Last season, the Harvard men’s hockey team recorded an NCAA-record 11 ties, which became a source of frustration for the Crimson. “We had the market cornered on that,’’ said coach Ted Donato.

Saturday night, in the opener of its 113th season, 17th-ranked Harvard left little doubt about the outcome of its first meeting with Bentley by scoring a 5-0 victory before a Bright Center crowd of 2,911.