Riding a three-game unbeaten streak (2-0-1) and coming off a four-point weekend in ECAC Hockey play, the Clarkson University Hockey team will look to build upon its momentum when it takes a break from conference action with a Thanksgiving weekend series at Merrimack College. Friday and Saturday's games against the Warriors are 4:00 p.m. face-offs. at Lawler Arena in North Andover, MA.

Guided by fourth-year head coach Casey Jones and assistants Phil Roy '00 and Andy Jones, the Golden Knights stand at 5-5-4 overall and are in a four-way tie for second place in the ECAC Hockey standings with a 3-1-2 league mark. Junior captain Paul Geiger (Stouffville, ONT) and assistants, senior James Howden (Edgeley, SASK) and junior Jeff DiNallo (Aurora, ONT) have led the Green and Gold to strong start in conference play, which was capped off by the first wins of the season at Cheel Arena. The Knights played one of their best games of the year in Friday's 2-1 victory over 14th-ranked Quinnipiac and then followed that effort up with their first shutout of the 2014-15 campaign, a 4-0 blanking of Princeton.

Scouting Merrimack

At 5-1 at home, with the lone loss an overtime setback to Notre Dame, Merrimack will look to use its advantage at Lawler Arena when the Warriors host the Knights in a pair of late afternoon contests this weekend. Guided by 10th-year Mark Dennehy, Merrimack stands at 8-4-1 overall and is tied for fourth in the Hockey East standings with a 4-3 league mark. This past weekend, the Warriors split a home-and-home weekend with conference rival Northeastern, winning 4-2 in North Andover on Friday before falling 3-1 in Boston on Saturday. In its only other action against an ECAC Hockey opponent, Merrimack defeated Princeton 6-1 on November 2 at the Liberty Invitational in Newark, NJ. Much like Clarkson, Merrimack is a strong defensive team and is tied with the Knights for the 12th scoring defense in the nation, allowing only two goals per game. Rasmus Tirronen has seen the bulk of the workload in the Warriors crease and holds a .925 save percentage, a 1.78 goals against average and a 7-2-1 record with one shutout through 11 games. Brian Christie (5-7) and Hampus Gustafsson (3-9) lead Merrimack in scoring with 12 points each.

• Clarkson leads the series against Merrimack 5-3, but the Warriors have won three of the last four meetings. The teams split last year at Cheel Arena with the Knights winning 3-2 and Merrimack winning 4-0. Friday's game will be only the second time the Green and Gold have played at Merrimack. The Warriors won the only other meeting at Lawler Arena, 2-1 on January 20, 1989.

• After a seven-game winless skid that stretched into early November, Clarkson has gone 3-1-2 in its last six games. The Golden Knights haven't given up more than two goals during that time, and are allowing exactly two goals a game this season, good for 12th in the country.

• Sophomore Steve Perry (Ligonier, PA) earned the start in both games over the weekend and allowed just one goal on 40 shots. Perry was named ECAC Hockey co-Goaltender of the Week. He allowed just one goal against a high-powered Quinnipiac squad on Friday and then followed with a 23-save effort for his fifth career shutout with Saturday's 4-0 blanking of Princeton. Perry has started 11 games and holds a .914 save percentage, a 1.92 GAA and a 5-4-1 record. Perry was also named NCAA Third Star of the Week.

• Four Clarkson players scored goals in the sweep, including one in each win by James Howden and sophomore Jordan Boucher (St. Therese, QUE). Senior Joe Zarbo (Grand Island, NY) and freshman Ben Dalpe (Paris, ONT) also scored in the win over Princeton, which equalled the Knights' season-high for goals in a game.

• Jordan Boucher scored two power-play goals in the weekend sweep and also added an assist. His goal late in the second period against Quinnipiac came with one second remaining in the man-advantage and snapped a 0-17 Clarkson power-play drought. Boucher was named ECAC Hockey Player of the Week.

• Ben Dalpe scored his first career goal for the opening score for the game-winner and added one assist in the 4-0 victory over Princeton.

• Joe Zarbo leads the Knights in scoring with 10 points, including a team-high six goals. He has 56 career Points (28-28) in 117 games.

• Sophomore defenseman James de Haas (Mississauga, ONT) leads the Green and Gold in scoring from the blueline and is tied with Jordan Boucher for second overall on the team with eight points, including a team-high six assists.

• Junior Christian Powers (Carlisle, ONT), who tallied just five points (1-4) combined through his first two seasons, has a current three-game point streak with one goal and two assists for his first points of the 2014-15 campaign. He shares the Clarkson lead in plus/minus at +4.

• Freshman defenseman Terrance Amorosa (Kirkland, QUE) picked up his first career point, an assist, in the win over Princeton.

• Nine of the first 14 games of the season have been decided by one goal or less for the Golden Knights and two others were two-goal decisions. The Green and Gold are 4-3-4 in the close games. Clarkson has played in five overtime games (0-1-4) and has skated to four 2-2 draws. The program record for ties is seven.

• Defense is projected to be Clarkson's strength this season with five veterans and three freshmen, including three NHL Draft picks, anchoring the unit. The Knights are allowing only 24.21 shots per game, which is fourth-best in Division I, and are allowing only 2.00 gpg, which is tied for 12th in scoring defense. Clarkson is tied for first in ECAC Hockey scoring defense, allowing just 1.33 gpg in conference play.

• Freshman Brett Gervais (Corona, CA) is making his mark at Clarkson as a go-to center on faceoffs. He has taken the most draws for Clarkson, going 134-107, 55.6%. Gervais won several key defensive faceoffs in the final seconds of the one-goal win over Quinnipiac when the Knights were outnumber by several players due to penalties and the Bobcats pulling their goaltender. Ben Dalpe owns the best percentage for Clarkson on draws at 67.2% (41-20).

• Clarkson is 1-12-1 against Hockey East teams since 2008-09, including a pair of losses to Vermont (2-1, 3-0) earlier this season. The lone victory during that span was a 3-2 win over Merrimack last January. The Last time the Knights won a road game at a Hockey East opponent was on October 13, 2006 at Providence (6-1).

• Brandon DeFazio '11 became the latest former Knight to reach the NHL when he was called up from the AHL to the Vancouver Canucks on November 9. He played in two Vancouver wins before being sent back down to Utica. He joined Mark Borowiecki '11 (Ottawa), Grant Clitsome '08 (Winnipeg), Erik Cole '00 (Dallas) and Willie Mitchell '99 (Florida) among former CU players skating in the NHL in 2014-15.

• Four current Golden Knights have been selected in the NHL Draft - James de Haas (2012 Detroit - 6th rd, 170), Terrance Amorosa (2013 Philadelphia - 5th rd, 189), Troy Josephs (2013 Pittsburgh - 7th rd, 209) and Kelly Summers (2014 Ottawa - 7th rd, 189).

• In its 93rd season, Clarkson boasts 70 winning campaigns and a 1,368-805-145 all-time record for a .621 winning percentage since 1920-21.