Box Score

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--The No. 17 Harvard men’s hockey team scored three goals in a span of less than seven minutes in the third period to come from behind and defeat Rensselaer, 3-1, at the Bright Hockey Center in the Crimson’s first game since losing on the road to the Engineers Jan. 7.

Steve Mandes, Dan Murphy and Charlie Johnson found the net for the Crimson (11-7-2, 8-6-1 ECAC Hockey League), which faced its second straight third-period deficit against Rensselaer 11-12-3, 5-5-3 ECACHL). Rensselaer led 3-0 in the teams’ last meeting before holding off a late Crimson rally for a 3-2 win.

The Crimson had the better of the scoring chances for most of the first period until Rensselaer’s Scott Romfo fed a pass across the point to Jake Luthi, who snuck a shot by John Daigneau at 18:37 to put the Engineers on top. Rensselaer then held the Harvard offense in check for the scoreless second before the Crimson came alive in the third.

Some quick puck movement and a fortunate bounce got things going. Dylan Reese wound up for a shot from the right point with Dave Watters at the near post. Watters deflected the shot to the front of the net, where it bounced off Mandes and past RPI goaltender Mathias Lange less than three minutes into the final period.

Murphy then netted the gamewinner, his team-best 10th goal. He took a pass From Jon Pelle in transition, then wristed a shot high over Lange’s blocker at 7:25. It was the senior’s first tally since Dec. 4, when he scored at Yale in the final game of a seven-game goal-scoring streak.

Harvard added an insurance goal barely two minutes later. The Engineers picked up penalties for hooking and cross-checking in a 29-second span, and Johnson capitalized with his fourth goal of the season 36 seconds into the two-man advantage. Tom Walsh started the play from the left point and passed down to Kevin Du at the near post. Du fired a one-time pass across to Johnson, who dented the net before Lange could slide to the other side of the crease.

The Crimson defense kept the Engineers without a shot on goal from inside the blue line the first part of the third until Harvard had a lead. Daigneau then shut the door on some late chances and finished with 19 saves. Lange stopped made 18 saves, as Harvard held a 20-19 edge in shots.

Johnson was playing for the first time in 2006 after suffering an injury Dec. 29 in the first game at North Dakota, Harvard’s last win. The Crimson was 0-2-1 in his absence. His goal made Harvard 1-for-6 on the power play and ended a drought of 15 extra-man chances without a goal. Rensselaer, which took advantage of 10 Crimson  penalties in the teams’ last meting, was 1-for-5 Friday.