Saints manage 3-3 tie

TROY — Despite Mike McKenzie's big night, which includied his 100th career point, St. Lawrence University could not pick up a win against Rensselaer in men's ECAC Hockey Friday.

Instead, the Saints settled for a 3-3 tie after trailing twice and leading once.

St. Lawrence (14-9-5 overall, 8-4-3 ECAC) maintained a two-point lead on RPI (14-12-3, 7-6-2) in the conference standings. The Saints are now alone in fourth place, three points behind Cornell.

McKenzie finished with one goal and two assists. But SLU goalie Kain Tisi surrendered more than two goals in a game for just the second time since Jan. 1. He had held opponents to two goals or less in six consecutive starts. He made 18 saves to help the Saints earn the tie.

The Engineers scored the game's first goal as the Saints failed to take care of the puck behind their own net. Marty O'Grady jammed home a rebound off a shot by Brandon Pirri at 8 minutes, 28 seconds of the first period.

McKenzie notched his 100th point with an assist on Derek Keller's game-tying score at 13:00. Keller drew RPI goalie Allen York out of the net before tucking the puck behind him for his eighth score of the year. Nick Pitsikoulis also assisted on the play.

The Engineers regained the lead at 15:33 when Alex Angers-Goulet was all alone at the post in an apparent St. Lawrence miscommunication. St. Lawrence failed to tie it before the end of the first despite several opportunities, including during a power-play over the final minute of the session.

But a rested St. Lawrence crew took advantage of the extra man to start the second period, scoring 59 seconds into the second period. Aaron Bogosian scored the tying goal — his fifth of the year — as he took a centering pass from McKenzie and stuffed the puck past York.

The Saints continued to control puck possession through the second period, taking the lead at 3:49. Keller took the shot from the right point, and McKenzie tipped it in under the crossbar for his seventh goal of the season.

Tisi made seven saves in the second period to keep St. Lawrence on top heading into the third.

RPI finally squeezed the third goal by Tisi at 13:15 when Jeff Foss fired a shot which deflected of a St. Lawrence stick. Pirri and Paul Kerins assisted on the goal.

The Saints killed off seven penalties and have now stopped 36 in a row.