Men's Hockey Heads to Clarkson for ECAC First Round Game on Saturday

Saturday, March 4

Potsdam, N.Y.

4 p.m.

Brown University

Clarkson

Photo by: Olivia Hokanson

Men's Hockey Heads to Clarkson for ECAC First Round Game on Saturday

3/2/2023 10:23:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey

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PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The 11th-seeded Brown Bears (9-17-3, 5-14-3 ECAC) head to the North Country to take on the sixth-seeded Clarkson Golden Knights (15-15-4, 9-10-3 ECAC) in the ECAC First Round game Saturday at Cheel Arena.

Saturday's game is slated to begin at 4 p.m. and will stream on ESPN+ in the United States and on Stretch Internet internationally.

SCOUTING THE BEARS

Brown enters Saturday's playoff game with a 9-17-3 overall record and 5-14-3 conference mark. The Bears average 2.21 goals per game while allowed 2.97 goals per contest.
Freshman Ryan Bottrill leads the team with 20 points while senior defenseman James Crossman leads the Bears with nine goals. Six of Crossman's goals have come on the power play this season.
Brown's power play has 17 goals in 90 attempts (18.9%) to rank seventh in the ECAC and 35th in the nation.
Between the pipes, Mathieu Caron holds a 2.42 goals against average and .923 save percentage in 23 starts. His save percentage ranks third in the conference and tenth in the NCAA.
Brown's penalty kill enters the weekend with a 77.9% kill-rate (95-122) to rank ninth int the conference and 45th in the nation. The Bears have killed 48-of-57 penalties (84.2%) since the start of January and have killed off 18 of the last 20 penalties overall.

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS

Clarkson finished the regular season with a 15-15-4 overall record and 9-10-3 ECAC mark. The Golden Knights had a plus-three goal differential overall and a goal differential of zero in conference games.
Offensively, Clarkson averaged 2.79 goals per game to rank fourth in the ECAC and 30th in the NCAA. Clarkson's power play ranks sixth in the conference and 33rd in the nation at 19.5% with 22 goals in 113 attempts.
Ayrton Martino leads the team in assists (28) and points (37). His 0.82 assists per game rank 14th in the nation and 1.09 points per game rank 23rd.
Alex Campbell leads Clarkson with 14 goals as one of three Golden Knights with double-digit goals.
Mathieu Gosselin is second on the team in goals (13), assists (18), and points (31).
Defensively, Clarkson allows 2.71 goals per game to rank fourth in the conference and 24th in the country.
Clarkson's penalty kill finished the regular season at 80.8% (101-125) to rank fifth and 26th in the ECAC and NCAA, respectively.
Goaltender Ethan Haider made 32-of-34 starts in the regular season and finished with a 2.59 goals against average and .904 save percentage.

INSIDE THE SERIES

Saturday marks the 103rd meeting between Brown and Clarkson in a series dating back to 1952. Clarkson holds the series edge, 73-19-10 along with a 25-5-6 record at Cheel Arena.

SEASON SERIES RECAP

Brown and Clarkson skated to a 2-2 tie in December before the Golden Knights took a 6-2 win in February.
In the December meeting in Potsdam, Clarkson jumped to a 2-0 lead through 20 minutes with goals from Gosselin and Anthony Callin, the latter coming on a power play.
Brown battled back as Gavin Puskar scored 7:40 into the second and Ryan Bottrill found a rebound for the equalizer 5:38 into the third. Brown won the shootout for the extra point behind Samuli Niinisaari's goal.
Mathieu Caron recorded 36 saves compared to 19 for Haider.
In the February rematch at Meehan Auditorium, Clarkson again jumped to a 2-0 first period lead but Jordan Tonelli cut into the score late in the opening frame.
A natural hat trick from Campbell in the third period lifted the road team to the win.
Jacob Zacharewicz recorded 30 saves compared to Haider's 26.

BOTTS HITS 20

Freshman Ryan Bottrill recorded his 20th point of the season with an assist against Colgate (Feb. 25). His 20 points are tied for 15th-most by a freshman in program history and his 14 assists are tied for 11th-most.
Tommy Marchin '19 was the last freshman to put up 20 or more points for the Bears. He finished with 14 goals and 13 assists in 2015-16.

SAMMY BLOCKS

Senior Samuli Niinisaari set a career-high with seven blocks against Colgate (Feb. 25). The Finnish defenseman ranks second on the team with 67 blocked shots.

IRON MAN

Captain Luke Krys played in his 91st consecutive game Saturday against Colgate. The blue-liner has not missed a game in his collegiate career.
Krys is tied for the team-lead with 14 assists and is tied for second on the team with points. He also leads the team with 69 shots on goal after finishing Senior Night with a career-high nine.
The Ridgefield, Connecticut native leads the team with 72 blocks this season. He led the NCAA in blocks per game (3.23) a season ago.

EATING PUCKS

Brown finished the regular season with 396 blocked shots in 29 games. Brown's 13.65 blocks per game rank second in the ECAC and 11th in the NCAA.
Union leads the ECAC with 13.85 blocks per game and Northern Michigan leads the nation at 16.35 per game.

LONG TIME, NO SEE

Former Brown goaltender Gabriel Vinal is a graduate student at Clarkson.
Spence Evans and Caden Lewandowski played part of the 2020-21 season together with the Johnstown Tomahawks (NAHL).
Samuli Niinisaari, Wyatt Schlaht, and Jordan Power played the 2018-19 season together with the Lincoln Stars (USHL).
Ryan Shostak and Trey Taylor played the 2019-20 and 2020-21 season together with the Vernon Vipers (BCHL). Zackary Tonelli joined the duo in 2020-21.
Matt Sutton and Alex Campbell played the 2019-20 season together with the Omaha Lancers (USHL). Luke Mobley was with the duo in the first half of the season.
Bradley Cocca and Mathieu Gosselin played the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons together with the Merritt Centennials (BCHL).
Jordan Tonelli and Ryan Taylor played part of the 2019-20 season together with the Cedar Rapids Rough Riders (USHL).

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