POTSDAM, N.Y. – The Niagara men’s hockey team battled back from a first period three-goal deficit to come out with a 4-4 draw against the Clarkson Golden Knights on Saturday evening at Cheel Arena.
After finding the tying goal in the final minutes of the second period, the Purple Eagles (2-2-3) held onto a 4-3 lead for four minutes of the third period before the Golden Knights (0-4-1) tallied the equalizer to send the contest into extra time. The teams traded opportunities, with Niagara outshooting Clarkson by a 4-2 margin, but neither the Purps or Golden Knights could find the back of the net.
“Coming up to the north country is historically one of the toughest trips in college hockey,” head coach David Burkholder said. “For us to get three out of four points on the road is a real testament to the warriors in the locker room.”
With 1:14 remaining on an early third period powerplay, Chris Lochner found the back of the net for the third time this season to give the Purple Eagles their first lead in game that saw little five-on-five action. With 17:27 remaining on the clock, Patrick Divjak ripped a shot from just inside blueline that was saved by Greg Lewis, but Lochner was waiting on the doorstep to snap home the rebound to make it 4-3.
Clarkson found the equalizer about four minutes later, as James Howden saw his long shot to the right of Carsen Chubak zip past the shoulder of the NU goaltender to even the game at four apiece with 13:29 left in the game.
“We preserved through considering we lost some key guys to penalties,” Burkholder added. “We had four playing defense and had a goalie come off the bench that did a great job for us. Certainly a tie isn’t a great feeling, but this one feels totally different.”
The powerplay units of either team were on point in the opening 20 minutes of play as five powerplay goals were tallied, with Clarkson coming out with the 3-2 lead heading into intermission.
All three Golden Knight goals came in less than a two minute span during a five minute powerplay opportunity. Joe Zarbo started off the scoring at the 13:43 mark. With a 1:54 left on the man-advantage, Zarbo wristed a top shelf lazer from the left circle that beat NU goaltender Cody Campbell. One minute later, Patrick Marsh fired a shot from the slot that went wide, but bounced to the stick of Pat Megannet for the easy tap in to make it a two-goal game.
With 36 seconds left on the five-minute major, Sam Labrecque tallied his second of the game to give the Golden Knights a three-goal cushion with a top shelf tally.
The Purple Eagles bounced back with their own pair of powerplay markers as Ryan Murphy netted goals one and two of the season. With 7:45 on the clock and playing a man up, Kevin Ryan let a shot go from just inside the blue line that was initially saved by Clarkson keeper Greg Lewis, but Murphy capitalized on the rebound to make it 3-1.
Murphy cashed in again on the man advantage with less than four minutes left in the opening period as the left winger knocked down a high shot from Dan Weiss that snuck behind Lewis two cut the Golden Knight’s lead to one goal.
The Purple Eagles started the second period with a little over four minutes remaining on the five-minute powerplay, attempting eight looks on net. Just as the penalty on Nik Pokulok expired, Matt Chiarantano kept in a clear attempt that he fired back towards traffic. Rocky Gruttadauria got a piece of it, before Mike Benedict tapped home the equalizer for second goal of the season.
Niagara killed off another Clarkson five minute man-advantage to head into the final period of play knotted at three. Chubak, who took over goaltending duties in the first period, had to make seven saves, while Lewis grabbed hold of nine NU shots. After two periods of play, the shot count was 21-17 in favor of the Golden Knights.
Campbell made six saves before Chubak replaced him, to push aside 23 Golden Knight shots.
Niagara continues conference action next weekend when the Purple Eagles return to Dwyer Arena to host the Connecticut Huskies on Friday, Nov. 2 and Saturday, Nov. 3.
