After opening up the 2015 portion of the schedule with three strong games, but nothing to show for it, the Clarkson University Hockey team finally broke out of its slump on Saturday in Hanover, NH with a convincing 5-2 victory over Dartmouth College. On Friday, the Golden Knights fell to 4th-ranked Harvard 6-3 in Cambridge, MA.

Clarkson, guided by fourth-year head coach Casey Jones and assistants Phil Roy '00 and Andy Jones will look to build upon the momentum as they open a five-game home stand in ECAC Hockey play at Cheel Arena this weekend. The Knights host Brown and Yale in a pair of 7:00 p.m. contests.

Clarkson has won three straight one-goal games over Brown to increase its lead in their all-time series to 61-18-8. The series, which first began in 1952, has been tight over the past 10 games with the Knights holding a 5-3-2 advantage. In their first meeting this season, Clarkson took a 2-0 lead and held off the Bears for a 2-1 victory in Providence, RI on November 8. The Knights hold a 19-5-4 record over Brown at Cheel Arena.

In the rivalry against Yale, which first began in in 1930, the Knights hold a commanding 71-37-5 lead in the series against Yale, but the Bulldogs have held the upper hand recently going 6-3-1 over the past 10 games. The teams, which skated to a 2-2 tie in New Haven on November 7, for the first draw in the series in 15 years, are 2-2-1 in the past five meetings. Clarkson has skated to an 18-7 record over the Bulldogs at Cheel.

Scouting Brown

Brown has had a tough season so far, owning just a 4-13 overall record and is tied for 11th in the ECAC Hockey standings with a 1-9 league mark. The Bears, guided by sixth-year head coach Brendan Whittet, have just one win in their last six outings, all against Top 20-ranked teams. Brown was swept in a home-and-home series with travel partner Yale over the Weekend, losing 1-0 at Meehan Auditorium in Providence on Friday and then falling 5-1 to the Bulldogs at Ingalls Rink in New Haven, CT on Saturday. Brown's last win was a 5-3 victory at Providence on January 10. The Bears' lone conference win was a 4-2 triumph at home over Rensselaer on December 6. Brown has struggled in specialty teams play. The Bears rank 56th in the country on the power play at 9.6% (5-52) and are last in Division I on the penalty kill at just 72.3% (47-65).

Scouting Yale

Ranked 13/14th in the national polls, Yale, the 2013 NCAA Champion, brings an 11-4-2 overall record and a 6-3-1, fifth-place ECAC Hockey slate into the North Country. The Bulldogs, guided by ninth-year head coach Keith Allain, will look to improve upon their 5-2 road record when they play at St. Lawrence on Friday. Yale has won three straight and five of the last six entering the weekend after sweeping Brown (5-1, 1-0). The Bulldogs started the win streak with a 4-1 victory over Harvard at Madison Square Garden on January 10. Yale, backstopped by Alex Lyon in goal, boasts the number one defense in the country, allowing only 1.53 goals per game. The Bulldogs have only given up five goals over the past six games. They are ranked 12th in the nation on the penalty kill at 87.2% (41-47), but are just 50th on the power play at 12.1% (7-58).

• In the win over the Big Green, Jeff DiNallo tallied a goal and two assists for a career-high three points, and sophomore defenseman James de Haas (Mississauga, ONT) scored the game-winner and picked up an assist from the blueline as the Golden Knights earned their first road victory since the December 6 2-1 win at St. Lawrence.

• The Class of 2018 accounted for five of Clarkson's eight goals over the weekend. Freshman Sam Vigneault (Baie-Comeau, QUE) led the way with two goals, while classmate Janick Asselin (Coaticook, QUE) tallied his first career goal in the win at Dartmouth and had an assist in both road games. Nic Pierog (Georgetown, ONT) and Kelly Summers (Golden Lake, ONT) connected for the game's first goal at Harvard and Dartmouth, respectively, both on the power-play.

• Making his first appearance in ECAC Hockey play this year and only second start of the season, junior Greg Lewis (Mars, PA) was strong from the start in the Clarkson crease against Dartmouth. Lewis, who picked up his first win since last February 28, made 14 first-period saves, eight second-period stops and turned aside 12 shots over the final 20 minutes for his 19th career victory. In three games this season, he holds a .893 save percentage and a 3.06 goals against average.

• The Green and Gold closed out a strong weekend in specialty teams play. The Knights scored two power-play goals for the first time this season (2-of-5) and shut down all four of Dartmouth's man-advantage opportunities, including a key kill when the Big Green were on a 5-on-3 for about a minute midway through the second period right after they had scored two quick goals to tie the game. Friday night at Harvard, Clarkson was 1-of-3 on the power play and held the Crimson scoreless in their four chances. For the weekend, the Knights were 37.5% (3-8) on the power play and perfect on the penalty kill (9-of-9). Overall, Clarkson is 10-68 (14.7) on the power play (40th in NCAA) and 70-81 (86.4%) on the penalty kill (86.4) and first in PK in ECAC Hockey action (95.3%, 41-43).

• Clarkson was outshot by an opponent for the first time in five games, Saturday at Dartmouth (36-31), but the Knights made the most of their chances by scoring their most goals of the season, including a season-high two power-play tallies.

• Clarkson is 3-5-1 in home games, including a 2-2 mark against league opponents.

• Clarkson scored its first third-period goal in league play Friday night at Harvard and then tallied three times over the final 20 minutes at Dartmouth to gain the win.

• Clarkson is allowing only 23.83 shots per game by the opponents (third in the NCAA).

• At Dartmouth, the Green and Gold gained their first win this season when being outshot (1-3-3).

• Junior Pat Megannety (Oakville, ONT) scored Clarkson's first shorthanded goal in almost two years in Friday's night game at Havard.

• Jeff Dinallo sealed the win at Dartmouth with the Knights' first empty-net goal of the season, scoring his first goal since October 31 with 17 seconds remaining.

• James de Haas and Jeff DiNallo are tied for the Clarkson scoring lead with 12 points each. de Haas has five goals and seven assists from the blueline. DiNallo is the Knights' leading playmer with a team-high nine assists.