Steve Michalek and the Crimson travel to Yale for quarterfinals series this weekend (Gil Talbot).

The Storyline
Coming off a series sweep of 11th-seeded Brown in the first round of the ECAC Hockey playoffs last weekend, the No. 18 Harvard men's hockey will continue its pursuit of a trip to Lake Placid in New Have, Connecticut this weekend. The sixth-seeded Crimson will take on third-seeded Yale in a best-of-three quarterfinal matchup at Ingalls Rink beginning Friday, March 13 at 7 p.m.

The quarterfinal matchup will mark the third time in the last four years that the Crimson and Bulldogs are meeting in the ECAC tournament. Yale won 2014's first round series in two games, while Harvard captured the 2012 quarterfinal series in three games.

ECAC Playoff History
• Harvard and Yale have met in the ECAC Hockey quarterfinals twice, with the Crimson winning both matchups. In 2001, Harvard posted 7-4 and 5-4 victories to win the series. In 2012, Yale won the opening game in overtime, 2-1, but Harvard bounced back with a 4-3 double-overtime triumph in game two and an 8-2 trouncing in the clinching game.

• Harvard has been crowned the ECAC Champion on eight occasions, most recently in 2006 when it defeated Cornell, 6-2. Yale has two ECAC titles to its name, winning the 2009 and 2011 tournaments. 

• Since 2002, Harvard has played in the ECAC Championship game seven times, winning four of those games. The Crimson won titles in 2002, 2004 and 2006, and finished second in 2003, 2005, 2008 and most recently in 2012. The seven appearances in the finals matches Cornell for the most since 2002. Union is next in line with four appearances that includes winning the three most recent tournament titles.

• Harvard has been the six seed in the ECAC Tournament three times, 1990, 1996 and 2004. The Crimson was ousted in the quarterfinals in 1990 and fell in the finals to Cornell, 2-1, in 1996, but in 2004 Harvard went on a 6-0 run through the tournament, culminating in a 4-2 victory over Clarkson. 

• Harvard's 2004 championship also represents just one of two times since 2003 that a team playing in the first round of the ECAC Tournament went on to win the championship. The Crimson swept Vermont in the opening round, tripped up Brown in the quarterfinals, edged Dartmouth in the semifinals and finished its run with a win over Clarkson in the finals. St. Lawrence was the only other team to win the title after not receiving a bye, capturing the 2010 crown.

Season Series vs. Yale
Yale has won all three of the meetings this season against the Crimson. 

The first game of the season came November 15 at the Bright-Landry Hockey Center, with Yale edging Harvard, 2-1, in a thrilling game that was seen live on NESN.

The second meeting of the year came in the Big Apple under the lights of Madison Square Garden in the Rivalry on Ice. Jimmy Vesey scored for the Crimson, but Yale would go on to win 4-1. 

The most recent meeting occurred at Ingalls Rink, with the Bulldogs handing Harvard its only shutout loss of the year, downing the Crimson, 3-0.

Series History: Yale
The 2015 ECAC Playoffs have seen the Crimson face-off against two of its oldest rivals in hockey. The series with Brown dated back to 1899, while the all-time series with Yale goes back to 1900. The Bulldogs won the first meeting on Feb. 26, 2015, 5-4, but the Crimson have gotten the better of its archrival in the 115 years since. Friday's meeting will represent the 248th all-time meeting with Harvard boasting a 140-88-19 lead.

Scouting the Bulldogs
Yale finished the regular season tied for the lowest goals allowed as a team at 1.68. Sophomore goaltender Alex Lyon can take most of the credit for that statistic, as he finished the season tied for second in the conference in both GAA (1.64) and save percentage (.936).

The sophomore class has also provided a wealth of offense for the Bulldogs, as three of their top four scorers come from the class of 2017. Mike Doherty leads the way with 20 points and 12 goals. John Hayden and junior Rob O'Gara each have 18 points, while Frankie DiChiara has 17.

About Yale
Since dropping both games on its road swing to North Country Jan. 23-24, Yale has been one of the most successful teams in the ECAC. In its final 10 games of the season, Yale posted a 6-1-3 record to rise to third in the final standings, earning a first round playoff bye. 

Yale ranks near the middle of the conference in scoring offense, power play and penalty kill, but do not give other teams many man-advantages, leading the ECAC with the fewest penalty minutes per game at 7.2.

Playoff Sweep
The Crimson bulldozed past Brown in the first round of the 2015 ECAC playoffs, sweeping the Bears by scores of 6-2 and 4-3. The series win was the first since Harvard beat Yale in three games in the 2012 quarterfinals, and marked the first series sweep since Harvard dispatched of Clarkson in two games of the 2011 ECAC playoffs first round.

Vesey Goes For 50
It had been 12 years since Harvard had a skater reach the 50-point plateau, but junior forward Jimmy Vesey changed all that Saturday, March 7. With his assist on Brian Hart's goal in the first period, Vesey brought his scoring total to 25 goals and 25 assists on the season. The last player to go over 50 points was Dominic Moore '03 in 2002-03.

40-for-40
Jimmy Vesey (50) and Kyle Criscuolo (43) have combined for a strong 1-2 punch the Crimson have missed in recent seasons. With Criscuolo reaching the 40-point mark with his six-point performance in the first round playoff series versus Brown, Harvard has two 40-point scorers for the first time since 2002-03. That season, Harvard skated three players that reach 40 points, led by Dominic Moore's 51, while Tim Pettit had 47 and Brett Nowak tallied 41.

Winning Ways
With its two wins over Brown last weekend, the Crimson now has 17 wins this year, the most since the 2007-08 season. 

20-Minute Seminar
On two occasions this season, it has taken just one period for Jimmy Vesey and Kyle Criscuolo to each tally three points. In the first period of Harvard's 4-3 win to clinch the series over Princeton last Saturday, the pair each scored once and then added two assists, helping Harvard to a 3-1 early lead. The first instance of the high-scoring duo laying it on a team came in the third period at Colgate on Jan. 24. Criscuolo scored twice and had an assist, while Vesey provided two helpers and a goal.