Colgate Preview
Clarkson (5-16-3 overall, 1-9-2 ECAC Hockey) is looking to snap a five-game winless streak (0-4-1) when it plays Colgate (9-9-5, 6-4-1) at 7 tonight at Starr Rink in Hamilton. The game will be broadcast regionally on Time Warner Sports (channel 26 in the north country).
Stat of the Night:Clarkson has now gone eight straight games without scoring first. The Golden Knights are 2-12-3 this season when the opposing team scores first.
Who to Watch:
Clarkson:Matt Beca has the best career numbers against the Raiders with one goal and six assists in 10 career games. Three other Golden Knights have one goal and one assist against Colgate: Scott Freeman and Lauri Tuohimaa in seven games and Julien Cayer in three. Goalie Paul Karpowich is 0-0-1 against the Raiders with a 2.77 goals-against average and .909 save percentage and Richie LaVeau is 0-2 with a 4.03 goals-against average and an .840 save percentage.
Colgate:David McIntyre has seven goals and four assists against the Golden Knights and Brian Day has three goals and six assists. Ethan Cox has two goals and two assists. In a statistical oddity, Matt Firman has three of his five career goals against Clarkson and all three are against LaVeau, a former teammate of his at the Northwood Prep School in Lake Placid.
Special Teams Watch:Brandon DeFazio and Adam Pawlick each have four power-play goals to lead Clarkson and Matt Beca has three. Mark Borowiecki, Corey Tamblyn and Jake Morley have two power-play goals. Beca and Scott Freeman have also scored shorthanded goals. ... Brian Day leads Colgate with five power-play goals. Francois Brisebois has four and Nick Prockow has three. Austin Smith and Jason Williams have scored shorthanded goals.
Last Meeting:In a controversial encounter at Cheel Arena on Jan. 16, Colgate skated off with a 6-2 win, though the game was closer than the score indicates. The Raiders scored three goals in the final 3 minutes, 49 seconds. The score was 3-2 when a waved-off goal by Thomas Larkin at 16:11 was eventually credited after a long video review and discussion by officials Robert St. Lawrence and Nick Litterio. Clarkson defenseman Mark Borowiecki suffered a concussion midway through the second period after he was hit from behind by Colgate's Christian Long, who was eventually given a game misconduct. Borowiecki missed last weekend's games against Yale and Brown but will return tonight. Here's a video clip from last week of him talking about the incident:
Stats and Notes:Clarkson is 6-2-2 in its last 10 games at Starr Rink, but Colgate is 4-0-1 in its last five games against Clarkson. ... Clarkson is 1-2-2 in conference road games. ... Matt Beca had his sixth multiple-point game of the season on Saturday with one goal and one assist against Brown. Beca has played a role in 41 percent of Clarkson's goals this season. Beca is also the only Golden Knight with a positive number in the plus/minus statistic, at plus one... Brandon DeFazio had his third multiple-point game against the Bears, with a goal and assist, but it was his first multiple-point game since October. ... Clarkson has led after two periods only three times this season, and not since leading SLU 3-1 in a nonconference game at Cheel Arena on Oct. 24. ... The Golden Knights have been outscored 61-33 in the first two periods of games this season. ... Louke Oakley has excelled on faceoffs this season with a 192-167 record, winning at a .535 clip. ... Clarkson's associate head coach Greg Drechsel played at Colgate, graduating in 1988. ... Austin Smith and Brian Day have been hot lately for the Raiders. Smith has two goals and nine assists and Day has four goals and six assists. .. Starting with the game against Clarkson, Raiders goalie Alex Evin is 2-0-1 with a .935 save percentage, stopping 86 of 92 shots. ... Colgate is 5-2-2 at home this season. ... Colgate has the worst penalty kill in the league (69.4 percent) in conference games.
