Team Notes: Harvard Begins Stretch Run at Cornell, Colgate

Photo by Gil Talbot

Game On
The Harvard men's hockey team begins the post-Beanpot stretch run of the ECAC Hockey season with visits to Cornell and Colgate Friday and Saturday.

Game Notes (PDF)
ECAC Hockey Scoreboard

Follow From Home
Links to pay-per-view video broadcasts and free live statistics from each game are available above. WHRB‑FM 95.3 and WHRB.org offer live audio with Brendan Roche and Raafi Alidina on the call.

In the News
NHL.com: NCAA PRO-file with Dominic Moore '03
College Hockey All-Access featuring Tripp Tracy '96 (audio)
Alex Biega '10 Blog: Ice on the Beach

Captain's Take
Scroll down for Crimson co-captain Michael Del Mauro's interview with WHRB's Brendan Roche previewing this weekend's road trip.

Hockey Weekend Across America
USA Hockey is celebrating Hockey Weekend Across America at games around the country this weekend. Click here for more information.

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 96-107-21 record, three ECAC title-game appearances and two NCAA tournament bids.

Last Time Out
Danny Biega (Montreal, Que.) and Michael Del Mauro (Watchung, N.J.) scored goals in the final four minutes, three seconds of the third period to lift Harvard to a 5-4, comeback win against No. 15 Boston University in the consolation game of the 59th Beanpot tournament Monday evening at TD Garden.

Harvard scored three goals—two off the stick of Alex Killorn (Montreal, Que.)—in 73 seconds to rally from a goal down in the second period. BU tied the score with two quick goals later in the period before taking a 4-3 lead in the third. Biega and Alex Fallstrom (Stockholm, Sweden) assisted on both Killorn goals, while Peter Starrett (Bellingham, Mass.) helped out on each of the final two scores. Ryan Carroll (Hackensack, N.J.) made 45 saves and Ryan Grimshaw(Rochester, N.Y.) also scored. Alex Chiasson scored twice and Kieran Millan made 24 saves for BU.

Some Consolation
Harvard captured its 14th third-place finish at the Beanpot and sent BU to fourth place for just the fourth time and first since 1980. The Crimson earned its first Beanpot win against the Terriers since 1994.

Last League Game
The Crimson erased three different Princeton leads and scored a season-high three power‑play goals en route to a 4-4 tie with the then-No. 20 Tigers Friday night at Bright Hockey Center. Alex Killorn tied the game with less than six minutes remaining, barely three minutes after Mike Kramer's second goal put Princeton back on top.

Rob Kleebaum also scored twice for Princeton. Killorn notched two assists for Harvard, while Chris Huxley (Weymouth, Mass.) recorded a goal and an assist, and Alex Fallstrom had two helpers. Conor Morrison (London, Ont.) and Daniel Moriarty (Bienfait, Sask.) also tallied. Kyle Richter (Calgary, Alta.) and Princeton's Sean Bonar each logged 29 saves.

Goals, Goals, Goals
The nine goals against Princeton and BU marked the Crimson's season high for a two-game stretch, exceeded any of its previous three-game totals and matched the team's goal total from the previous seven contests. Harvard had suffered shutouts in each of the previous two games before tying Princeton. Harvard scored as many goals (three) in its 73-second outburst during Monday's second period as it had in any entire period all season.

Comeback Crimson
Harvard is 1-0-1 in its last two games despite trailing five times. The Crimson was behind by a single goal each time and on four occasions tied the game within three minutes, 14 seconds. Harvard trailed three times against Princeton but for a total of only eight minutes, 26 seconds. The Crimson's deficits and their lengths over the last two games:
Princeton 1, Harvard 0   2:49
Princeton 3, Harvard 2   2:23
Princeton 4, Harvard 3   3:14
Boston U. 1, Harvard 0   18:41
Boston U. 4, Harvard 3   1:52

Crimson Calendar
Harvard is 18-8-5 in post‑Beanpot ECAC games and 38-21-9 in all post-exam league games under Ted Donato. The Crimson is 20-3-1 in February home games in Donato's six-plus seasons.

Conference Call
Harvard's win Monday was the final non‑conference game of the regular season for any ECAC Hockey team. League squads posted a combined record of 50-33-15 against teams from outside the conference. They went 23‑28‑10 against WCHA (8-8-4), CCHA (6-10-2) and Hockey East (9‑10‑4) teams. ECAC teams were 27–6–5 against opponents from Atlantic Hockey (records courtesy USCHO.com).

Close Calls
Harvard has lost eight games by a single goal and another game by two goals with one coming on an empty net. In 2011, five of the Crimson's six league losses have come by one goal. Harvard is 1-6-1 in 2011 ECAC games despite being outscored by just three goals, 22-19, in those games.

