As the ECAC Hockey regular season concludes this weekend the Clarkson University Hockey team can finish anywhere from sixth to ninth in the 12-team conference standings. The Golden Knights, guided by fourth-year head coach Casey Jones and assistants Phil Roy '00 and Andy Jones will look to secure a home-ice spot for the upcoming first round of the league playoffs when they travel to New York's Capital District region this weekend. Clarkson plays at long-time rival Rensselaer in Troy on Friday and then battles defending National Champion Union on Saturday in Schenectady. Both games are 7:00 p.m. starts.

Led by junior captain Paul Geiger (Stouffville, ONT) and assistants, senior James Howden (Edgeley, SASK) and junior Jeff DiNallo (Aurora, ONT), the Green and Gold will look to snap out of their longest losing stretch of the season. The Knights lost a pair of 3-2 games to Dartmouth (in overtime) and Harvard at Cheel Arena over the weekend to see their skid reach four games.

Clarkson owns an 11-17-4 overall record and holds down eighth place in ECAC Hockey at 8-10-2. The Knights need one point at Rensselaer or two points at Union to clinch home ice for the first round.

In a heated rivalry which dates back to the 1924-25 campaign, Clarkson leads the overall series against Rensselaer 86-48-9. The Knights are on a current three-game unbeaten streak (2-0-1) over the Engineers, including a 5-2 victory in Potsdam on February 7. Clarkson is 5-4-1 in the last 10 games of the series and battled back to gain a 2-2 tie at Houston Field House last February 22 to earn three of four points from RPI last season. The Green and Gold also won 3-0 at Cheel last season.

The Knights hold a 28-23-5 advantage in their all-time series against Union. The Dutchmen, however, are 20-14-3 against Clarkson in games played during the 2000s, including a 9-1 mark in the last 10 meetings. Union defeated Clarkson 4-1 at Cheel on February 6 to extend its winning streak in the series to four games.

Scouting Rensselaer

Guided by ninth-year head coach, Seth Appert, Rensselaer owns 9-23-2 overall record and a 7-12-1, ninth-place ECAC Hockey mark, three points behind Clarkson for the final home-ice playoff seed. The Engineers are in an eight-game winless skid, including seven losses. This past weekend on the road RPI tied Cornell 2-2 before losing to Colgate 4-2. The Engineers, who are 5-9 at Houston Field House, last earned a win with a 3-0 shutout over Cornell in Troy on January 17. Jacob Laliberte leads the Engineers with 18 points (6-12). Jason Kasdorf posts a .896 save percentage and a 3.05 GAA along with a 9-16-1 record with one shutout through 27 starts in the RPI net.

Scouting Union

Defending ECAC Hockey and NCAA National Champion Union has struggled in the 2015 portion of the schedule. Union is on a current five-game slide since defeating Clarkson on February 6 and has been outscored 14-2 during the stretch, including three consecutive shutouts. The Dutchmen finally found the back of the next on Saturday, but still lost 2-1 at Cornell. On Friday, Union wa blanked 2-0 at Colgate. The Dutchmen, guided by fourth-year head coach Rick Bennett, stand at 14-16-2 overall and own a 6-13-1, 10th-place conference mark. Winners of the last three ECAC Hockey Tournament Championships, Union will be on the road to open postseason play as they can finish no higher than ninth in the standings. Hosting St. Lawrence on Friday, the Dutchmen are 4-8-1 at Messa Rink. Despite being shut out three consecutive times in February, the Dutchmen still have one of the top offenses in the country, averaging 3.06 goals per game (tied for 15th in Div. I). Daniel Ciampini and Mike Vecchione are two of the Top-10 offensive threats in the nation, recording 43 and 41 points, respectively. Colin Stevens has started 24 games in the Union crease and posts a .915 save percentage, a 2.49 goals against average and a 11-13 record with one shutout.

• The Knights have played in 18 games decided by one goal-or-less, going 5-9-4, and are 0-2-4 in overtime games.

• Clarkson is allowing only 24.47 shots per game (3rd in the NCAA).

• Clarkson is 5-8-3 in road games, including a 3-4-2 mark against league opponents.

• On Saturday vs Harvard, sophomore Steve Perry (Ligonier, PA) made his first appearance in the Clarkson crease since he was injured against Colgate (Jan. 9). He made 18 saves in the one-goal loss. Through 17 games he owns the 10th best goals against average in the country at 1.93. Perry posts a .912 save percentage and a 7-7-1 record with one shutout

• Junior Greg Lewis (Mars, PA) has played in 11 games with a 2.31 GAA, .913 save percentage and a 4-5 record with two shutouts. He made 20 saves in the one-goal overtime loss to Dartmouth. Lewis had started the nine games prior to Saturday and had a strech of 166:59 of shutout hockey, including back-to-back whitewashes.

• Sophomore A.J. Fossen (Maple Grove, MN) tallied three of Clarkson's four goals over the weekend, including both scores against Harvard. He has nine points this season with all four goals coming ovet the last five games.

• Janick Asselin (Coaticook, QUE) holds the Clarkson freshman scoring lead with 11 points on four goals and seven assists through 20 games. He has 10 (5-5) of those points over the past 11 games.

• Jeff DiNallo leads Clarkson in scoring with 19 points on five goals and a team-high 14 assists.

• The Knights are 14th in the nation on the penalty-kill at 86.2% (94-109). The Green and Gold own the top PK in ECAC Hockey action at 91.5% (65-71).

• The Knights have steadily improved with the man-advantage and are now clicking at 16.5% (16-97) and are third in ECAC Hockey at 19.4% (12-62). Freshman defenseman Kelly Summers (Golden Lake, ONT) leads Clarkson in power-play markers with five tallies. The Knights have played in five games were they have been awarded only one power-play opportunity, seven when they had only two attempts and one without any. Clarkson was 2-of-2 Friday against Dartmouth.

• The Knights are 7-4-2 when leading after the first, but 0-6-1 when trailing after the opening 20 minutes. After two periods, Clarkson is 8-0-3 when leading and 0-13-0 when losing. Clarkson is 8-7-2 when scoring first.

• Through 32 games, the Knights are winning 50.7% of their face offs (995-966). Jeff DiNallo (190-178) and sophomore Troy Josephs (Whitby, ONT) (149-144) are leading the Green and Gold at the faceoff dot, winning 51.6% and 50.9%, respectively. Freshman Brett Gervais (Corona, CA) has taken the most draws, winning 49.9% (276-277). Freshman Ben Dalpe (Paris, ONT) is second in the country on the draw at (67-41, 62%) playing in 11 games.