Clarkson bounced back from a 4-0 loss to St. Lawrence on November 1 with a 2-1 victory against the Saints on Saturday at Appleton Arena.
Clarkson improved to 4-1-2 in ECAC play, while St. Lawrence fell to 4-3 within the conference.
There was no scoring in the first period, but not for a lack of chances for either team. St. Lawrence had three power-play chances, including a five-on-three for 30 seconds in the first period, but could not capitalize against the Golden Knights penalty kill.
“I thought our penalty killing was really good,” said Clarkson coach Casey Jones.
Clarkson had a power-play opportunity of its own, but was unable to convert.
Junior Tommy Thompson opened the scoring for the Saints 4:01 into the first period. He found a loose puck in the slot and fired it past Clarkson goalie Steve Perry.
Clarkson was able to respond 1:34 later when James de Haas scored off a faceoff to the left of St. Lawrence goalie Kyle Hayton with a wrist shot that had eyes for the net.
“I just tried to find a lane to the net, and luckily it found its way in,” said de Haas. The assists went to Troy Josephs and Todd Christian, who won the initial faceoff.
Jones was pleased with the way his team was able to respond to the St. Lawrence goal.
“Steve made a save after they scored, and we had a good response,” said Jones.
Jordan Boucher put the Golden Knights up 2-1 at 13:42 of the second period with a backhand goal from just above the red line.
“I thought about going wide, but I went short side and was able to tuck it in under his arm,” said Boucher.
The game was fast-paced for the rest of the second and the third periods, but neither team was able to break through. The Saints had another power-play chance early in the third and also pulled Hayton late to try and tie the game, but Perry kept the puck out for Clarkson to seal the 2-1 conference win.
“I think both teams played hard tonight, and it was unfortunate we couldn’t tie it up late,” said St. Lawrence senior assistant captain Chris Martin.
Jones was pleased with his team’s effort on defense, saying it was much improved from the 4-0 loss Clarkson suffered a month ago to St. Lawrence on home ice.
St. Lawrence coach Greg Carvel was not disappointed with his team’s effort.
“I just told them, ‘You play 36 games in a season, sometimes you won’t get the result you deserved.’ I though we deserved better tonight,” said Carvel.
Perry finished the game with 21 saves while his counterpart Hayton made 29 saves in the loss.