Busy Crimson
These are the third and fourth of five games in 12 days, including four away from home, for Harvard. The Crimson wraps up the stretch Tuesday at Brown, making up a game originally scheduled for Feb. 1 but postponed due to winter weather.

Leading the Crimson
Alex Killorn paces Harvard with 21 points and 10 goals, while Danny Biega (7-12-19) is the Crimson's top setup man. Michael Biega (6‑10‑16) ranks third on the team in goals, assists and points. Conor Morrison (4-8-12) ranks fourth in each category.

Who's Hot?
Alex Killorn has two goals and three assists in the last two games, while Alex Fallstrom has scored twice and set up Killorn twice.

Killorn and Danny Biega have four goals and three assists each and the last six games. Fallstrom has four goals in two helpers in that same span, while Chris Huxley has scored a goal and added four assists.

Jan. 29 at Bright Hockey Center
Goaltender Andy Iles made 33 saves as Cornell survived with a 2-1 win. Iles stopped Harvard's last 22 shots after Alex Fallstrom scored to tie the game in the first period. The Big Red withstood three Harvard power plays in the third period and got a deciding, power-play goal from Locke Jillson in the second period. The Crimson outshot Cornell by margins of 11-3 in the third period and 34-20 overall.

Harvard vs. Cornell Series History
The Crimson had won seven of its previous nine meetings with Cornell before the Big Red swept last year's regular-season matchups and an ECAC quarterfinal series in Ithaca, N.Y. Cornell holds a 70-58-7 all-time series lead.

The teams first met Jan. 8, 1910, a 5-0 Harvard win in New York City. The games have been closer in recent years, with 16 of the last 21 being decided by two goals or fewer. The Crimson and Big Red have faced off in eight of the last 11 ECAC tournaments.

Championship Quality
The Crimson and Big Red have combined for three NCAA titles, with Cornell capturing two and Harvard one. They rank first and third in ECAC Hockey regular-season championships (Harvard 13, Cornell 9) and first and second in league tournament crowns (Cornell 12, Harvard 8). They alternated playoff titles from 2002 to 2006 and faced each other in the championship game in four of those tournaments.

The rivals have accounted for nine of the 18 ECAC regular-season and tournament titles awarded over the last nine seasons. For six of those nine championships, the other rival was the runner-up.

Either Harvard or Cornell has won or shared the Ivy League crown in 37 of the league's 53 seasons, with Harvard totaling 21 titles and Cornell 18. The teams shared the honor in 1983‑84 and 1984-85.

Scouting the Big Red
Cornell is 8-2-2 since the turn of the calendar to 2011, with both losses in that time coming to first-place Union. The Big Red fell to the No. 9 Dutchmen, 4-0, Friday but bounced back with a 3-2 overtime win at No. 8 Rensselaer a night later. Joe Devin netted the game-winning goal for Cornell, which got 30 saves from Andy Iles.

Devin's goal against the Engineers was his team-leading 12th. His 21 points have him one off the team lead, held by Greg Miller, who has 19 assists. Iles and Mike Garman have shared time between the pipes and have nearly identical ratios. Garman, who has gotten the last two Friday-night starts, sports a .919 save percentage and 2.33 goals-against average, while Iles owns marks of .917 and 2.32 in those respective categories.

Jan. 28 at Bright Hockey Center
A Danny Biega hat trick led the Crimson to a 6-2 home win against Colgate. Harvard scored twice in each period and once in the final minute of each frame. Five other players recorded multiple points and Ryan Carroll logged 27 saves for Harvard, which took control with four straight goals after Robbie Bourdon scored first for the Raiders. Alex Fallstrom, Alex Killorn  and Conor Morrison accounted for Harvard's other goals. Chris Huxley posted three assists. Francois Brisebois also scored for Colgate.

Harvard vs. Colgate Series History
The Crimson owns a 45-20-6 series lead against the Raiders since the teams' first meeting Jan. 7, 1961, a 4-1 Harvard win. Harvard is 8-0 in playoff meetings against Colgate, including a win in double overtime in the 2005 ECAC semifinals.

Scouting the Raiders
Colgate has struggled for much of the season and was winless (0-13-1) over a two-month span before winning two of its last three games. The Raiders posted a 4-2 victory against Clarkson Feb. 5 and defeated No. 8 Rensselaer, 2-1, on Kevin McNamara's overtime winner Friday before falling at No. 9 Union, 6-3, Saturday. Included in Colgate's long winless stretch were seven one-goal losses. Three of those defeats came in overtime, and another came by a 6-5 score against No. 4 Boston College.

Francois Brisebois (10-15-25) is Colgate's top point- and goal-scorer. Linemates Kurtis Bartliff and Austin Smith are tied for the team assists lead with 16 each. Eric Mihalik has started the last four games and has a team-low 3.10 goals-against average.