The scoreboard read 'UND 4, Harvard 4' late Friday night but the game felt nothing like a tie for the green and white.
UND let a two-goal lead with 10 minutes to go slip away, then couldn't convert a power play in overtime, leaving the team with a bad taste in their mouths after the opener of a nonconference series in Ralph Engelstad Arena.
"Home barn, we come out in the third period with a two-goal lead and we give that up?" said junior Carter Rowney, who had two assists. "We can't have that. It's the second half. Every game is a playoff game right now. We let that one slip and it's unacceptable."
UND, which has lost just once in the last seven games, moved to 9-8-2 overall and 2-1-2 in nonconference play. Harvard, which received goals from Alex Fallstrom and Marshall Everson in the game's final 10 minutes, moved to 4-3-4 overall.
Nick Mattson scored a pair of goals for UND, while Connor Gaarder added the first of his career and Brendan O'Donnell his fourth as the team built a 4-2 lead through two periods.
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UND also held a 28-11 advantage in shots through 40 minutes, but Harvard outshot UND 7-5 in the third in completing a comeback.
UND lost first-line center Corban Knight to an injury on the second shift of the game and played short the rest of the game, but coach Dave Hakstol said he didn't think fatigue had anything to do with the lost lead.
"I don't think it was fatigue," he said. "I thought we went out soft in the third period. We had three shots 15 minutes into the period. We didn't go out and play hard in the third period. That's what cost us the game."
Even so, UND had a great chance to win the game in the extra session. Danny Kristo drew a penalty driving to the net on a rush and nearly capitalized with the man advantage. Kristo snapped a shot through Harvard goalie Steve Michalek, but it trickled an inch wide.
UND went 0-for-5 on the power play going against what had been the country's worst penalty kill.
"It was probably our best power play of the night," Hakstol said of the overtime advantage. "I thought that was our only power play that played with high intensity and a small amount of desperation. That was a good power play, but you've got to string three, four, five of those together in order to get a goal or two on the power play. Unfortunately, we didn't do that."
Harvard scored the game-tying goal on a strange play with 6:44 left in regulation. The Crimson worked the puck low and UND defenseman Andrew MacWilliam buried a Harvard forward in the crease area. Everyone seemed to lose track of the puck except Everson, who picked it up near the goal line and snapped it high for a goal.
Dell's glove flew off during the play and there was a lengthy review by referees Jonathan Morrison and Brian Thul. Hakstol complimented the refs and said that the glove coming off is not a reviewable play.
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"Those guys did a good job through the night," Hakstol said. "They took a good, long look at it. They made their best call and the right call."
Hakstol and the players were far more concerned with the execution level of the team in the third period.
"It's disappointing," Mattson said. "I thought we played fairly well the first 40 minutes of the game. In the last period, we played not to lose and that's just not acceptable. So, we're going to have a pretty big chip on our shoulder coming back tomorrow."
-Notes: UND played without captain Mario Lamoureux, who has been bothered by several injuries. Lamoureux tried to talk his way into the lineup but was unsuccessful. . . Mattson's second goal was shorthanded. It marked UND's first shorthanded goal by a defenseman since Derrick LaPoint on Oct. 16, 2009, against Minnesota. . . Harvard entered the game with the top power play in the country and it converted on one of three chances. . . Aaron Dell made 14 saves for UND, while Michalek stopped 33 shots for Harvard.
Reach Schlossman at (701) 780-1129; (800) 477-6572, ext. 129; or send e-mail to bschlossman@gfherald.com .
