Niagara Preview

Clarkson will host its 19th home opener at Cheel Arena at 7 tonight against College Hockey America's Niagara University.

The Golden Knights are 10-6-2 in home openers at Cheel and have a lifetime record of 210-81-32 in the building. Clarkson went just 5-7-5 at home last year, however.

The Golden Knights (0-2) opened the season on the road at Michigan State last weekend, losing 6-1 and 4-3.

Niagara opened at home with a 4-4 tie against Colgate University. Niagara went 16-14-6 last year.

Roll on Niagara

"Just going over their history they've always been very good on the power play against us and that's really been the difference in the games. We struggled last week and really need to do a better job of shutting down their power play. They are a high-energy team and have had solid goaltending." Clarkson coach George Roll.

Stat of the Night

Clarkson went just 2 of 15 (13 percent) on the power play last weekend. The Golden Knights now will face one of the better teams in the nation at killing penalties. Niagara went 6 for 6 against Colgate last weekend and going back to last year's CHA Tournament, Niagara has killed 11 consecutive penalties.

In its last five regular-season games, Niagara is 18 for 20 (90 percent) on the kill.

Who to Watch

For those new to the blog, this is usually based on how players have done against the opponent, unless it's a first-time in several years type matchup

Clarkson:Senior Matt Beca and sophomore Julien Cayer each have one goal and one assist against the Purple Eagles. Junior captain Scott Freeman and sophomore Louke Oakley each have two assists. Sophomore goalie Paul Karpowich came in in relief last year and played the last 31 minutes, 4 seconds of the game. He stopped 14 of 16 shots but was credited with the loss.

Niagara:Dan Baco and Bryan Haczyk are the only active players with goals against Clarkson. Chris Moran, Egor Mironov and Tyler Gotto each have two assists against Clarkson. None of Niagara's goalies have ever faced the Golden Knights.

Last Meeting

Clarkson played at Niagara in the second game of last season and things went well for the Golden Knights until late in the second period. Niagara wound up with a 4-3 win.

Clarkson led 2-1 after the opening period on goals from Lauri Tuohimaa and Julien Cayer. Phil Paquet, who graduated last May, gave Clarkson a 3-2 lead late in the second period on a power-play goal.

Niagara responded with a power-play goal from Vince Rocco with just 43 seconds left in the second period and the game-winning goal came from Bryan Haczyk at 11:08 of the third.

Stats and Notes

Clarkson is 2-1-1 against Niagara at cheel Arena and holds a 4-3-1 overall lead in the series. ... Clarkson struggled on faceoffs last weekend, going 62-76 (.449). Freshman Pete Massar was the only player who took several faceoffs to have a winning record, going 5-4. Here are some of the other individuals: Lauri Tuohimaa (14-14), Louke Oakley (15-20), Julien Cayer (7-7) and Corey Tamblyn (8-14). ... Niagara's Chris Moran is one point shy of the 100 mark for his career.