When the rivals from Cambridge braved a maelstrom of fish and newspaper to try their luck at Lynah Rink, three Red skaters from Massachusetts picked up the intensity in the second half of the game and helped Cornell to a 6-3 win over Harvard and a four-point weekend in ECAC Hockey play.

Juniors Joe and Mike Devin and sophomore Sean Whitney, all of Scituate, Mass., accounted for eight points, including seven past the halfway point of the game. Cornell’s special teams continued clicking — the Red converted 2-of-3 power play opportunities and killed off all five of Harvard’s man-advantage chances.

Harvard’s hyped rookie forward, Louis Leblanc, scored the game’s first goal at the 14:30 mark of the first period, but did not make much of an impact the rest of the game. Conor Morrison and Alex Fallstrom scored back-to-back goals at the 5:18 and 9:44 marks of the second period to put the Crimson up, 3-1. Head coach Mike Schafer ’86 said he thought his team was playing too aggressive on defense in the second period, which led to costly turnovers then scoring chances for the Crimson.

“Just trying to do too much as a defensive group, we were stepping forward in the neutral zone,” Schafer said. “We’re three games into the season, they wanted to force the issue, it was electric excitement in the crowd and I think they got caught up in the excitement of the game. We kept stepping up and they did a good job of making good passes to spring themselves.”Dazzling Devin: Junior Joe Devin (22) celebrates with fans after scoring the tying goal against Harvard on Saturday night.

With Harvard maintaining a two-goal lead, the crowd lost energy and seemed resigned to hope for better luck in the third period. But the second power play unit stepped up: Mike Devin scored with about two minutes to play in the second frame, which re-energized the crowd and sent the Red into the locker room with a one-goal deficit.

“Tyler Roeszler made a great play, Greg Miller and Roeszler moved it unbelievable up and down the boards and I just got an open shot and my brother parked it out in front and got a good screen and it went in,” Mike Devin said.

Senior defenseman Brendon Nash was called for cross-checking as time expired in the second period, and Harvard kept the puck in its offensive zone for the entire power play, but took just one shot against senior goalie Ben Scrivens. Scrivens faced more intense pressure later in the third period, when he made 11 of his 22 saves, as the Red was forced to kill off an additional two man-advantage chances.

“When we needed him most, he made the big saves and that provided us with tremendous senior leadership by making big saves,” Schafer said.

Joe Devin showed opportunism in scoring the equalizer at the 2:27 mark of the third period. Senior Blake Gallagher, who finished with a goal and an assist, took a shot that Carroll blocked, but the rebound lay in the crease and Devin knocked it in to knot the score at 3.

Devin scored the next Cornell goal, and the rout was on. Later in the third, Cornell’s first power play unit ran a play that resulted in two goals against Dartmouth a night earlier. Whitney threaded a beautiful pass through Harvard’s penalty kill formation to Gallagher camped out on the goalie’s right, and Gallagher slapped the shot home.

Whitney is the only non-returner on the Red’s first power play unit, and he was excited about the big win after the game.

“Tonight was definitely the best hockey experience of my life, being in front of that crowd and playing Harvard,” Whitney said. “Especially being from Boston.”