Junior defenseman James de Haas fired in a shot from the right circle 65 seconds into the second overtime to lift the Clarkson University Hockey team to a 3-2 victory over Princeton before 2,376 fans at Cheel Arena in Game 1 of the best-of-three ECAC Hockey first-round series.
At 19-13-3 overall, the Golden Knights will face off against Princeton (5-22-3) in Game 2 of the series on Saturday night. With a win Clarkson will move on to the quarterfinal round. If the Tigers win, the two teams will play a deciding Game 3 on Sunday.
Postgame audio from Head Coach Casey Jones
The Green and Gold trailed for most of regulation, but forced the extra sessions when their struggling power play finally came to life late in the third period. A lengthy drought on the man-advantage came to an end in a big way for the Knights as they struck twice on the power play to tie the game.
While skating on an abbreviated three-minute major power play Clarkson got on the scoreboard. Sophomore defenseman Kelly Summers connected on a one-timer from the point off a pass from classmate Terrance Amorosa for the Knights’ first goal at 13:53 of the third. Junior Jordan Boucher also assisted on the goal which snapped a 0-of-20 scoreless stretch on the power play.
Clarkson went on the power play again when Princeton was called for too many men on the ice at 18:14. During the power play the Knights had their goaltender pulled for the extra attacker, giving them a 6-on-4 advantage. On the penalty kill the Tigers had a chance to seal a win, but a shot down the length off the ice toward the empty net hit off the post with about 30 seconds remaining.
With 21.9 seconds left in regulation Sam Vigneault converted a beautiful diagonal pass from Amorosa and buried a shot from the bottom of the right circle to tie the game 2-2. Boucher picked up his second assist to start the scoring play.
After a scoreless first 20 minute overtime, Clarkson wasted little time in the second extra session to end the game. Senior Jeff DiNallo picked up a loose puck just outside the Princeton zone, skated over the blueline and ripped a shot off the crossbar. de Haas picked up the rebound and scored the game-winner to end the seventh longest game in Clarkson history at 81:05.
Princeton, which enjoyed the better of the play in the first period, struck early scoring 5:35 into the playoff contest. Alex Riche scored his second goal of the season, connecting from the left circle after taking a pass out of the corner from Max Veronneau to give the Tigers the early momentum. Princeton, which enjoyed two power-play opportunities in the stanza, outshot the Knights 11-5 through the opening 20 minutes.
The Knights held a 14-8 advantage in shots in the middle frame, but it was Princeton that found the back of the net to take a 2-0 lead. At 9:46, Ryan Siiro scored from the slot for his fifth goal of the season, finishing off a pass from along the boards by Kyle Rankin.
Clarkson outshot Princeton 46-31, including a 14-7 margin in overtime. Senior Greg Lewis made 29 saves to record his first career playoff win. Colton Phinney posted 43 stops for the Tigers.
Clarkson was 2-of-4 on the power play and killed off all five of Princeton’s man-advantage opportunities.
