Clarkson broke open a 2-0 game with four goals in a span of 4:42 of the second period and went on to a 6-2 non-league win over St. Lawrence in the College Hockey Showcase played before 3,987 at the Corel Center in Ottawa, Ont., Saturday afternoon.
Golden Knights junior Mike Sullivan highlighted the Knights’ most productive offensive outing against the Saints since late in the 2001-02 campaign with his first two-goal effort of the season. All four lines accounted for goals and 12 different players recorded points for Clarkson, which snapped a three-game losing streak against its archrival.
The Saints showed some of the effects of a long layoff in the first period as Clarkson capitalized on a pair of giveaways for a 2-0 lead despite being outshot 13-8.
Clarkson’s David Cayer scored the game’s first goal as he walked in on SLU goalie Kevin Ackley and rifled a shot into the upper corner at 4:30 of the first period. Nick Dodge sent Cayer in alone for his seventh of the year.
Max Kolu made it a 2-0 game at 11:53 after the Saints turned the puck over deep in their own end.
The Knights poured it on in the second period, adding four more goals to take a commanding 6-0 lead through 40 minutes.
“Some of it you can blame on being somewhat rusty, but most of it was good play on the part of Clarkson,” said Saints coach Joe Marsh. “We had a rough 40 minutes, and the level of their play was a big part of it.”
Mike Sullivan scored his eighth of the season on a power play, finishing off a pass from Cayer at 7:35, and added his ninth, another power-play goal, at 10:33.
Shawn Weller then scored his 11th goal of the year, chasing Ackley, at 11:30 and Jeff Genovy greeted new Saints goalie Justin Pesony with a blast past his glove at 12:17.
The Saints scored the only two goals of the third period. Freshman defenseman Shawn Fensel put back a power-play rebound for his second goal of the year 39 seconds into the final period, and sophomore Charlie Giffin set up Mark Wallmann’s sixth of the season at 6:29 to make it a 6-2 final.
Clarkson goalie Kyle McNulty made 28 saves for his seventh win of the season, while Saints goalies Ackley, Pesony and John Hallas combined for 25 saves. Clarkson held a slight 31-30 shot advantage.
The Knights were 2-of-5 on the power play, while St. Lawrence was 1-of-9.
