"Intensity has been a concern as far as I can remember," Sproule said. "We cannot afford lapses and win games."

Tonight, the Red Raiders will enter Bright looking to clinch a playoff berth on the strength of their two top snipers, junior forward Jed Whitchurch and sophomore forward Andy MacDonald, both in the top 10 for ECAC scoring. This tandem can exploit any defensive break-down as effectively as Princeton and Yale did against the Crimson last week.

The Big Red will go into the weekend having split its past four weekends while battling through severe injury problems. Cornell lacks one great offensive talent and Harvard can possibly exploit this combination to win.

"If we want to catch someone, we have to beat the leaders," Moore said. "We feel we have a great chance this weekend to beat both teams."

That will be crucial--beating both teams. With only six games remaining, Harvard has to start sweeping weekends and stringing wins together which it has failed to do all season.

For though it will almost certainly qualify for the playoffs, momentum may ultimately determine how far the Crimson advances.

"Our real focus is to leave everything on the ice," Morrell said. "We have to give 100 percent every night. If we consistently do this, we will start to peak at the right time for the playoffs."