It was just one of those nights when nothing went right.

I was pondering what to say about the carnage, but before I even started writing, I dropped a heavy chair on my foot. Yep, it was one of those nights.

But my physical pain is nothing compared to the sheer disappointment that the Harvard hockey team felt after being clubbed, 6-1, by B.U. Yesterday was something that not even Coach Ronn Tomassoni--always an optimist--could put a positive spin on.

"Good question," he said, which he followed with a long pause when asked if there was one, even one itty bitty little good thing to come out of the loss.

"We didn't show up to play as a team," captain Ben Coughlin said. "We were making mistakes all over the ice; we weren't playing physically; and we just didn't come out and play a Harvard style of game."

It was a night that Bright Hockey Center hasn't seen in ages.

The Crimson hadn't lost a game at home since the regular-season finale in 1993 (17 home games ago) and nothing that bad since a 6-1 loss to Colgate on February 10, 1990 (53 Bright nights back).

It was a game that one would love to burn the videotape of, but since it was televised, even an act of pyromania wouldn't do the job right. With the television timeouts to boot, the game gave you the same sensation you get when you pull off a band-aid very slowly.

"TV sucks," the crowd chanted with BU leading, 6-0.

It was one of those nights where the biggest cheer went to Zamboni driver and rink manager Jack Kirrane, who came out to repair the goal in front of the student section in the second period with B.U. leading by three.

"Here we go Jack, here we go," they said.

But no amount of audience humor or support could change the inevitable.

Harvard ran up against the top-ranked team in the nation, and the Crimson didn't play very well. When that happens, things get ugly. Exhibit No. 1: the second period.

B.U. had 32 shot attempts, 22 shots on goal, six breakaways and two-on-ones and 16 blasts from within the hash marks at Tripp Tracy and Steve Hermsdorf in the 20-minute span.

"I never experienced a period like that," Bryan Lonsinger said. "Everybody was playing as hard as they could, but we had a barrage of bad plays, poor defensive plays."