Team Notes: Crimson Visit Clarkson, St. Lawrence on First Road Trip

Photo by Brian Walters

The Harvard men's hockey team hits the road for the first time in 2011-12, visiting the North Country to take on Clarkson and St. Lawrence in a pair of ECAC Hockey matchups. The Crimson faces off against the Golden Knights Friday at 7 p.m., in Potsdam, N.Y. and takes on the Saints Saturday at 7 in nearby Canton.

Game On

• Harvard closed last weekend with its first win of the season, 4-2, against No. 18 Colgate behind 30 saves from freshman Steve Michalek (Glastonbury, Conn.). A night earlier, the Crimson fell behind by three goals in the first period and its comeback attempt came up short in a 4-2 loss to rival Cornell.

• Six different players scored Harvard's six goals and 12 players registered points last weekend.

• Harvard scored two power-play goals in each game over the weekend and ranks second nationally in power-play efficiency at 27.3 percent (6 for 22). The Crimson has netted at least one power-play tally in each game this season.

• With three goals in four games, Alex Killorn (Montreal, Que.) is tied for 11th nationally with 0.75 goals per game. He is tied for 26th in the country with 1.24 points per game on five points in four games. Alex Fallstrom (Stockholm, Sweden) and Danny Biega (Montreal, Que.) share the team lead with three assists each, and Fallstrom ranks second on the Crimson with four points.

• Steve Michalek leads Harvard with a .910 save percentage and 2.65 goals-against average.

Last Weekend
Harvard played its second straight weekend at home, and each game was settled by a 4-2 score. Against rival Cornell Friday, a bad start and a host of penalties left the Crimson with a three‑goal deficit. Harvard battled back on power-play goals by Alex Fallstrom and Marshall Everson (Edina, Minn.), but the Big Red sealed the win with a fourth goal in the final minutes. Danny Biega and Luke Greiner (Faribault, Minn.) assisted on both Harvard goals.

Steve Michalek recorded the first win of his collegiate career and Harvard nabbed its first of the season against No. 18 Colgate Saturday. Rence Coassin (Hamden, Conn.), Patrick McNally (Glen Head, N.Y.), Alex Killorn and Colin Blackwell (North Andover, Mass.) scored, with Killorn and McNally adding assists. Dan Ford (Skaneateles, N.Y.) and David Valek (Zagreb, Croatia) each logged two helpers, as Harvard came back from a goal down in the second period.

Middle Men
Harvard has outscored its opponents, 8-3, in second periods and 11-6 in the second and third periods combined.

On the Board
Patrick McNally registered his first career point with an assist against the Raiders and later scored his first collegiate goal. Fellow freshman Colin Blackwell netted his first goal in the third period. Mike Seward (Winchester, Mass.) played in his first collegiate game.

The Century Mark
Alex Killorn skated in his 100th collegiate game Saturday. He leads current Crimson players with career totals of 68 points, 33 goals and 35 assists.

Numbers Game
Harvard's win against No. 18 Colgate kept the Crimson undefeated (1-0-1) against nationally ranked opposition.

Poll Position
Harvard received votes in the U.S. College Hockey Online poll this week, its fourth time receiving votes in seven weeks of polling this season.

Hitting the Road
The Crimson is taking its first road trip of the season after playing an exhibition and the first four games of the regular season at home. Harvard returns to Bright Hockey Center for its non-conference opener Tuesday against New Hampshire but then plays its next seven games on the road and does not have another home game on the schedule until Jan. 13 against Union.

Last Season: Harvard vs. Clarkson
The Golden Knights got 35 saves from Paul Karpowich and killed all five Harvard power plays in an early-season 3-1 victory at Cheel Arena, but the Crimson posted a 3-1 win on the final regular‑season weekend and swept a road playoff series. Marshall Everson redirected a point shot by Ryan Grimshaw (Rochester, N.Y.) to break a third-period tie with less than six minutes remaining in the Crimson's win at Bright.

In Harvard's 2-1 playoff-opening win, Danny Biega scored in the game's first four minutes, and brother Michael Biega '11 broke a 1-1 tie with his goal in the third period. Harvard trailed, 3-2, after two periods in Game 2, but Daniel Moriarty (Bienfait, Sask.) scored the tying and go-ahead goals 44 seconds apart during a five-minute power play, and Harvard went on to a 6-4 vicotry.

Series History: Harvard vs. Clarkson
The Golden Knights hold a 50-48-11 series lead since the teams' first meeting, a 2-1 Clarkson win in 1935, and are one of just two ECAC teams with a winning all-time record against the Crimson. Clarkson had been unbeaten (7-0-1) in the last eight meetings at Cheel before Harvard's playoff sweep in March.

Scouting the Golden Knights
Clarkson lost just once (6-1-2) in its first nine games but is winless (0-2-1) in the three games since and fell to Quinnipiac, 3-0, its last time out. Goaltender Paul Karpowich ranks third nationally in save percentage (.941) and eighth in goals-against average (1.81). Seniors Louke Oakley and Nick Tremblay share the team lead with six goals each, while Oakley has a team-high 12 points. Rookie defenseman Sam Labrecque leads the squad with seven assists.

Last Season: Harvard vs. St. Lawrence
The Crimson swept its two matchups with St. Lawrence last season, 4-2 at Appleton Arena and 4-3 at Bright Hockey Center. Eric Kroshus (Calgary, Alta.) scored twice and Kyle Richter '10-11 made 41 saves in Harvard's road win. Alex Killorn and Colin Moore (Medfield, Mass.) also scored, and Danny Biega notched two assists.

On Senior Night at Bright Hockey Center, five seniors played in their last game, with three scoring goals. Chris Huxley '11 added an assist, and Ryan Carroll '11 made 32 saves in a 4-3 win.

Series History: Harvard vs. St. Lawrence
The Crimson has faced only rival Cornell as often as it has St. Lawrence in the Ted Donato '91 coaching era, with a 11-7-1 record against the Saints, including playoff-series wins in 2005 and '06. The Crimson holds a 52-38-6 all-time edge in the series. The teams first met Dec. 27, 1954, a 3-2 overtime win by Harvard.

Scouting the Saints
St. Lawrence did not win a game in the first month of its season, starting 0-5-0. The Saints have since reeled off three straight wins, against Rensselaer, Princeton and Quinnipiac. Matt Weninger shut out the Engineers and Bobcats and owns a .901 save percentage and 2.80 goals-against average. Kyle Flanagan holds the SLU team leads in points (13), goals (six) and assists (seven).

Power Surge
The Crimson has scored at least one power-play goal in eight straight games, dating back to last season. Harvard has 17 man-advantage tallies in its last 10 ECAC Hockey games.

Power Player
Alex Killorn leads ECAC Hockey with four league power-play points (2-2-4). He is tied for second in league power-play goals (three). Danny Biega is tied for second in the league in man-advantage points (0-3-3).

Among the Leaders
Alex Killorn is tied for second in the conference with three league goals. Alex Fallstrom and Danny Biega are tied for third with three assists each in league play. Biega is tied for fourth among defensemen in league scoring (0-3-3).

Block Party
Ryan Grimshaw leads Harvard with eight blocked shots. Max Everson (Edina, Minn.) has blocked seven opponents' shots.

On the Dot
Colin Moore leads Harvard's regular centers in faceoff win percentage at .615 (24-15), while Alex Killorn is 28-21 (.571). Alex Fallstrom (10-5) and Daniel Moriarty (8-4), usually wings, have won two-thirds of their draws.