A lengthy layoff did little to slow down the Clarkson University Hockey team as the Golden Knights returned from a 23-day break to shut out the fifth-ranked offense in the country, blanking Canisius College 4-0 at Cheel Arena on Tuesday night for their 12th straight win.

Ranked third in the latest national polls, Clarkson completed its non-league schedule to improve to 16-3-1 overall. The Green and Gold are now off until January 12-13 when they resume ECAC Hockey action with a road trip to NY's Capital District to battle Union and Rensselaer. The Knights are 8-0-0 in league play.

Freshman Kevin Charyszyn (Jamison, PA) highlighted the offense with his first career two-goal game, while sophomore Jake Kielly (Eden Prairie, MN) posted 12 saves for his NCAA-leading sixth shutout of the year.

Clarkson controlled play from the start against Canisius (10-7-1), outshooting the Golden Griffins 33-12.

After a scoreless first period in which the Knights held a 13-4 shot advantage, Clarkson scored a pair of goals 3:43 apart midway through the middle frame to take the lead.

Sophomore Nico Sturm (Augsburg, Germany) tallied his second shorthanded goal of the season, finishing off a 2-on-1 with freshman Jack Jacome (Caledon, ONT) at 12:07 to get the Knights rolling.

At 15:50, Charyszyn was all alone at the top of the crease and flipped in a shot for his fourth goal of the year. Senior Nic Pierog (Georgetown, ONT) and freshman Josh Dickinson (Georgetown, ONT) freed the puck from along the boards to set up Charyszyn's goal.

The Knights added two more tallies in the third to close out their second win of the season over the Golden Griffins.

Senior defenseman Terrance Amorosa (Kirkland, QUE) connected on a power-play blast from the right point at 10:27 with classmate Kelly Summers (Golden Lake, ONT) and Dickinson assisting. The Knights, who own the top-rated power play in the nation (27-89, 30.3%), have now scored on the man-advantage in each contest during the 12-game winning streak.

Charyszyn wrapped up the scoring, finishing off a breakaway at 16:43 for his fifth goal of the season. Pierog and senior Ben Dalpe (Paris, ONT) assisted.

The Knights went 1-of-4 on the power play and killed off all four of Canisius' man-advantages.