No. 3 Clarkson scored three times in a 4:11 span early in the second period to break open a scoreless contest and cruise to a 5-1 victory over host Canisius in collegiate men’s hockey action Saturday at KeyBank Rink at HARBORCENTER.
The top line of Devin Brosseau, Sheldon Rempal and Nico Sturm combined for three goals and five assists to propel the Golden Knights (13-3-1) to their ninth straight victory.
Junior Felix Chamberland accounted for the lone Golden Griffins (8-5-1) goal as their five-game winning streak came to a halt with the setback.
Following a scoreless first, Clarkson took control of the contest with its three-goal outburst early in the second period.
Marly Quince got the Knights on the board 2:36 into the middle frame, putting home a loose puck for his second of the season.
Rempal doubled the Golden Knights advantage to 2-0 just a little more than two minutes later, beating Canisius goaltender Daniel Urbani with a slap shot over the left shoulder.
Sturm completed the Clarkson outburst with 6:47 elapsed in the second, finishing off a 2-on-1 rush with Rampel for his fourth of the campaign.
Chamberland got the Griffs on the board at the 15:17 mark of the second period, beating Clarkson goaltender Jake Kielly with a wrist shot between his legs to make it a 3-1 contest.
The Knights put the game out of reach with a pair of power-play tallies a little more than four minutes apart in the third.
Rempel restored the Knights’ three-goal cushion with his second of the evening at the 7:13 mark before Dickinson closed out the scoring with his 10th of the campaign a little more than four minutes later.
Urbani finished with 31 saves for Canisius. Kielly turned aside 24 shots for Clarkson.
Head Coach Trevor Large’s Postgame Comments
“We need to continue to get better. We faced adversity tonight against a really good team. I liked moments of our game when we played our way. We played hard. The effort was there. Clarkson is a really good team and we just needed more. We need more consistent effort. We needed more playmaking ability. We’ll get better from this.
“It’s what any team wants. It’s the type of team you want to play. You want to play against the best teams in the country. We got the benefit of playing Clarkson tonight at HARBORCENTER; we’re going to get to play them again in a about a month at their place. We’re also going to get to play a really good Cornell team who’s having a great year. That’s what our guys want to do. We want to play the best teams in the country. At the same time, we’re not satisfied with just a good effort against a really good team. We’re playing to beat them.”
Game Notes
Clarkson picked up its first victory against Canisius to move the all-time series between the two Empire State foes to 1-1-3.
Saturday’s contest was the first of five matchups between the two programs not requiring overtime.
Canisius moved to 1-2-0 this season against ranked competition with Saturday’s setback.
The crowd of 1668 is the fourth largest to watch a Canisius hockey game at HARBORCENTER and the largest since 1711 saw the Griffs take on Penn State on Oct. 10, 2015.
The Griffs were held to a single goal for just the second time this season and the first time in 10 games (Oct. 27 versus Air Force).
Up Next
Canisius closes the first half of its 2017-18 schedule next weekend with a home-and-home series against longtime rival Niagara.
The teams open their two-game set Dec. 8 with a 7:05 p.m. contest at Dwyer Arena before wrapping up the weekend with a 4:35 p.m. matinee the following afternoon at HARBORCENTER.
