Harvard fumbles hockey playoff positioning in 2-0 loss to RPI

A struggling Harvard team squandered a chance to lock up a first round bye and home ice for the upcoming ECAC playoffs by dropping a 2-0 affair to a stubborn RPI entrant before 1,722 fans at Bright Landry Hockey Center Friday night, leaving the postseason scenario very much up in the air heading into the final game of the regular season tonight.

It marked the first shutout loss for Harvard since falling, 4-0, to UMass in the NCAA Regional last March 29 in Manchester, N.H.

“It was a hard-fought game. I thought they did a good job of defending the hard areas of the ice. Through the first 40 minutes we did not win enough of the puck battles to sustain the offense and challenge the tough areas,” said Harvard coach Ted Donato. “The third period we made a push (15-7 in shots). It was frustrating.”

The loss leaves everything up for grabs on the final night of the season. If both RPI (16-15-2, 12-8-1 ECAC) and Harvard (12-10-6, 10-6-5 ECAC) win Saturday and remain tied in points, RPI would get the nod for fourth place based on more league wins.

“For us, the first thing is our battle level has to be elevated. These are the types of games you’re going to see at this time of the year,” said Donato, whose Crimson next host Union. “Obviously, we have to take care of business. Tonight was a missed opportunity. We didn’t play our best but RPI had something to say about that.”

Harvard, which had opened the season by winning its first six games, had gone 6-9-6 while the Engineers have been clicking on all cylinders of late, thumping Quinnipiac (4-0) and Princeton (7-1) last weekend.

There was no scoring in the fast-paced first period that at one point went seven minutes straight without a whistle. The lone drama of the stanza came at 11:41 when standout Harvard defenseman Jack Rathbone of West Roxbury picked up a loose puck in the neutral zone and broke in on a clean break. Rathbone deked before sticking with his forehand shot but RPI goalie Owen Savory (29 saves) stymied the effort.

“I was feeling it tonight, When I move my feet I’m able to do that. Not a ton of finish, though, on my part,” said Rathbone, who finished with a team-high five shots on net.

Harvard’s only other real opportunity came earlier when center Jack Badini hit the iron.

The lone penalty of the first period was against Crimson captain Nathan Krusko at 19:42 and set the Engineers up on the power play to begin the middle frame. It took RPI a mere 28 seconds to convert when freshman defenseman Cory Babichuk placed his stick in front of a long drive by left wing Chase Zieky and steered the puck by Harvard freshman Mitchell Gibson (22 saves), who was partially screened on the play.

RPI was bumping and grinding its way to controlling play and forcing the much speedier Crimson into coughing up the puck. Harvard’s best opportunity of the second period came when Rathbone rifled the puck off the right pipe, then collected his own rebound and forced RPI goalie Savory to make a difficult save.

Harvard freshman phenom Nick Abruzzese made a bid to stuff the puck inside the near post at 11:55 in the third but RPI’s Savory proved equal to the task as the game clock began to work against the Crimson.

RPI sophomore center Ture Linden cemented the win by finding the empty net at 19:59 after Harvard lifted Gibson for an extra skater.

“Huge game. It wasn’t for lack of effort,” said Rathbone. “We’re still in the picture. They still have a big game at Dartmouth.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/32CgYdH