Leblanc Nets Two More as Crimson Beats Big Green, 4-1

Leblanc leads Harvard with eight goals, including five in the last three league games (photo courtesy Gil Talbot).

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—Louis Leblanc recorded his second straight two-goal game and Ryan Carroll made 37 saves as the Harvard men’s hockey team won its third consecutive league game, 4-1 against Dartmouth, Monday afternoon at Bright Hockey Center.

Leblanc, who also scored twice in Tuesday’s 3-2 win against No. 5 Yale, became the first Harvard player since Dominic Moore ’03 in February 2003 to record back-to-back multiple-goal games. Matt McCollem scored his first goal of the season in the second period, and Michael Biega had a goal and an assist for Harvard (4-10-2, 4-5-2 ECAC Hockey, 3-2-2 Ivy League). Alex Killorn recorded a pair of assists.

Linemates Biega, Leblanc and Killorn all posted +3 ratings for the game. Leblanc registered his third game-winning goal in as many league games to break a 1-1 tie after Evan Stephens scored for Dartmouth (4-13-0, 2-8-0, 1-5-0) in the second period. Jody O’Neill started in net for the Big Green and made 14 saves. James Mello stopped 11 shots in relief, and Dartmouth held a 38-29 shots advantage.

The Crimson logged the game’s first four shots and got on the board less than five minutes in on Leblanc’s first score. He won an offensive-zone faceoff to Killorn on the right boards. Killorn took a shot that was stopped by O’Neill, but Leblanc collected the puck and backhanded it O’Neill and in for a 1-0 lead. Carroll made 15 saves to help Harvard take a 1-0 lead to the first intermission.

Stephens evened the score by converting on a three-on-one break, but Leblanc put Harvard back on top about seven minutes later. After Biega chipped a puck up the right boards, Leblanc skated in and rocketed a wrist shot over the blocker of Big Green O’Neill. McCollem added an insurance tally less than two minutes later. Chad Morin knocked the puck away from a Dartmouth player, and Pier-Olivier Michaud flipped it ahead to Michael Del Mauro, who found McCollem speeding up the right side. McCollem scored on a wrist shot to chase O’Neill from the game.

Harvard did not let Dartmouth back in the game in the third period, and the Big Green pulled Mello for an sixth attacker. Killorn took advantage with about two minutes remaining, stripping a Dartmouth skater in the right corner and feeding Biega in front for his fifth goal.