With six games remaining in the regular season the Clarkson University Hockey team finds itself in a strong position to gain a first-round bye in the upcoming ECAC Hockey playoffs. The Golden Knights, guided fourth-year head coach Casey Jones and assistants Phil Roy '00 and Andy Jones, are in a four-way tie for third place in the conference standings. The Knights own an 8-6-2 ECAC Hockey record and are six points out of second place, but also just four points out of falling to ninth. At 11-13-4 overall, Clarkson plays four of the last six games on the road.

Led by junior captain Paul Geiger (Stouffville, ONT) and assistant captains, senior James Howden (Edgeley, SASK) and junior Jeff DiNallo (Aurora, ONT), the Knights play two teams at opposite ends of the league standings this weekend in their longest road trip of the year. Clarkson faces off against 12th-place Princeton on Friday at Hobey Baker Rink in New Jersey and then battles ECAC Hockey leader Quinnipiac on Saturday at the TD Bank Sports Center in Hamden, CT. Both games are 7:00 p.m. starts.

The Green and Gold split a league series at Cheel Arena over the weekend, losing to defending national champion Union 4-1 before skating past Rensselaer 5-2.

Clarkson holds a decisive 80-29-5 lead in the all-time series against Princeton, which began with an 8-5 Knight victory in New Jersey on January 17, 1928. Clarkson is 8-2 over the Tigers in their last 10 games and has shut out Princeton in two of the last three meetings. Clarkson blanked the Tigers at Cheel Arena in their first game this season on November 22. Steve Perry turned aside all 23 Princeton shots and four different Knights supplied the goals in the 4-0 victory.

Clarkson broke out of a seven-game winless skid against Quinnipiac with a 2-1 victory in Potsdam in the first meeting this season on November 21. The Bobcats lead the all-time series, which first started with a 4-0 Clarkson win in Northford, CT on February 8, 2000, 11-9-2. The Knights relied upon a stingy defensive effort, holding Quinnipiac to a season-low, 17 shots in the November win, while James Howden and Jordan Boucher scored the goals. Steve Perry made 16 saves in the one-goal victory.

Scouting Princeton

Former Clarkson assistant coach Ron Fogarty guides Princeton this season along with help from former Knight assistant coach Brad Dexter. The Tigers, who are in a rebuilding mode this season, opened ECAC Hockey play with a 2-1 victory over Cornell in New Jersey on November 7. Since then Princeton has struggled with just a 3-17-2 overall record and a 1-14-1 conference mark. The Tigers, who have earned all three wins at Hobey Baker Rink, are 0-3-1 since defeating Army in non-league play on January 28. Princeton lost both in Central NY over the weekend, falling to Colgate (2-0) and Cornell (4-2).

Scouting Quinnipiac

Ranked 13/14th in the latest national polls, Quinnipiac is unbeaten in its last eight league games (7-0-1) entering Friday's matchup vs. St. Lawrence. The Bobcats, guided by 21st-year head coach Rand Pecknold, stand in first place in ECAC Hockey at 13-2-1, with one of those losses a 2-1 setback to Clarkson on November 21. Overall Quinnipiac is 18-8-2, including a 9-4-1 mark at the TD Bank Sports Center. The Bobcats enjoyed a 2-0 weekend in Central NY with a 1-0 overtime triumph at Cornell and a 4-2 win at Colgate.

• After missing the St. Lawrence game (1/31) with an injury, Jeff DiNallo came back strong over the weekend with five points over two games. He tallied a career-high four points on two goals and two assists in Saturday's win over RPI. DiNallo, named ECAC Hockey Player of the Week, leads the Green and Gold offensively with 18 points, including a team-high 13 assists through 25 games.

• Defenseman Kelly Summers (Golden Lake, ONT) also enjoyed a solid weekend from the blueline with a power-play marker in each game, and a career-high three points (1-2) in the win over RPI. Named ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Week, Summers is tied for the scoring lead among Clarkson freshmen with nine points (5-4).

• Janick Asselin (Coaticook, QUE) shares the Knights' rookie scoring lead with Summers, recording three goals and six assists in 16 games. Asselin, who missed eight games with an injury late in the 2014 portion of the schedule, is starting to find his stride. He has three goals and five assists over the past seven games.

• Since gaining the starting role in the Knights' crease in mid-January, junior Greg Lewis (Mars, PA) has been solid in the Knights' crease. In earning the start in the last six games, since sophomore Steve Perry (Ligonier, PA) was injured against Colgate (Jan. 9), Lewis has backstopped Clarkson to a 4-2 record, including consecutive shutouts. He made 24 saves on 26 shots in the win over RPI after allowing four goals, two of which were 5-on-3 power-play tallies, in Friday's loss to Union. Through eight games this season, he posts a .927 save percentage and a 2.01 goals against average. Lewis became the first Clarkson goaltender in 15 years to post shutouts in

consecutive games when he blanked Brown and Yale at Cheel Arena on January 23-24. He made 27 saves in the 6-0 win over the Bears, including a penalty-shot stop, and followed with 25 saves in the 1-0 victory over the Bulldogs. Lewis had a shutout streak stopped at 166:59 in the Jan. 31 2-1 loss to St. Lawrence. He made 27 saves in the one-goal loss.

• Sophomore A.J. Fossen (Maple Grove, MN) scored his first goal of the season with the Knights' second tally against RPI.

• The Knights enjoyed their most productive period of the season with four goals in the second stanza against RPI.

• The Knights enjoyed a big night on face offs against RPI, winning 44 of 73 draws (60.2%). Two of Clarkson's goal came immediately after faceoff wins. Through 28 games, the Knights are winning 50.7% of their face offs (884-860). Sophomore Troy Josephs (Whitby, ONT) and Jeff DiNallo are leading the Green and Gold at the faceoff dot, winning 52% (143-132) and 51.1% (178-170), respectively. Freshman Brett Gervais (Corona, CA) has taken the most draws, winning 48.8% (237-249).

• Clarkson is allowing only 24.43 shots per game (3rd in the NCAA).

• The Knights have played in 15 games decided by one goal-or-less, going 5-6-4.

• Clarkson is 5-6-3 in road games, including a 3-2-2 mark against league opponents.

• Clarkson had a streak of successful penalty kills, stop at 20 when Union connected for a pair of 5-on-3 power-play goals on Friday night. The Knights are 14th in the nation on the penalty-kill at 86.7% (85-98). The Green and Gold own the top PK in ECAC Hockey action at 93.3% (56-90).

• The Knights are 14-87 on the power play (16.1%). Kelly Summers leads Clarkson in power-play markers with four tallies.