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Harvard set to take its shot against men’s hockey’s No. 1 team

Quinnipiac has ruled the ECAC for nearly a decade, and as the postseason looms they'll come to face the Crimson.

Harvard will first look to hoist another Beanpot -- but then it's back to battling in the ECAC, with a big test coming to Cambridge in the form of Quinnipiac. Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images

By Dave D'Onofrio

2 minutes to read

February is always a big month for Boston’s college hockey teams. And for Harvard’s men’s squad, this year that’s not only because of the Beanpot.

A week after battling their city rivals for bragging rights, the Crimson will welcome one of Division I’s leading national title contenders to the Bright-Landry Center, as Quinnipiac comes to Cambridge looking to add to its impressive credentials – while Harvard seeks to make a statement against the reigning kings of the ECAC.

The Bobcats have captured the conference championship six times since 2013, and the first few months of this season suggested their grip might only be getting stronger. Through 21 games, Quinnipiac lost only once (that coming during a weekend split with North Dakota back in October), and if that’s not impressive enough, consider their scoring differential over that span. They’d scored 76 goals, while allowing only 26.

It’s hard to beat a team when it’s allowing an average of just one goal per game.

That run of dominance included a 3-0 win over Harvard in mid-January, which marked goalie Yaniv Perets’ fifth shutout in a six-game stretch, and saw the Crimson muster only 13 shots on net. (It could be even harder to generate chances next time, because Harvard is sending Nick Abruzzese and Sean Farrell to compete for Team USA in the Beijing Olympics. At the time that club was named, those two ranked first and fifth nationally in points per game.)

Scoring twice that night against Harvard was Ty Smilanic, who has emerged alongside fellow Bobcat forward Wyatt Bongiovanni among the top goal scorers in the ECAC, while entering the weekend of Jan. 21 it was a Quinnipiac defenseman – Zach Metsa – who led the conference in points.

With depth at every level and an as-yet impenetrable defense, it’s no wonder the Bobcats have been at or near the top of the national rankings all season. And, considering their own hopes of making noise nationally in March, the Crimson are likely to be looking to prove something as the postseason looms. It may not be the Beanpot, but just like that February tradition has long been, this game could be a springboard to something special down the line.