Team Notes: Harvard Faces BU on NESN

Photo by Jim Rosvold

Game On
The Harvard men's hockey team leaves league play but stays in town as it visits No. 16 Boston University in a game that will be televised by the New England Sports Network Saturday at 7 p.m.

Game Notes (PDF)
ECAC Hockey Live Scoreboard

Follow From Home

NESN will televise the game live in New England (check local listings), and GoCrimson.com will link to live statistics. WHRB-FM 95.3 and WHRB.org offer live audio with Brendan Roche and Raafi Alidina on the call.

Behind the Bench
Former Crimson captain, NCAA Frozen Four Most Outstanding Player and 13-year National Hockey League veteran Ted Donato '91 is in his seventh season as The Robert D. Ziff '88 Head Coach for Harvard Men's Ice Hockey. He owns a 94-100-20 record, three ECAC title-game appearances and two NCAA tournament bids.

Last Weekend
A different Biega brother scored all of Harvard's goals each night, as the Crimson (3-11-0) suffered losses to its two oldest rivals. Michael Biega (Montreal, Que.) recorded a natural hat trick to rally Harvard from a two-goal deficit, but Brown scored twice in the third period to defeat the Crimson, 4-3, Friday at Bright Hockey Center in the 157th renewal of college hockey's oldest rivalry. Alex Killorn (Montreal, Que.) and Danny Biega (Montreal, Que.) assisted on Harvard's first two goals, and Ryan Carroll (Hackensack, N.J.) made 31 saves. Each team logged 35 shots.

No. 1 Yale scored twice on power plays to defeat Harvard, 4-2, in the teams' 231st meeting Saturday at sold-out Bright. Danny Biega scored both Crimson goals, cutting Yale leads to 2-1 in the second period and 4-2 in the third. Carroll made 35 saves, as the Bulldogs held a 39-31 advantage in shots.

Brother to Brother
Not only did brothers Michael and Danny Biega account for all five Harvard goals last weekend, they assisted each other on three of the five. Neither brother had previously assisted the other for a goal since playing on the same team for the first time last season. Michael was assisted by older brother Alex Biega '10 on two goals as a freshman and one last season.

All in the Family
A Biega brother has scored or assisted on each of the last six Harvard goals and eight of the last 10.

Dating Back to Last Season ...
Sophomore defenseman Danny Biega has registered seven goals and 11 assists in the last 22 games after recording one goal and two assists in the first 25 games of his rookie season.

Who's Hot?
Alex Killorn has registered a point in each of the Crimson's last nine games and 12 of the team's 14 overall games. He has four goals and six assists during his nine-game run.

Danny Biega has five points (2-3-5) in the last three games, while Michael Biega has six points (4-2-6) in the last five games.

Leading the Crimson
Alex Killorn leads Harvard with six goals and 13 points. He and Danny Biega (3-7-10) are tied for the team assists lead with seven each. Michael Biega (5-5-10) ranks second on the squad in goals and points.

Family Tradition
A Biega brother has led Harvard in assists in each of the last two seasons, Alex with 16 in 2008‑09 and Michael with 15 last season.

Power Surge
Harvard has power-play goals in three straight games, converting three of its last nine chances.

Protecting the Lead
The loss to Brown was the first time Harvard held a lead in a game and did not win. The Crimson was previously 3-0 when leading at any point.

Comeback Crimson
The Jan. 7 game against Brown was the second time in three games that the Crimson came back to take the lead after trailing by two goals in the second period. Harvard rallied from two goals down to defeat Army, 4-2, Jan. 1.

Hat Trick Facts
Michael Biega's hat trick against Brown was Harvard's first of the season and the second of his career. Biega previously scored all three goals—the first three of his career—in a 3-3 tie Nov. 28, 2007 at Yale. The last Crimson player to score three goals in a game was Conor Morrison (London, Ont.), who netted four in a 6-5 home loss to BU Nov. 24, 2009.

Last Season
Conor Morrison became the first Crimson player in more than a decade to tally four goals, but the Terriers scored with 19.5 seconds remaining in regulation and again at 2:42 of overtime to defeat Harvard, 6-5, at sold-out Bright Hockey Center.

Chris Connolly scored the overtime winner for the Terriers. Zach Cohen netted the tying goal less than a minute after Morrison's fourth goal put Harvard on top. Cohen and Joe Pereira scored twice each for BU. Kieran Millan had 21 saves for the Terriers.

Kyle Richter (Calgary, Alta.) made a career‑high 43 saves for the Crimson, and Daniel Moriarty (Bienfait, Sask.) logged a pair of assists for Harvard.

Series History
BU leads the all-time series against Harvard, 73‑62-6, but the Crimson holds a 49-47-6 edge in non-Beanpot games. Harvard is 2-2-1 in pre-Beanpot meetings under Ted Donato, including a 2-1 overtime win on a Doug Rogers '10 goal in the Crimson's last trip to Agganis Arena, Nov. 20, 2007.

The teams first met Dec. 13, 1922, a 2-0 Crimson win at the Boston Arena. Harvard won 15 of the first 16 meetings and in 1952 pulled out a 7-4 win in the inaugural Beanpot tournament championship. The Terriers have won the last six Beanpot meetings and hold a 26-13 series edge in Beanpot matchups.

Scouting the Terriers
BU (9-5-6) was unbeaten (6-0-4) in its first 10 games, climbing to No. 1 in the national polls. The Terriers are 3-5-2 since, but four of the losses came to nationally ranked opponents. BU is seeking its first win against an ECAC Hockey opponent. The Terriers suffered losses to Rensselaer, 4-2, and Brown, 6-1, and previously tied the Bears, 4-4. BU, which had Wednesday's game at Merrimack postponed due to snow, got two goals from Alex Chiasson in a 4-2 win Sunday at Vermont.

Alex Chiasson leads BU with 20 points. He shares the goals lead with Joe Pereira (8-5-13) and the assists lead with David Warsofsky (5-12-17) and Sahir Gill (4-12-16). Kieran Millan owns a .907 save percentage and 2.98 goals-against average in 16 starts.

Beanpot Preview?
Harvard and BU could meet again Feb. 14 in the second round of the 59th Beanpot tournament at TD Garden, home of the Boston Bruins. In the Feb. 7 opening round, the Crimson faces Northeastern and BU takes on Boston College.

In the Crease
Kyle Richter ranks 22nd nationally with a .919 save percentage and owns a 2.49 goals-against average. He has surrendered two goals or fewer in six of his 11 starts and has not allowed more than three goals in any game.

The Century Mark
Defenseman Chris Huxley (Weymouth, Mass.) is scheduled to skate in his 100th game for Harvard Saturday. He registered six goals and 21 assists in his first 99 games.

Michael Biega skated in his 100th game Nov. 19 at Princeton. He leads the Crimson with career totals of 27 goals, 40 assists and 67 points. Biega's 100th game was Harvard's 102nd as a team in his three-plus years.

The Other Century Mark
Ted Donato needs six wins to become the fourth head coach to lead Harvard to 100 victories. He is seeking to join Harvard legend Bill Cleary '56 (324 wins), Hockey Hall of Famer Ralph "Cooney" Weiland (315) and Ronn Tomassoni (140) in that exclusive club.

Help from the Blue Line
Defensemen have assisted on or scored 11 of Harvard's last 13 goals, totaling two goals and 11 assists in the last five games.

Clutch Performer
Alex Killorn has scored all three of Harvard's game-winning goals, including the lone goal with 8.2 seconds left on the clock against then-No. 18 Rensselaer Nov. 6. He is tied for fifth nationally in game-winners and shares the ECAC lead with two winning scores in league action.