Knights Split Route 11 Rivalry Weekend
Clarkson finished the weekend with a split against St. Lawrence, falling 2-1 on the road at Appleton Arena in Canton, NY.
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Brady Parker got his second consecutive start after leading the Golden Knights to a 4-1 win. The Knights also put Kaelen Taylor and
Jack Judson in their starting lineup, setting the tone for the game early after both players were handed misconducts in the final nine seconds of Friday's game. Heavy hitting gave the rivalry atmosphere energy from the opening puck drop. St. Lawrence took the game's first penalty 6:23 into the game, called for hooking. Clarkson's power play was unable to open the scoring, and their momentum was cut short as
Jack Judson got called for interference off a defensive zone faceoff at 10:18. Clarkson's kill allowed one shot, killing off the Saints power play.
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Late in the period the Saints benefited from a couple bad breaks in the Clarkson defensive zone. Tyler Cristall shot the puck from a sharp angle off a Clarkson stick in front of the net that deflected into the goal for the first goal of the game with 1:13 remaining. 34 seconds later, Drake Burgin gave the Saints a 2-0 off a turnover on the defensive blue line and a quick shot behind Parker.
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Through the second period, neither team was able to gain much momentum as both sides tightened up defensively. Parker's play shined, stopping all 13 shots that came his direction, keeping the deficit at 2-0 as the Saints outshot the Knights 25-14.Â
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"He gave us a chance tonight… had a couple of unfortunate bounces in front of him but he made a few big saves for us," said Coach
Cory Schneider regarding Parker.
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Clarkson's attempt to chase down the lead mounted early in the third period, as
Tristan Sarsland drew a penalty while keeping possession and enduring a high hit from Will Arquiett. With Parker on the bench, and the extra attacker on the ice,
Eric Ciccolini located a bouncing puck and slapped a pass towards
Mathieu Gosselin, who scored from his knee cutting the lead to 2-1 at 5:11. Arquiett sent Clarkson to the power play, called for charging on his hit against Sarsland, giving the Knights their second power play of the game after the goal. The Saints halted the Knights momentum with a timely penalty kill preventing any shots on goal during the two minute span.
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In the latter half of the third, the Knights would go short handed twice forcing a pair of penalty kills to keep them alive.
Noah Beck was called for cross checking along the defensive end wall at 11:59, and
Jesse Tucker was whistled for an argued goaltender interference penalty at 14:59.
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After getting back to even strength and gaining an offensive zone faceoff,
Casey Jones pulled
Brady Parker with 2:33 remaining. Clarkson found four shots on goal with the extra attacker, but the game came down to one final faceoff with 16.7 seconds on the clock. The Knights would win the draw, and fire a couple more shots towards the Saints net, but St. Lawrence held onto their 2-1 lead.
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"It was a good surge for us late. We could have used that in the first period. It was just a tough few minutes for us to end the first, and we got stuck chasing the game the rest of the way," Schneider said after the game. "We've got to keep accumulating points, the [ECAC] standings are tight here and we are shooting for home ice in the second round. We've left a few points on the table over the past weeks, so it's important to start accumulating."
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Brady Parker finished with a career high 33 saves. The Knights penalty kill was perfect, allowing four shots and killing all three penalties. Their power play was held without a goal on two attempts, marking the first game since Jan. 12 without a power play goal.
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Clarkson is now 13-10-1 this season, 7-3-1-1 in ECAC conference games. Three points this weekend puts the Golden Knights into second place in the ECAC standings, two points ahead of Cornell who they will face next Saturday. The team will head on the road next weekend, visiting Colgate on Friday, Feb. 2. Puck drop is set for 7:00 PM EST. Listen to Golden Knights hockey on B99.3 FM, stream the game on ESPN+.Â
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