of this in-league success, St. Lawrence has not lost a game since Oct. 28, when it suffered its only home loss of the season against Wisconsin. The Saints’ nine game unbeaten streak is the third-longest active run in the country.

Over the course of that stretch, junior goaltender Kyle Hayton has played out of his mind, posting a .961 save percentage and a 1.18 goals against average. His .934 save percentage for the season ranks seventh in the country and first in the conference.

Senior defenseman and assistant captain Gavin Bayreuther, the only member of last year’s all-ECAC first team still playing in college, leads St. Lawrence with 18 points through 16 games. Among defensemen, his point total ranks first in the nation, while his 1.12 points per game mark is second only to Harvard’s Adam Fox (1.22).

On the offensive end, one year removed from an excellent rookie campaign, top-liner Jacob Pritchard has five goals and eight assists. His linemate, Joe Sullivan, is tied for the team lead in goals with seven, along with seven helpers.

By the numbers, St. Lawrence’s greatest weakness is its power play, which has converted at an abysmal 9.8 percent clip—seventh worst in the country. The Saints do have five power play goals in their last three games thanks to favorable matchups with lowly Brown and UMass, but before that, their conversion rate was below 5.5 percent, a mark that would currently rank last in the nation by more than a percentage point.

Meanwhile, Harvard enters Friday with the second-ranked power play unit in the country, having converted at 27.5 percent rate. Granted, this number remains largely inflated—six of the Crimson’s 11 power play goals have come against Arizona State and Bentley, but Harvard’s man advantage has shown plenty of promise, highlighted by a three-goal performance against No. 3 Boston College last month. The Crimson unit ranks just ninth in the ECAC at 11.8 percent, but the sample size is small (four games). Should penalties play a significant factor tonight, Harvard’s power play certainly has the edge over that of the hosts.

These sides met three times a season ago, including in the ECAC tournament semifinals at Herb Brooks Arena, and the Crimson was victorious on each occasion. Two of the tilts were one-goal games, but Harvard took care of business at Appleton Arena, knocking off the hosts, 4-1, on their Senior Night.

—Staff writer Jake Meagher can be reached at jake.meagher@thecrimson.com. Follow him on Twitter @MeagherTHC.