Sophomore center Lauri Tuohimaa (Helsinki, Finland) scored on the power play late in the third period to help the Clarkson University Hockey team salvage a 2-2 overtime non-league tie with Canisius College before 2,487 fans at Cheel Arena on Saturday night.

The Golden Knights, who trailed 2-0 midway through the second period, scored late in the middle frame and evened the score with Tuohimaa’s goal in the third. Clarkson, which snapped out of a six-game losing skid, will now look for its first victory since November 7 when it travels to Central NY this coming weekend for ECAC Hockey games against Cornell and Colgate. The Knights own a 2-7-3 overall record.

Canisius, which rallied to defeat Clarkson 3-2 in overtime on Friday, owns a 6-5-3 overall record. The Golden Griffins resume Atlantic Hockey action next weekend hosting Army in a two-game series.

“I thought we played very well and did all the little things well, but just couldn’t find a way to win it,” stated Clarkson head coach George Roll. “It was probably our best effort since the Colorado College series. We are not satisfied with the tie, but it is a step in the right direction. The effort was there and that is what we have to look at. We needed to play better tonight as a team and we did that.”

Clarkson out shot the Golden Griffins by over a 2-to-1 margin, 36-17, including a 24-5 advantage over the second and third periods. Both teams had two shots on net in the five-minute extra session.

Canisius took a 1-0 first-period lead when sophomore Vincent Scarsella lifted in a rebound in front at 9:36. Brandon Cummings and John Patera assisted. The Golden Griffins came close to taking a 2-0 lead late in the period, but Clarkson freshman goaltender Richie LaVeau (Arlington Heights, IL) stopped Dave Kostuch on a shorthanded breakaway attempt to keep it 1-0 through the opening 20 minutes.

Strong work down low by Canisius’ fourth line led to a 2-0 lead for the visitors midway through the second period. Pat Kenney won a battle at the side of the net and slipped a low shot past LaVeau at 9:10 of the middle frame. Linemates Peter MacDougall and Ryan Klusendorf assisted.

Clarkson got on the scoreboard at 14:31 with its first second-period goal in nine games. Senior Shea Guthrie (Carleton Place, ONT) finished off a strong rush down the left wing and knocked in his first goal of the year to make it 2-1. Sophomore defenseman Bryan Rufenach (Cameron, ONT) and freshman Jake Morley (Ogdensburg, NY) set up the goal. The Knights, who held a 13-2 advantage in shots during the middle frame, had an excellent opportunity to even the score with consecutive power plays late in the stanza, but could not come through with the equalizer.

Skating on its fourth power play of the contest late in the third, Clarkson wasted little time with the opportunity, taking just 38 seconds in the man advantage to tie the game. Position in front of the Canisius crease, Tuohimaa redirected a shot from the point by freshman Julien Cayer (Longueuil, QUE) at 14:35 for his team-high seventh goal of the year. Sophomore Scott Freeman (Whitby, ONT) picked up his team-high 11th assist of the season on the tying goal.

LaVeau, making his first collegiate appearance, posted 15 saves, including nine in the first period. Dan Morrison posted 34 stops for Canisius.

The Knights were 1-of-4 on the power play and killed off both of the Golden Griffins man-advantage opportunities.