A valiant effort by a tired and beat up Clarkson University Hockey team came to a disappointing end on Saturday night as the Golden Knights fell 3-2 in double overtime to St. Lawrence in Game 2 of an ECAC Hockey quarterfinal series at Appleton Arena in Canton, NY.
Playing in a school-record fourth straight postseason overtime came, Clarkson’s season came to an end at 3:14 of the second extra session when St. Lawrence’s leading scorer Gavin Bayreuther scored on a shot from the point that made its way through a screen and past senior goaltender Greg Lewis.
The Knights, who played 310:54 minutes of overtime playoff hockey, finished the 2015-16 campaign with a 20-15-3 overall record. The Green and Gold opened postseason play with a pair of 3-2 overtime wins against Princeton in first-round action at Cheel Arena last weekend. Game 1 of the quarterfinal series against St. Lawrence on Friday was also a 3-2 overtime affair, but in favor of the Saints.
Postgame audio from Head Coach Casey Jones
Despite playing in the four consecutive overtime games, Clarkson outshot St. Lawrence 52-43 and dominated the third period with a 20-5 shot advantage. The lengthy period of play caught up to the Green and Gold in overtime as the Saints held a 15-7 shot advantage.
Making his 20th consecutive start in the Clarkson crease, Lewis turned aside 40 of St. Lawrence’s 43 shots.
Trailing 2-0 early in the second period, the Knights mounted a comeback in the second half of regulation and controlled play to force overtime. Senior Jeff DiNallo started the Clarkson rally when he finished off a 2-on-1 rush with junior Troy Josephs, scoring his fifth goal of the season at 16:12 of the middle frame. Senior Simon Bessette stated the play with pass up ice to Josephs.
At 4:47 of the third period, senior defenseman Kevin Tansey controlled a bouncing puck in the slot and fired in his fourth goal of the year to tie the game 2-2. Bessette and DiNallo assisted.
The Knights had a pair of excellent opportunities to take lead midway through the period, but breakaway attempts by junior Jordan Boucher and Josephs were turned aside by St. Lawrence goaltender Kyle Hayton.
Lewis also posted a breakaway stop on St. Lawrence’s Sean McGovern to keep the game tied heading into the second overtime.
After losing a heartbreaker on Friday after 68:12 of play, things got off to a rocky start for the Knights in Game 2 as St. Lawrence’s Nolan Gluchowski scored off a deflection just 56 seconds after the opening faceoff. The Saints made it 2-0 at 6:47 of the middle frame on a rebound goal by Jacob Pritchard.
Clarkson had the first four power-play opportunities in the contest, including three in the second period, but could not convert. St. Lawrence was 0-of-1 on its one man-advantage attempt.
St. Lawrence, at 19-13-4, moves on the semifinal round in Lake Placid this coming Friday.
